Coyote back in its home habitat
Island band howling wildly at CD release
It was certainly a wild and welcoming homecoming last Friday night at the speciallyopened-for-theoccasion Fishbones, as P.E.I.’s five-piece indie rock band Coyote returned to its home habitat after weeks of being on the road promoting a brand new second album, Proof of Life.
Coyote members Josh Carter (lead vocals), Bruce Rooney (guitars), Evan McCosham (bass), Bradford Rooney (keyboards) and Mike King (drums) have travelled all the way from St. John’s to Victoria over the past couple of months, taking their Islandforged sound of anthemic pop rock to clubs and festivals across the country along the way.
And as their hometown CD launch was about to kickoff last weekend, you could tell it was just gonna be an untamed night right off the bat as a spontaneous Captain Morgan sponsorship meant dozens of free rum and Cokes for early attendees, along with a fully costumed Captain Morgan character in attendance, as he posed for pictures with rum-enthused patrons while the first band of the night, P.E.I.’s psych-experimental rock group Mindwaves, got the dance floor grooving early on.
And while Moncton’s Danger Cat kicked out its rousing chordal chemical reactions of unique riffs and catchy hooks, all presented with an ignited stage presence, I had a chance to have a quick interview with Coyote’s Bruce Rooney about the band’s recent 18-show national trip.
“The tour was great for us because it was really good timing,” he said. “Six months ago we never thought we’d have been in the position yet to tour (effectively) at a national level at this point. But with the offer to play Rifflandia Festival in Victoria, B.C,. along with some other promising dates in Western Canada, it jut worked out so perfectly with the album release that we were in a great position to make it work.”
When Coyote did take the stage at about 1 a.m. that night (after the Captain had long disappeared into the dark new moon night, perhaps to find his ship down at the harbour and curl up for the night next to his rum barrel on the deck) there was a glowing light of truth that poured off the stage immediately. This band has never been more at the top of its game.
Surely the experience of this fall’s coast-to-coast tour has helped the East Coast Music Week 2013 People’s Choice Rising Star Award-winning band to be all the more seamlessly tight as a sound unit. But through the hourlong set of music that fired up the Fishbones’ dance floor in a mighty way, what was particularly notable was not so much the notes they played, but the energy between those notes.
To come back to the top of the game analogy once again, just like a star ball player on a hitting streak, they seemed to be able to do no wrong, and their output from the stage only evolved to be more impressive and entertaining as the night went on.
Through tunes like Lazy Jane, Old News and Your House to old tunes like Robin Hood (their encore) and some new material, Coyote were propulsive in roadfuelled intensity from start to finish.
Timing has been on their side as far as the album release and the tour this fall, as Bruce says, but as far as the band’s skill level, it’s clear that Coyote has reached this stage with its highly developed musicality and its growingly impressive touring experience not due to a case of lucky timing, but rather through an incredible amount of steady, hard work since forming five years ago.
“We put a lot of work into campaigning the album leading up to its release,” he added. “And now that the tour is complete we can happily say that it was a complete success both with the quality of shows and also with having good luck making new contacts and having some really awesome experiences across the country off the stage.”
And wherever Coyote expands its roaming habitat from here, it is also abundantly clear that they will keep doing three things very well: working hard, making innovative and engaging rock music and making the Island proud while doing so.
For more on Coyote and this year’s sophomore album release, Proof of Life, visit www.wearecoyote.ca.
Next week: I’ll be heading out to hear the Good Brothers in concert at Harmony House Theatre in Hunter River.