Author Description

No singer. No compromise. Just riffs that shook the underground to its core.<br/>Instrumental Forever is the raw history of Karma to Burn—the Appalachian power trio that threw the singer out of the van and let the riffs do the talking. From beer-stained West Virginia bars to European festival stages, they built a cult of defiance, persistence, and wall-shaking volume.<br/>Author Justin Johnson, a lifelong witness to the West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio underground music scenes, pulls from interviews, archives, and personal memories to capture their story: Roadrunner Records clashes, near-misses with Kyuss’s John Garcia, busted vans, brutal tours, and the devastating losses of Will Mecum and Chuck Nicholas.<br/>This isn’t nostalgia—it’s the view from the front row and the back alley of a band that never played the industry’s game, yet left an indelible mark on heavy rock.<br/>Inside you’ll find:<br/>• The most complete discography and tour history ever compiled<br/>• Firsthand reflections from the front lines of the scene<br/>• A raw tribute to the band and the community that shaped them<br/>• Essential albums from the West Virginia–Kentucky–Ohio underground<br/>• A curated playlist that captures the wider scene that shaped Karma to Burn<br/>Editorial Review<br/>“Instrumental Forever is a fierce and unsentimental chronicle of Appalachian underground rock—part memoir, part cultural history, and wholly authentic. Justin Johnson writes with the authority of a journalist and the conviction of a believer, delivering a definitive account of Karma to Burn’s uncompromising legacy. Gritty, reverent, and unflinchingly human, this is underground music history done right.”