Backwater was an American jazz fusion band that consisted of Robby Catlin, Larry Hardin, Scott Pettersen, Trippe Thomason and Gerry Groom. The group (Catlin, Hardin, Pettersen) was formed in 1975 in Mobile, Alabama. The quintet released one record, Backwater (1976), that received national airplay success and led to touring stints with B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris. Hardin and Thomason left the band shortly thereafter over creative disagreements; Catlin and Pettersen continued on with Tom and Myra Woodruff, producing one more recording (1978's Live from the Heart of Dixie/North of the Mason Dixon) before splitting as the decade closed. The band reformed briefly in 1979 with Hardin, Catlin, Woodruff and Nick Rayner on drums. The band's original members reunited in 1996 for a one