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Review of new release "Another Year Blooms"
Ocracoke Observer, June 2007
by Kati Wharton

I don’t know how other people would go about preparing to write a CD review, but what I do is listen to the CD over and over, and then over and over again, and then...well, you get the idea.  If I actually reviewed CDs for a living, and therefore had to listen to some bad ones, this strategy would probably cause insanity (my own, and that of the people in my immediate surroundings who have to listen along with me).  Instead of being driven mad, however, I have been extraordinarily blessed by repeated listening to all of the CDs I have reviewed so far.  That was (and still is) especially true of Another Year Blooms, the new release by Coyote, the singer/songwriter team of Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro, who have been playing together since 2001 and were married in 2003.  The CD showcases Marcy and Lou’s remarkable range of talent for the entire musical process – from composition and songwriting to playing multiple instruments, singing music of varied styles, and even to recording (Lou engineered the CD).

 Ten of the twelve tracks on Another Year Blooms are original songs by Coyote, whose songwriting is highly respected by other musicians (all of the original songs on their last release, Home to Me, reached the Top 10 in broadjam.com peer reviews).  As Another Year Blooms shows, Marcy and Lou find inspiration for their songwriting from all aspects of their lives.  The hauntingly lovely title track is about and for Marcy’s mother, who loved daffodils.  My personal favorite tune, “Richest Man in the World”, Coyote’s “love song to Ocracoke Island”, was inspired by a statement a friend made, and the next track “Five Minutes” came from what Lou said to Marcy while they were falling in love.  “Fizzy Blue Water” has a highly unique source of inspiration, a modeling photograph from the 1940s, and also boasts one example of the lovely poetry of Coyote lyrics, the phrase “even then a bottle could be a haunting shade of blue”. 

 What makes this CD wonderful is not, however, limited to the lyrics.  It also includes an excellent instrumental piece (“Summer Sleeping Porch”) which shows off Coyote’s talents on the dobro and guitar.  Several of the tracks include their well-blended harmonies, and all of them offer examples of their wide range of skills on various instruments, including several types of guitars, mandolin, banjolin, piano and lap steel.

 Coyote is not limited to one style, evidenced by the wide variety of the songs on this CD, from the ballad-like “Making Peace Tonight”, to the rocking “I’m All Right” to the zydeco “Down the Driveway Home”.  Instead, Marcy and Lou bring their own style to every track.  This makes Another Year Blooms delightfully unpredictable, and worthy of repeated listening.  I especially like the cynical, jaded “Everyone Starts Out in Love”, which is far from your average overdone sweet love song; its sudden ending is a perfect fit with the lyrics that say “this could all end before it’s begun, but I’ll worry about our future tomorrow”.  Even the covers (“The Storms are on the Ocean” by the Carter Family, and “At Last”, made famous by Etta James) demonstrate Coyote’s style, as they perform them in a way that is uniquely their own, while not straying far from the original feel of the songs.

 Another Year Blooms will be available June 1^st in island shops, and online from soundsiderecords.com, amazon.com, and efolkmusic.org.  Get a copy and listen to it - multiple times!  (Try it at least once wearing headphones, as the left/right stereo effect adds to the experience.)  If you want to hear more of Coyote, take in one of their performances on the island (see schedule below), and look for them in the movie Nights in Rodanthe, filming now on the Outer Banks and due for release in 2008.

 Coyote performing schedule for 2007 season

-         Tuesdays and Sundays at the Jolly Roger with Martin Garrish & Friends

-         Wednesdays at Deepwater Theater with the Ocrafolk Opry

-         Thursdays Lou appears with Molasses Creek at Deepwater

-         Fridays at Deepwater Theater, a new show featuring Coyote and Noah Paley

-         Some Saturdays at Mango Loco with Martin Garrish & Friends

Tuesday, August 23, 2005
COYOTE at the Whalehead Club
by Peter Summers of the Outer Banks Sentinel

The acoustic musical duo from Ocracoke known as COYOTE performed a set on the porch of the Whalehead Club Thursday evening.

The lowering sun hung above puffy clouds over the Currituck Sound on which some kayakers glided as crickets chirped. Its rays spread a pinkish glow on the pale yellow club building as the oblique shadows turned blue.

The stately building sat atop a green field where people gathered carrying blankets and folding chairs. Some walked over from the parking lot, and some were conveyed by golf carts that were shuttling back and forth.

A fine breeze came off the still pool between the club and the sound, carrying a few tame mosquitoes past the gathering.

On the porch Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro adjusted and tuned the tools of their craft. The various wood hues of their collected guitars, mandolins, basses and the like nicely complemented the deep red and off-white trim of the spotless club.

