Karma to Burn
Karma to Burn performing in Pittsburgh on 4-24-2009
Background information
Origin	Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
Genres	Palm Desert Scene Stoner rock Instrumental rock
Years active	1997–2002, 2009-
Labels	Roadrunner Records Spitfire Records Napalm Records
Associated acts	Speedealer Year Long Disaster Dragon Ass Treasure Cat Nebula Kyuss
Members
William Mecum Rich Mullins Rob Oswald
Past members
Daniel Davies Nathan Limbaugh Jay Jarosz Chuck Nicholas Jim Davison

This article is about the stoner metal group. For the album by The Waterboys, see Karma to Burn (The Waterboys album).

Karma to Burn, sometimes known as K2B, is a desert rock/stoner metal band from Morgantown, West Virginia comprising guitarist William Mecum, bassist Rich Mullins, and drummer Rob Oswald. The band are noted for their uncompromising, mostly instrumental sound.

History [link]

First era (1997-2002) [link]

After years of viral self promotion (such as phoning record companies pretending to be other bands who'd heard an interesting band called Karma To Burn), Karma To Burn was signed to Roadrunner Records in 1996.^[1] They were planning to release an entirely instrumental album, but Roadrunner insisted that the contract was only valid under the condition that they hired a vocalist. After a brief trial of then Kyuss frontman John Garcia, they hired a friend of theirs Jay Jarosz. Their first album Karma To Burn was released in 1997, and despite critical acclaim, sold poorly. The band decided to sack Jarosz and as such were fired from Roadrunner. The band continued, releasing 1999's, Wild Wonderful Purgatory and 2001's Almost Heathen as entirely instrumental albums.^[2][3]

The band unofficially disbanded sometime in mid-2002, when bassist Rich Mullins joined Speedealer. As of 2008, Mullins was playing in the Los Angeles based band Year Long Disaster, Oswald was the drummer in Nebula, and Will Mecum was playing guitar for Treasure Cat.^[4]

Reunion (2009-2010) [link]

On February 23, 2009, Karma to Burn reformed with the line-up being the same as when they disbanded. They toured extensively, hitting both the US and Europe.^[5] Their European tour included a second stage slot at the Download Festival, which has now become infamous for the wasp swarm above the crowd throughout.^[6] A year after reuniting, Karma To Burn were in the stages of finishing a fourth full length album, which was produced by Scott Reeder formerly of the stoner rock band Kyuss. The album, Appalachian Incantation, was released in April 2010, and included two vocal tracks: 'Waiting on the Western World', featuring Year Long Disaster vocalist and guitarist Daniel Davies, and 'Two Times,' featuring former Kyuss vocalist John Garcia. The rest of the album consisted of instrumental selections.^[7] The band toured Europe after its release, including a nine date UK run supported by bassist Mullins's other band, Year Long Disaster.^[8]

Merger with Year Long Disaster (2010-Present) [link]

In a May 2010 interview with Uber Rock, Daniel Davies commented on a planned merger between the bands Year Long Disaster and Karma To Burn:

"The bands are starting to kind of merge together. We wrote that song together and we liked it so we're thinking that maybe we should write some more songs together. I think that is where it's leading to now."^[9]

In June 2010, Year Long Disaster toured Europe with all three members of Karma To Burn as part of the band.^[10] The favour was returned on Karma To Burn's European summer tour, with Davies stepping in as an occasional guitarist (and, when needed, vocalist) for the band. Karma To Burn then announced it plans to record a swift follow-up to Appalachian Incantation with an album featuring several songs with vocals by Davies, to be released in 2011, further blurring the boundaries between it and Year Long Disaster. The speculation as to whether Davies had joined the band was confirmed by his inclusion in the band picture on K2B's website^[11] and, more solidly, by Rich Mullins himself in an interview with Rock Radio.^[12]

K2B headlined the Jägermeister stage at the UK leg of Sonisphere Festival 2010.,^[13] and supported The Sword on their 2010 winter US tour^[14] and in Europe the following November.

The follow-up to Appalachian Incantation, V, was recorded in February 2011, at Dave Grohl's Studio 606, and includes Davies' vocals on three songs, although he has since started a project outside Karma to Burn and left the group, returning the band to a trio. V was released in June 2011, followed by more extensive touring of the USA and Europe. The band were also set to record a song for John Garcia's solo project, Garcia Vs. Garcia.^[15] On September 7, it was said via Twitter that Karma To Burn had finished recording 3 tracks with John Garcia, though for which projects was left unclear.^[16]

Band members [link]

Current Line-Up [link]

• William Mecum – guitar
• Rich Mullins – bass
• Rob Oswald – drums

Former members [link]

• Daniel Davies – guitar, vocals
• Jay Jarosz – vocals
• John Garcia – vocals
• Ronnie Garcia – vocals (unconfirmed)
• Jim Davison – guitar
• Chuck Nicholas – drums
• Nathan Limbaugh – drums

Discography [link]

Studio albums [link]

• Karma To Burn (Roadrunner Records, 1997)
• Wild, Wonderful... Purgatory (Roadrunner Records, 1999)
• Almost Heathen (Spitfire Records, 2001)
• Appalachian Incantation (Napalm Records, 2010)
• V (Napalm Records, 2011)

EP's [link]

• Split 7" with ASG (Volcom Entertainment Vinyl Club, 2009)
• Incantation's Ingredients (Napalm Records, 2010)

(Incantation's Ingredients was a tour EP, sold on K2B's pre Appalachian Incantation release tours. It featured several tracks off the album.)

Compilation albums [link]

• Mountain Mama′s – A collection of the works of Karma to Burn (Roadrunner Records, 2007-Limited Edition to 2000 copies)
• Live in London & Chasing the Dragon (DRP Records, 2009-Limited Edition to 250 copies)

Videos [link]

• Live 2009 - Reunion Tour (A collection of 2009 footage, also includes bonus videos shot between 1997 and 1999)

References [link]

External links [link]

• Official Site
• Official Myspace
• Official Twitter
• Official Youtube