Peter Buck was the guitarist for R.E.M., the most important and influential American rock band of the post-punk era. The big, jangly sound of Buck's Rickenbacker was one of R.E.M.'s musical signatures, and his eclectic tastes and embrace of other stringed instruments (especially mandolin) was a major part of their stylistic growth. After R.E.M. parted ways in 2011, Buck released some fine solo recordings (such as 2014's vinyl-only I Am Back to Blow Your Mind Once Again), but devoted most of his time to projects with others. He produced and accompanied Alejandro Escovedo (2016's Burn Something Beautiful), the Jayhawks (2016's Paging Mr. Proust), and Luke Haines (2020's Beat Poetry for Survivalists and 2022's All the Kids Are Super Bummed Out), and recorded and toured with Filthy Friends, the Minus 5, the Baseball Project, and Arthur Buck.