The Snozzberries....Taste Like what??!!
Backline Music Hall, Tupelo, MS - April 22, 2026
Another Golden Ticket North
A big thanks once again to the great staff at Backline Music Hall, because this third short run northward is starting to feel like finding a golden ticket tucked inside the same candy bar over and over again. You peel back the wrapper, hit the road, and somehow there is Backline waiting in Tupelo, small in size but enormous in the kind of talent it keeps pulling through its doors.
This place is quickly becoming one of the good spots in the area. Not because it is trying to look bigger than it is, but because everyone inside seems to understand what a live music room is supposed to feel like. Brian and Meredith handle things with that steady, capable kind of care that keeps the night moving. Brent keeps everyone’s thirst quenched. Cid runs it all like a true pro. Each of them has their own musical story and past, and you can feel that in the way the place operates. It is not some cold little box with a stage shoved against the wall. It feels more like a strange little factory where the machines are tuned for sound instead of sugar.
And on this night, the doors opened for the perfect band to test the machinery.
The Flavor on the Flyer
Ladies and gentlemen, The Snozzberries.
I was first drawn to this show by the colorful tour flyer, which looked less like a normal concert poster and more like a warning label from a candy lab that had been left unattended too long. Then I saw the line used in their event listing, with Rolling Stone calling them “a jubilant rock act” exploding with vibrant tones and textures, and after seeing them live, I can say the description was not just colorful dressing. The berries had flavor. The berries had bite. The berries might have been slightly radioactive, but in the best possible way.
The Band Behind the Berries
The Asheville, North Carolina band came into Backline with Ethan Heller on guitar and vocals, Josh Clark on bass and vocals, Ian Taylor on keys, and Logan Jayne on drums and vocals. Together, they make psychedelic prog-fusion rock that does not sit still long enough to be pinned down. Their live show pulls from original tunes, unreleased material, and jam sections that stretch and twist like something moving through pipes behind the walls.
This is not a band that pours the same flavor into every cup. One minute they are grooving with bright, loose confidence. The next, the music bends into odd shapes, the rhythms start changing under your feet, and the whole room feels like it has stepped onto one of those sideways factory floors where nothing is quite level but somehow nobody falls.
Logan’s drumming had a high-octane jazz spark to it, pushing the songs forward while still letting them breathe. He never sounded like he was simply keeping time. He was stirring the whole pot. Ethan’s guitar playing had that six-string knowledge where the solos did not feel pasted on for attention. They came out like natural extensions of the songs, winding through the grooves, flashing a little, then snapping back into the pocket. Ian worked the keys like he was adding color to the edges of the room, trickling, swirling, and filling in the corners with strange little glows.
Then there was Josh on bass, and let’s not skip over that part like it was just the bottom end doing its duty. Josh brought the goods. His playing had weight, motion, and personality, with a tone that carried a little Stanley Clarke spirit in the setup. It was incredible sounding, and just as good to watch. He was not just anchoring the music. He was laying down the chocolate river and daring everybody else to cross it.
The Factory Starts Running
Once they hit the stage, The Snozzberries came out with high energy and passion and kept that factory running hot until the end. They ripped through singles tied to their recent run of live-studio releases, including “Durt Nap” and “Just After 2.” Both songs carried that mix of polish and looseness that makes the band interesting. The songs have shape, but they still feel alive enough to get away from you if you stop watching.
According to Ethan and Josh, there are a couple more singles coming soon, which makes sense for a band that sounds like it is constantly tinkering, testing, mixing, and letting the next batch bubble up. Logan also handles the mixing and mastering for the band’s recordings and singles, which adds another nice layer to the whole operation. The live show has that wild, room-shaking edge, but underneath it is a band that clearly understands its own recipe.
Strange Recipes and Time Changes
One of the new unreleased tunes was written by Ethan and called “Wet Specimen.” The title alone sounds like something you would find floating in a glass jar in the back room of a candy factory nobody is supposed to enter, but the song itself fit the set nicely. It had a strong rhythm and groove, the kind that gave the band plenty of room to move without letting the whole thing spill across the floor. That is not easy to do with this kind of music. Too much structure and the song loses its weirdness. Too much freedom and suddenly the audience is chasing the band through a maze with no map.
“Wet Specimen” found the middle. Strange enough to feel like The Snozzberries. Grounded enough to work.
“Beat the System” was one of the jam songs performed, and the title said plenty. It was full of interesting changes and timing shifts, the kind of song where the band seems to be pulling levers behind the curtain just to see which part of the machine starts smoking first. Instead of losing control, though, they made those turns feel intentional. The song gave the crowd a real look at how good these guys are when they stretch out. It was musical mischief with the skill to back it up.
No Gimmick, Just Good Playing
That is the trick with The Snozzberries. The name is fun. The imagery is colorful. The whole thing invites jokes about flavor, fruit, and whatever exactly a snozzberry is supposed to taste like. But the musicianship is no joke. They can get playful because they can actually play. They can get weird because they know how to bring the weirdness back home. They can make the room feel like a psychedelic candy factory without turning the music into a gimmick.
By the end of the night, Backline had once again done what Backline seems to be doing more and more often: bringing in a band that feels bigger than the room and letting that room rise to meet them. The Snozzberries were headed down to New Orleans after Tupelo, with the 2026 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival running April 23 through May 3, and if they carried even half of this energy south, NOLA was about to get itself a very colorful weekend.
So, if The Snozzberries come near you, go. Especially if psychedelic prog rock is your jam, your candy, your strange little tour through a room full of flashing lights and suspiciously delicious sounds. Go pick some berries. Go see what flavor the band is serving that night.
And be sure to check out The Snozzberries’ official YouTube channel for their videos and singles, because this is one of those bands where the visuals help explain the grin you leave with.
Afterglow
The best small rooms have a way of turning into something else once the music starts. Backline Music Hall did that again. One minute it was a Tupelo venue with familiar faces, cold drinks, and a stage ready for work. The next, The Snozzberries had the place glowing like a candy factory after midnight, all strange flavor, moving parts, and colorful sound spilling out of every corner.
Third trip north.
Another golden ticket punched.
Snozzberries.
Be sure to go check out their YouTube channel to watch the cool videos for their singles!
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Snozzberry? Whoever heard of a snozzberry?
Hehe.
Cool post.