Coyotes Bring New Orleans Rock to The Basement in Nashville

Down in the boot of Louisiana, New Orleans is putting out real music (the kind with instruments), and the rest of the country is starting to pay attention. Over the last several years it has become a haven for indie musicians inspired by the South’s musical heritage. Coyotes’ members moved from across the U.S. (L.A., Austin, Chicago) and found each other in this city that bursts with creativity and culture.

Coyotes’ recently released EP, Good Times Old, has southern rock sensibilities in the vein of Kings of Leon’s Come Around Sundown and Alison Krauss and Robert Plant’s Raising Sand. Without the aid of a pedal steel player on tour (a significant part on the EP), their live show still maintained a loose relation to the modern southern rock bands. The macho ego that often fronts these kinds of bands was refreshingly absent.

Sans pedal steel and ego, they let their main instruments do the work. Coyotes fleshed out each song without tons of synths and reverb that many newer bands rely on. With only an electric guitar, bass, and drums, Coyotes delivered a sound much bigger than Nashville’s The Basement where they played.

Lead singer Duz Mancini’s drawl and catchy guitar hooks were interspersed with the occasional Led Zeppelin-esque solo. The band loosened up during the bridge of “Deadman” and jammed pretty hard on it without going overboard.

Bassist Adam Stewart scaled the music with swagger, as though it was nothing to move around the bass like a reverberating pinball. Stewart is a great backing singer, to boot. He added depth to the vocals by singing harmony all the way through many of the songs.

Their drummer pulled everything together, making their set cohesive and danceable. His drumming was dynamic, tight, and loud, but never overbearing. He was at his best during their last song of the night, “When We’re Gone,” their catchy summer jam about getting away from it all for good or bad. They gave a nod to their blues influences with a harmonica solo, the only exception to their trio of instruments.

With only three members, the band more than made up for the lack of quantity by paying attention to what they did have and killing it. Coyotes left the stage with more swagger than when they walked on because they earned it, and they knew it.

The biggest testament to their show was the number of New Orleans transplants who’d come out to see them play. The Coyotes’ giant, painted flag backdrop was familiar to many in the crowd who whooped whenever New Orleans was mentioned. The energy and excitement for the band was the kind that made you want to throw back another whiskey and keep moving your hips. New Orleans folks and their music are welcome to Nashville any time.

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Caroline McDonald

My first memory is of singing Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” quietly to myself during preschool naptime. Perhaps it’s because I’m from Nashville where an instrument lives in every home, but music has gripped me for as long as I can remember.

After dabbling in many parts of the music industry—recording studios, PR, management, labels, publishing—I’m expanding into music journalism because I’m yet to find anything more rewarding that finding and sharing new music.

A longtime sucker for girls with guitars, my musical taste unabashedly follows the songwriting lineage of Dolly Parton and includes Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and Neko Case. But not to pigeonhole myself, my music love is big love that stretches from R.L. Burnside to Animal Collective to Lord Huron.

I’ve recently moved home to Nashville after living in Boston and Big Sur for several years. I’d forgotten how music pours onto the streets ten hours a day, seven days a week. I’m honored to share the creative explosion happening here. If your band is in the area or of the area, please reach out!