Brenner wore a colorful cotton smock over a black shift; Castro a turquoise-and-red Hawaiian-style shirt. They asked for some feedback from the gathering audience as they adjusted their volume levels -- thumbs-up if the sound was too faint, thumbs-down if too loud, or an "okay" sign.

The pair was then introduced by Edna Baden, the Executive Director of the club, as part of its Summer Concert Series; this evening was sponsored by landscapers Corolla Companies LLC.

After Brenner stepped off the porch a few paces to switch on a small digital recorder, she rejoined Castro who held an acoustic guitar at the ready.

"Let's play some music for the people."

Coyote plays a combination of their own compositions, mixed with compositions from other acoustic types (Gillian Welch, Joni Mitchell). They are not above pleasing disparate listeners with their own arrangements from writers and groups who rarely made music without gigantic amplifyers, such as Jimi Hendrix or Led Zeppelin.

For tonight's easygoing set they focused on their own and others' songs more suited to the drawing room ... or front porch.

Their first was "Maestro" -- "He's a grinning coyote." Brenner strummed a two-four beat on her mandolin as she sang, and a few leads to Castro's guitar. "Maestro" had a loping, moderato tempo and Brenner's voice was clear and sure.

Elvis Costello's lovely "Scarlet Tide," from the Cold Mountain soundtrack, sounded an authentic note, with a dobro accompaniment and a nice harmony vocal from Castro.

"Lighthouse," from a couple of "Ozzie girls," (The WaiFFs) was just as right in the northern hemisphere, in sight of the great brick Currituck Beach Lighthouse across the road.

There were a few new songs written this winter, including "Beautiful Sorrow of Love." Brenner on acoustic-electric guitar and Castro on electric fretless bass produced a full, melancholy sound ... Castro played some leads and a solo on his bass.

Joni Mitchell's great "Big Yellow Taxi" received a fond reading, followed by a song created as a result of a Disciples' Class at the Duck United Methodist Church: "Follow Me" took its inspiration from the Bible.

Weighty matters of life and death were assayed in Brenner's song written from her perspective as a cancer survivor. "Dead Girl Walking" belied its gloomy title; it was a jaunty celebration of life.

A lighter take on disasters was "Hurricane Flood Tornado," inspired by a similar sequence of events surrounding the advent of Hurricane Isabel on Ocracoke. Brenner strapped on a combination banjo/mandolin called, yes, a banjolin. The song was anchored by a bluesy banjolin riff played in unison with Castro's dobro.

Hank William's famous "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" was given a sympathetic reading, Castro providing a beautiful backup on the lap steel guitar and warming himself up to the next number, Bob Wills' "Panhandle Rag."

Castro did a fine impression of the whole Texas Playboys band on that one.

As the light waned, Brenner said, "Think we have time for one more? We could play for you until tomorrow...."

They finished up with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' "Acony Bell," on two acoustic guitars, a pretty song that mingled the spirit of the Carters' "Wildwood Flower" with the sound of a Doc and Merle Watson duet from back in the day.

And, thanks in part to bands like Coyote, that day will live on.

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COYOTE to perform at GoGirls Music Fest 2005 in Raleigh!

 GoGirlsMusicFest 2005 kicks off at Raleigh's Pour House Music Hall on October 8th featuring local and regional acts Annette Warner, Lactose Quervo, IlyAimy, Viva La Venus, Laura Blackley, COYOTE, Jess Pironis, Someone's Sister and more! This year's festival is benefiting The Lynn Cohen Foundation for Ovarian Cancer Research. Door prizes will be given away all night long and the first 100 people in the door will receive the 2005 GoGirls Music Compilation. All patrons will receive free CD's grab bag style throughout the night courtesy A. Warner Entertainment. Show starts at 9 pm. Doors open at 8 with a 10.00 cover. 1.00 per cover charge paid will also be designated to Katrina relief in the name of GoGirlsMusicFest 2005. 

About GoGirlsMusicFest
Madalyn Sklar, founder of GoGirlsMusic.com, created GoGirlsMusicFest, a series of annual showcase events across the United States. The festival promotes independent women in music while supporting various charities which have included MusiCares, Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls, American Liver Foundation, Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation and more. Since 2000, over 85 all volunteer run shows have taken place throughout the U.S.

