Meredith Crawford & The Backhand Band

A great lyrical punch with the confessions of journeys and musical friendships.
Cosmically psych enlightened guitars and a voice that grabs your ears, to take the fear-less path.
Meredith Crawford, lead singer left her hometown at 18 with a baby on the way. It seems music was the only passage ahead, a love of life and getting things off her rebellious chest. From singing in choir and local opries, to buying her first guitar at the age of 14 at a pawn shop, self taught eagerness and talent brings us to this day, with two great songs that revive a jump to strike the alternative listening boots. As my gran used to say, it's always the choices that you make that lead the way. Things rolled into place that Meredith met a likes and formed the BackHand Band.
I'm sure your fantasizing of sitting on the porch, exactly when the sky get's dimmer...

Take one look at those red claws of lust in front of you and sing a long with me in order to save the day with a cold cold beer. - Give It A Spin

Local band wins in Battle of the Bands
Story and photo by
Melody McNatt, Staff Writer

“Meredith Crawford (Lead singer) and Guillermo Murillo (Lead Guitarist), are mesmerizing in their song “Say I Wont” for the Moore’s Store “Battle of the Bands” competition on April 15.
On Friday, April 15, Meredith Crawford and the Backhand Band performed at Moore’s Store’s Battle of the Bands competition in Ben Wheeler. Since Meredith was 13 years old, she has been singing and writing songs. Throughout her entire high school career, Meredith performed at many different functions and assemblies. Her senior year, Meredith was also named “Most Talented Senior”.

A year ago she met Guillermo Murillo and began doing some recording with him. During the summer of 2015 Meredith, Guillermo (lead guitar), and Silas Alexander (bass player), became Meredith Crawford and the Backhand Band. In January the band added on drummer, Gabe Klingman.

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Meredith Crawford and the Backhand Band performed after the Tanner Sparks Band. The finale band to preform was the Kyle Austin Davis Band at 11 pm. Each band performed a wide mixture of both cover songs and originals, that ranged from country music to old folk songs. Meredith’s band filled their 45 minute performance with all of their original songs. Collectively, the band has written over 20 different original songs together, including their first released single on iTunes, ”Say I Won’t”, and another released single, “Never”. The band will also be releasing their songs, “Mojave”, and “Wicked Addiction”.

After 4 hours of belting, yodeling, picking and sweating, the bands sat excitingly at their tables, waiting to hear the results from the night’s competition. “The winner of the Battle of the Bands is...” The announcer of the event said. All fingers were crossed and nerves were on edge as the crowd listened for the results. “Meredith Crawford and the Backhand Band!” The band members hooted with joy as they took the stage a second time to receive their winnings. The band won a $200 dollar gift card to Guitar Center, some recording time at a local studio, and a headlining gig at Moore’s Store. The band was thrilled to be voted the winners of Moore’s Store’s Battle of the bands competition.

Meredith Crawford and the Backhand Band’s song, “Say I Won’t”, was also, the “Original iPhone Film Festival”, Grand Prize Winner, directed by Eric Orange. The band encourages readers to like their page on Facebook and check out their band t-shirts (also available on their page), www.Facebook.com/TheBackhandBand. To book the band for an event or gig, email them at MeredithCrawfordBackhandBand@gmail.com. The band can also be followed on twitter, Spotify, and iTunes. - The Chandler & Brownsboro Statesman

Meredith Crawford and Guillermo Murillo are excited. You can see it in their eyes and the expressions on their faces. When they talk about writing and recording songs, performing gigs and starring in music videos, excitement is in their voices and the motions of their hands.
They have a good reason to be excited.

Their band, Meredith Crawford and the Backhand Band, is receiving national attention after winning the grand prize at the Original iPhone Video Awards for its music video “Say I Won’t.”
The band, which formed last year, features Meredith on guitar and vocals, Guillermo on guitar, Silas William Alexander on bass and Michael Graham on drums.

All are from the Tyler, Texas, area.

Guillermo, a part-time music producer, says when he heard Meredith’s voice he knew that they could create great music as a band.
“It feels super dreamy and what I mean by that is that it wasn’t in my wildest dreams to think that I could connect with such amazing and motivated musicians to create this original music,” Meredith says. “I knew we had something special after we were all connected, but never knew that it would be accepted this well by people listening and tuning in, so for me, it’s been dreamy and amazing.”

The band gives off a country feel. But with influences like rockabilly, surf, classic country, ’60s Motown R&B, garage, Americana, English psychedelic and even indie pop, it’s not simple classifying the band into one single genre.

“We enjoy trying to classify/label our brand of music, but it’s not the easiest to categorize,” Meredith syas. “We consider it to be more like Roots Rock. We want the music to feel like vintage radio waves to your ear, something that sweetly rocks you back to your past, but with a modern edge. The lyrics also hit close to home, but in a good way.”
VIDEO CONTEST WINNER

The winning video to “Say I Won’t” was recorded and produced by the band members’ friend Eric Orange, who used his iPhone to film the video.

“I was really excited to shoot in East Texas,” Orange says. “East Texas itself is so gorgeous and I wanted to show off some of the beautiful nature that we have in that part of the state. … The biggest prize was just getting eyes on the actual video itself. The judges were really esteemed and involved in the industry and I think just having those people see the video is the thing that is most exciting for them.”
Meredith describes that being in the video describes shooting the video as another “dreamy and amazing” experience.

“Our friend, Eric … did an amazing job with the vision, and I knew that if he had anything to do with it, of course it was going to be great but I was thrilled to find that the video was not just the winner in its own category, but the grand prize winner of all of the videos. That moment was indescribable for me! I probably shrieked so loud that dogs could hear.”

Guillermo describes the making of the video as an “organic” experience.
“The song was recorded all in one live take with the band sitting in a circle,” he says. “The video process was just really an extension of that organic nature. Our wonderful friend Eric Orange was really inspired by the song and really wanted to help make a powerful and strong feminist statement through his vision.”
ASPIRATIONS

The band writes its own songs and records the music at Guillermo’s house.

“Writing together as a band usually starts with Guillermo coming up with an extremely catchy and wild electric guitar lick, or musical arrangement,” Meredith says. “I normally take it home and try to determine a mood for the song to create lyrics around. Many of the lyrics stem from personal experiences that one of us has had or sometimes me and the guys get creative and base the songs off of fictional characters and situations. Then, as a band, we just hash the whole song out and fill out the rest musically. For me, bringing a new song to the table is one of the best parts about being in this band.”
The band plans to release an EP in the fall.

“Our immediate goals are to play the large amount of gigs we have (booked) this summer and do our tour in July,” Guillermo says. “We’ve been recording and we’re really excited about releasing our record in the fall.”

The band is hoping to push its music out on a national level.
“We’re looking to really grow our fan base and grow as artists and people,” Guillermo says.

The band also plans to record a video for its single, “Mohave.”
“It’s been thrilling,” Guillermo says. “It’s been really exciting to meet new people every weekend and know they had a good time and connected with our art … Hopefully through a lot of elbow grease, determination and good business sense, maybe we can fulfill a dream.” - In Magazine