Butler County Fair performer Justin Back well-known on local stages

When Justin Back became a father, he made sure to share his love of music with his kids. He remembers playing his guitar for them in the bathtub when they were little.

“When my second one got old enough,” Back said, “she fired me.”

That was years ago. Now, Back spends his days as a welding instructor and his nights as a performer.

Back, a longtime Butler County resident who lives in Seven Mile now, got his start performing when his neighbor opened a winery and asked Back to play.

“Everybody who plays, they always wonder what it’d be like to be on stage. I thought, ‘You know what, this might be my only chance in life to get on stage and see what it’s like.’ And I told myself, ‘If I love this, I’ll do it, and if I don’t love it, then it was just a cool experience.’”

Back loved it. So did the audience. When he sat down after his first gig, people came up to him asking him to play at their venues, and he couldn’t turn them down.

That was two years ago. Since then, Back has expanded his repertoire and his band. He’s a country singer at heart, with a number of original songs on Spotify, but he performs of mix of genres and covers ranging from the Zach Bryan to Lynyrd Skynyrd, making sure there’s something for everyone in the audience.

His band, Justin Back and the Borrowed, is performing July 29 at the Butler County Fair as the opening act for Crush Bon Jovi Experience. Back says his group’s name reflects on its formation; he borrowed its current members from other local bands.

Mike McIntosh, the band’s oldest member and bass player, met Back when he started playing solo gigs at the winery where Back got his start. McIntosh is a veteran performer and has been making music for more than 50 years.

“When you’re playing music, it makes everything all right. A lot of times, if I’m having a bad day, I’ve got a little studio and I just go and play,” McIntosh said. “When you join with other musicians and it works, it’s just really serendipitous.”

For Seth Bowman, the Borrowed works. Not every project Bowman has been a part of has meshed. He remembers one band who rehearsed together a single time and never got back together, but the experience with this group is different.

“It’s stayed together how it has because people enjoy it. People in the band enjoy each other and enjoy the music and enjoy what it provides people when we play it live,” Bowman said.

Back comes from a country background, but Bowman’s main influence is metal. Despite the difference in genre, the pair meshes well, and Bowman has also provided drums for Back’s recorded songs.

Like Back, Bowman is also a longtime Butler County resident. For him, playing at the fair is especially exciting.

“I’ve been going to the fair ... since I was able to run around on my own out there,” Bowman said. “So when we found out about that show, it was exciting knowing it’s a place I’ve been going to for so long, almost every year. To know that I get to go out there and play music is pretty exciting.”

Mike Shope, the lead guitar, has known Back for 15 years and even went to see his first gig live. He didn’t tell Back that, though.

“I snuck out to see him play and didn’t tell him I was coming to the show ... because I didn’t know if it was gonna be good,” Shope said. “Like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna come see you!’ And then have it bad and then have him be like, ‘What’d you think?’ I didn’t want to do that.”

Luckily, Shope said he sounded great. That night, Shope told Back’s wife that if Back was ever looking to start a band he should give Shope a call. When that call came and Shope went to the first rehearsal, he locked in with Bowman as a rock and roll player himself. The four connected well and have played together ever since.

After the fair, Back has doesn’t plan on slowing down. He released his single “The Highway” earlier this month and has one more to go before his first album is complete, and he’s planning to record and release a second one in 2024. Next year, he’s hoping the band will get more involved with music festivals and events, and his biggest goal is to perform at River’s Edge in Hamilton. Until then, he’s enjoying every performance.

“I’ve been a little surprised by the amount of support people have for people like me who aren’t on a contract or anything like that,” Back said. “I just do it because I love it, and people’s support always surprises me. It’s a very humbling moment.”