Rockabilly, jeans, and plaid

The Spill always hosts the coolest bands and Wednesday was no exception. Bands Five Shots to Ragtown and Run Coyote played a thumping blues- and country-filled show. Opening act Five Shots to Ragtown, consisting of Adam “The Kid” Theriault, Chad “Slick” Jeffrey, and Andrew “Ace” Vatcher, kicked off the show with a blues-filled set. Three blues-laden singers playing amped-up, rock style versions of blues standards were the perfect opening band to draw people in and to get people excited for Run Coyote. When asked to describe their sound, “The Kid” responded, “[f]iiiire,” and chugged his beer. So, take that as you wish. Every other question I asked yielded the same response, minus the chugging of the beer. Five Shots to Ragtown are a fun band and their shows usually bring the same rag-tag group of folks, so make sure to check them out any chance you get.

Run Coyote are a band hailing from the London/Kitchener area. Sam Allen (vocals and guitar), Jake Allen (guitar), Andrew Dal Cin (drums), and Amanda Grant (vocals and bass) are the four members in this group of blues, country, rock, rockabilly, indie, and psychedelic vibes. All of these genres culminate into a Timber Timbresque alternative-rock sound. Both singer and guitarist wore jean-on-jean outfits, reminiscent of  country acts during the 1970s, and sported Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster respectively, which is yet another throwback to the early days of country and rock ’n’ roll.

When asked to describe their influences, Run Coyote’s Allen said it is “[t]he in-between years of rock ’n’ roll, before the Beatles and after Elvis – that period that is thought of as a dead period of rock ’n’ roll.” Allen also mentioned that they listen to a lot of rockabilly and spaghetti western type music.

Their influences make perfect sense. Nick Cave-style ominous and jarring sounds kick off their layers. The lead singer adds rockabilly yelps, and indie-rock help is added by the background vocals. A thumping blues bass and simple yet perfectly fitting drum patterns complete their sounds.

However, their live performance was slightly different than their album sound. This can probably be attributed to the fact that Grant, the other lead vocalist in Run Coyote, could not attend the concert. While obviously the same band, the album shows off their country and folk influence. Overall, Run Coyote is a band that is covered in jean and plaid. Both in person, and in their sound, fans can see the tears in their jeans and the worn-out flannel. Their button-up shirts are frayed, their guitars are dusty, and their sound is not to be missed.

Recommended tracks by Sam Allen: “Only Human”, “Wreck of a Man”, “Love like a River”

Run Coyote just recently released an album entitled Youth Haunts and released a video for their song, “Only Human”. Check out their music on Facebook or Bandcamp, and be sure to come out to see them the next time they’re in town!