About The Lynne Cohen Foundation for Ovarian Cancer Research
The Lynne Cohen Foundation is a unique 501(C)(3)nonprofit organization that raises funds for cutting-edge medical research in the women's healthcare field. Created in 1998 in memory of Lynne Cohen by her three daughters (then in their twenties), The Lynne Cohen Foundation is dedicated to finding an early detection test for ovarian cancer, to funding improved clinical treatments for the disease, and to developing and supporting preventive care clinics for women with increased risk for ovarian and/or breast cancer. In the past year, the Foundation has finalized plans for two new preventive care programs: The Lynne Cohen Breast Cancer Preventive Care Program at NYU Cancer Institute, and The Lynne Cohen High Risk Screening & Prevention Project for Ovarian and Breast Cancer at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Including these programs, The Lynne Cohen Foundation will have a total of four preventive care clinics for women's cancers, and plans to open more. More info at www.lynnecohenfoundation.org

About GoGirlsMusic.com
GoGirls is the oldest and largest online community of independent women musicians. Our mission is to support, promote and empower our members! Since 1996, GoGirlsMusic.com has dedicated itself to bringing together women in music from around the country through networking and events. More info at www.gogirlsmusic.com

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COYOTE releases “Home To Me”

Hometown sweethearts COYOTE, Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro, of Ocracoke Island, NC announce the release of their second CD entitled “Home To Me.”  The collection debuts eight original songs and unique arrangements of material by Hank Williams, Peter Frampton, Greg Allman, Cheap Trick and The Beatles.

“(Home To Me) is a song of joy in response to a range of trials and triumphs.  You can hear the wit and humor and love that suffuse all (of COYOTE’s) music.  You get a sense of how much of (their) best music is born directly from personal, human experience.   Each (song is) infused with the lively wisdom and warmth that characterize COYOTE.  (They have) translated a range of experience into a musical expression of fear, courage and joy.”  Charles Temple, Ocracoke Observer, May 9, 2005

COYOTE will debut “Home To Me” during the Ocrafolk Music & Storytelling Festival the first weekend of June 2005.  They will appear Saturday, June 4th on the Howard Street Stage from 2:15 – 3:00 p.m. and host the “Late Night Jam” at the Deepwater Theater.

COYOTE co-produces and appears in the Outer Banks Opry, Fridays at 8:00 p.m. at the new First Flight High School Auditorium, Kill Devil Hills, from June 24th – August 12th.  They also appear Wednesdays in the Ocrafolk Opry at Deepwater Theater, Ocracoke produced by Molasses Creek.

“Home To Me” is independently recorded, produced and published by COYOTE® and will be available at local record stores, www.soundsiderecords.com and www.amazon.com.
For more information about COYOTE visit their new website at www.coyotemusic.net.  

For more information about their music and appearance schedule,
call 252-256-2081 or see performances.
 

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Review—Coyote, “Home to Me”
Charles Temple for the Ocracoke Observer
May 9, 2005

             The first thing you’ll notice about Coyote’s new album, “Home to Me,” is the sheer variety of musical styles and influences that the band embraces.  It starts with the Yiddish-influenced paean to “Maestro,” full of dark minor chords and the wry humor and humanity that evoke this mentor figure.  With the fiddle, mandolin and accordion, you’d swear you can hear the bouzouki tuning up in the back.  The next song, the title track, reminds me of Paul Simon—playful, reflective and full of warmth.

            These two songs are a pretty good introduction to Coyote for several reasons.  They demonstrate the wealth of musical culture that has influenced them.  You can also hear the wit and humor and love that suffuse all their music.  But most importantly, you get a sense of how much of Coyote’s best music is born directly from personal, human experience.  This album is completely aware of itself as a song of joy in response to a range of trials and triumphs. 

            These most deeply personal and reflective songs are interspersed with covers of various standards and personal favorites of the band.  Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” may have been covered more often than “Happy Birthday,” but it always seems to be worth recording again.  Let me say a word about songs like this.  There are songs that embody an experience so personal and universal that each reworking reminds us of the universal while revealing something about the artist.  (Think of “Amazing Grace.”)  I think the reason we come back to these songs again and again is that they broaden the scope of our experience while confirming the power of our own encounter with that human universal.  From the mournful Hank Williams, to the rueful Allman Brothers, to the exuberant Beatles, Coyote infuses each with the lively wisdom and warmth that characterize them.

That reflection is a good introduction to the other class of songs on the album, songs born out of the fear, hope and joy connected to Marcy Brenner’s fight with breast cancer.  What I find most remarkable about this sort of confessional songwriting is the utter honesty, sometimes bleak, sometimes gleeful.  Coyote has translated that range of experience into a musical expression of fear, courage and joy. 

For those who are new to the band, Coyote is the duo of Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro.  On earlier albums, Lou’s guitar work has been prominently figured next to Marcy’s alto vocals and mandolin.  On this album, however, what I notice is not the instrumentation so much as the songwriting, though Lou plays with characteristic artistry.  What strikes me most is each song’s insistence on being true to its inspiration, to telling honestly and bravely about the love, fear, tragedy or triumph that called it into being.

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The OUTER BANKS OPRY announces THIRD SEASON with new day and venue!