Some of the best music starts with a common connection, whether it be longtime friends getting together to jam, or perhaps just a shared love over a mutual interest that drives creativity; for new Atlanta/Athens band Coyote Anyway, their magic started with friendships and grew from a group of talented musicians all on the same wavelength.
Coyote Anyway isn’t completely new; they’ve been playing around Atlanta for a few years now, though they’ve only just settled on the name. This Friday April 21st, Coyote Anyway is ready to officially introduce themselves to the scene with their debut single releasing digitally via Gypsy Farm Records. The single “Sleep Talk”, which we are excited to premiere the early stream, also comes with a B-side track “One Dead Black Cat”. Listen to “Sleep Talk”:
Coyote Anyway is Matthew Pendrick and Dave Kirslis on guitars, Zeke Sayer on drums, and Matthew Garrison on bass. If you’ve paid much attention to the local scenes in Atlanta and Athens over the years, you may recognize some of these names – Matthew Pendrick from Slow Parade, Dave of Cicada Rhythm, Zeke of Shoal Creek Stranglers /The Humms and Matthew Garrison from Elf Power/Shoal Creek Stranglers, etc. They have all played in and with multiple bands, and seem to subscribe to the collective spirit that has developed in Athens, GA over the years, and certainly spilled into the Atlanta music scene. For Coyote Anyway, their story began years ago.
Said Matthew Pendrick, “Dave and I grew up together around Decatur and have been playing music together for a long time. We’ve had some different bands over the years and starting gigging around Atlanta about 2008. We played a lot of old blues and roots rock stuff and wrote a bunch, definitely heavily inspired by all the amazing local musicians in town. Similarly, Zeke and Matthew G have a long history playing together around Athens with the Shoal Creek Stranglers and other groups. When Dave moved out to Athens a few years ago, he introduced us all and it just sorta clicked.”
For this group of musicians the friendships they have created helped give the new group it’s beginnings, but while they each continue on with their main projects, Coyote Anyway gives the group the chance to get a little outside of their norm from their “regular” gigs, all while sharing a common love. Said Matthew P. referring to him and Dave, “We’re both more song and dance guys then guitar shredders but in Coyote Anyway we do a mix of stuff we write and other peoples tunes.”
“I don’t think we ever had a conversation about what the band should sound like, really. Definitely spent a lot of time nerding out together over records, but our tastes run the gamut. We all play a lot of roots music, or whatever you want to call it, so that was a pretty natural fit. Certainly we’ve all ventured pretty far outside of that as well with different bands. Slow Parade might take a few steps to the left in our approach but Zeke and Matt’s other project, the Shoal Creek Stranglers, and Cicada Rhythm each have their own nuanced interpretation of Americana too. I think what makes it fun for us is that we don’t feel too limited to doing one thing. Our favorite musicians have always hopped those imaginary boundaries of genre and it ain’t like we’re trying to get on Kicks 101.5 or anything so it’s really anything goes.”
While you may catch any of the band members taking on vocals, the first single “Sleep Talk” finds Dave Kirslis taking lead and jumping away from the chilling harmonies usually shared with Andrea DeMarcus (the other half of Cicada Rhythm), for his gritty high tone troubadour croons taking front and center. “Sleep Talk” is one of those foot stomping songs that just immediately feels right. They may not be reinventing the wheel here, but sometimes we just all need to get back to our roots, and “Sleep Talk” is a reminder of why the O’Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack is so beloved. On the surface it may sound more like straightforward roots music, but the myriad of influences from this group of merry men is able to bring a swagger to the genre that feels like a modern revolution next to the typical lofi indie rock were getting used to hearing today. The guitar licks are loose and saucy, the bass and drums are raw and on point, while the harmonica comes in to bring the brash to Dave’s cheeky vocals.
All in all, “Sleep Talk” is a perfect introduction to Coyote Anyway; but with each member of the band having so much going on with their other projects, can we expect more? “We hope to have a full length record out this year and will probably print some hard copies of that. Maybe a limited run on wax cylinders or ADAT tapes if we can get the scratch together!” said Matthew Pendrick, “We’re all spread out across Georgia, with myself in Atlanta, Matt and Dave in Athens and Zeke in Lavonia. Zeke has an excellent studio out there called Gypsy Farm where we recorded these songs. Needless to say it’s tough to get together but we’re trying to make that happen as much as possible.”
You can certainly put me down for more, and add in some live shows to boot. Listen to Coyote Anyway’s debut single “Sleep Talk” above.
Keep up with Coyote Anyway on the inter webs and look out for their next shows:
Website: http://coyoteanyway.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coyoteanyway/
1 Comment
Dig!