Karma to Burn

American rock band

Karma to Burn (commonly abbreviated as K2B) was an American rock band from Morgantown, West Virginia. The band was noted for its heavy, mostly instrumental sound. Their name comes from a sleevenote on Bob Dylan's 1976 album Desire which reads "I have a brother or two and a whole lot of karma to burn "

After years of viral self promotion (such as phoning record companies pretending to be other bands who had heard an interesting band called Karma to Burn), Karma to Burn was signed to Roadrunner Records in 1996. 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, Jason 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. The band unofficially disbanded sometime in mid 2002, when bassist Rich Mullins joined the band 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.

On February 23, 2009, Karma to Burn reformed with the lineup being the same as when they disbanded. They toured extensively, hitting both the US and Europe. 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. A year after reuniting, Karma to Burn were in the stages of finishing a fourth 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. The band toured Europe after its release, including a nine date UK run supported by bassist Mullins's other band, Year Long Disaster.

Evan Devine of Morgantown metal band Ancient Shores filled in on drums for Karma to Burn during their 2012 European tour and became a full time member after. Their album Arch Stanton was released in 2014 on FABA/Deepdive Records. It featured the duo of Mecum and Devine, with Mecum taking up guitar and bass duties after the departure of Mullins. The Karma to Burn EP, Mountain Czar, was released in 2016. The release introduced Eric Clutter as full time bassist. A split compilation album, Karma to Burn / Sons of Alpha Centauri was released in 2017.