Ocracoke Island NC residents Marcy and Lou thrive on the peace this area feeds to their music.  The waves, sand and wind are just as much a part of their creative process as the sunshine, humidity and hurricanes.  They share the love of family and community that is so important to everyone in this coastal town.

Marcy Brenner started her musical career Alexandria, VA, playing flute and violin in the elementary school band. She received a pawn-shop guitar for her 10th birthday and was a classical guitarist until at 14 she joined her first basement rock band. While earning her business degrees at Radford University in the Blue Ridge Mountains she found folk music.

She spent time each summer in Nags Head with her family.  In the years between she played (guitar, percussion, mandolin, vocals) in basement bands, churches, coffee houses, bluegrass gatherings, weddings and special events. After a move to California to work as a marketing and artist relations manager for Dean Markley Strings, she sat on “the other side of the desk” with world-famous artists which was valuable and exciting experience for a musician with a marketing degree. 

As a songwriter, she had the chance to work with the late producer Nik Venet (Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, Bobby Darin) and calls him her greatest artistic mentor.  She spends a good deal of time immersed in music, songwriting and speaking about the back-handed gifts her cancer journey has given her.  As a cancer survivor, she volunteers for advocate and support organizations. Her slogan is “live while you’re alive!” and she’s doing just that.  Visit her site www.deadgirlwalking.net for information about the documentary film made of her life by Ray Schmitt of Real Earth Productions.

Lou Castro started his musical career as a child dragging his Mickey Mouse record player behind his bicycle by its power cable in Philadelphia, PA. He soon graduated to the broom, then the badminton racket and then the tennis racket. He took classical piano lessons from age nine until eleven when he picked up a REAL guitar.

Lou came to the Outer Banks for vacations, settling in Duck to help his family’s business.  He has worked in the music business in retail and in repair for Ibanez Guitars as an authorized technician.  Lou is a graduate of the Berklee School of Music in Boston and has played guitar and bass in numerous original and cover bands before forming COYOTE with Marcy Brenner and is also a principal player  with Molasses Creek , Ocracoke Rockers, Martin Garrish & Friends, Aaron Caswell Band and the Ocracoke Jazz Society.

A “player’s player,” Lou lists his major influences the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, among many others.  He has never wavered from his life-long love of learning, playing and teaching music.   Marcy and Lou hesitate to share how long they’ve been playing music … after all those years they think they certainly should play much better!  But they will say that they’ve been playing together as COYOTE since 2001.