​WORDS & MUSiC ​at Patti's Thunder Café!

April Words & Music
7pm Thursday April 13th, 2023
At Patti's Thunder Café in Quincy, CA
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The Back 40
 Kelsey Kepple: Vocals, percussion 
Chris Retallack: Bass, guitar, vocals 
Nathan Retallack: Lead & rhythm guitar 
Tommy Miles: Rhythm & lead guitar, bass, drums, vocals 
The Back 40 is an alternative country and rock band available for venues and events in Northern California and Nevada. 
In mid-2008, multi-instrumentalist Tommy Miles got some friends together in Plumas County, California to begin working on a new group originally envisioned as a classic and alternative country act with a repertoire of the music of classic country artists (Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Emmylou Harris, and others) along with country-influenced rock and the music of new artists from the Austin music scene and other non-mainstream sources. The original lineup was seven musicians with two female vocalists among them. As the group has evolved, it has settled into a solid format that can perform electric and acoustic shows in several combinations of two to five musicians, bringing drums in for electric shows. 
Tommy Miles sings and plays guitar and sometimes drums. His musical approach is influenced by a number of rock styles but also by several rural musical traditions including Celtic and Appalachian folk music. He’s been playing with local groups since he moved to Plumas County in 1995. 
Chris Retallack (bass, guitar, and vocals), who joined in 2014, is also a well-known local multi-instrumental musician with a wide background in classical music, jazz, progressive rock, and other styles. He brings exceptional talent to the group with a melodic and creative electric bass technique, along with vocals and guitar. 
Nathan Retallack is an outstanding lead guitarist with influences ranging from prog rock to Chet Atkins, with a heavy dose of Reverend Horton Heat. His improvised solos are simply amazing to see and hear. 
Kelsey Kepple is the newest addition to the group, and she brings her beautiful voice and wonderful, improvisational fiddle playing to the front of the stage along with the occasional smoking rendition of a Celtic traditional tune. 
The Back 40’s current repertoire includes country-influenced music of all kinds with an emphasis on songs with funny and intelligent lyrics and with multi-part vocal harmonies. Along with classic country tunes, the band covers such alt-country artists as John Prine, Reckless Kelly, James McMurtry, the Bottle Rockets, Chris Webster, Alejandro Escovedo, and Southern Culture on the Skids. The band can easily move from a sensitive and serious tone, to ironic humor, to hard-R-rated irreverence, depending on the crowd. Topped off with a small but growing number of original songs, the Back 40’s music is energetic, fun, and danceable, it appeals to audiences of all ages, and it has found a loyal local audience. 
Most importantly, though, the band’s members are good friends who have strong connections to the Quincy, California area and who foresee performing and evolving together for many more years. Their enjoyment and appreciation of the music, of each other, and of the audience is obvious and infectious, and the crowd gets to ride the wave of energy and fun that the band members experience every time they get together to play. 

​Words & Music is a program of Plumas Arts, featuring acoustic performances of music and the spoken word. 

​​Patti's Thunder Café will offer baked goods, coffee, tea, and speciality drinks, wine, and beer for additional purchase.
​Patti's is located at 557 Lawrence St Quincy, CA 95971 
Doors open at 6:45 PM
With the Featured Artist, starting at 7pm,
​the entire show goes until 9pm.
Admission is $3 per person and is cash only.
Sign up at the door before 7:00 pm for an Open Mic spot following the Featured Artist.  
​Please arrive early to sign up for open mic performances.
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For more information about this or any of the many programs sponsored by Plumas Arts, please call​
​(530) 283-3402.