Outer Banks Onstage

The latest compact disc from the Ocracoke-based acoustic duo Coyote opens with the feel of a French -- or Belgian -- coffeehouse. A bow is bounced a few times on a violin, joined by a quiet bass and a few chords on an accordian in the moderato "Maestro."

In a cafe on Picasso Street/Drinking memories warm and sweet/I spend an afternoon with Maestro

Guitarist Lou Castro backs up mandolinist Marcy Brenner's cosmopolitan vocal with chords on the 2-4 beats, while guests David Tweedie, Emily DeVan and Nemesia Castro ply violin, cello and accordian respectively.

Brenner provides an introduction and fills on her mandolin on this original that features some tasteful compositional tweaks such as a chord-long key change effected by switching a minor chord to a major, and a few bars in 2/2 rather than 4/4 time.

The cumulative effect is a rich listening experience, a tale of a private muse who has done his job well.

Coyote is a hard-working duo who have made their bones working around the Outer Banks, playing events such as the Ocrafolk Opry, the Ocrafolk Music & Storytelling Festival, Dare County Relay for Life, area restaurants, Kitty Hawk Heritage Day, Music Across the Sound and private events. Their first CD, Live from the Outer Banks, surveyed the cover tunes they cut their teeth on, all given the fresh arrangements of a band that consists, live, of mainly a guitar and a mandolin.

On Home to Me the focus is on songwriting and ensemble arrangements. Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro penned most of the compositions; the arrangements take advantage of guest musicians Nemesia Castro, accordian; Emily DeVan, cello; Martin Garrish, acoustic guitar; Dan Martier, drums and percussion; Kevin Hardy, upright bass; Kitty and Gary Mitchell, vocals; and Fiddler David Tweedie, violin.

The Mitchells and Fiddler Dave are with the popular Ocracoke bluegrass band Molasses Creek.

While the pool of talent for this record is deep, the arrangements are spare and tasteful. Not all guests play all the time; on the second cut, "Home to Me," Brenner and Castro are deceptively joined only by Dan Martier.

This starts out with Brenner singing to her mandolin accompaniment, and joined gradually by Martier's drums. After the first verse, Castro's bass and the drums settle into a groove and Castro's double-tracked acoustic guitar joins the bass. Brenner overdubs backing vocals at the chorus, and by the solo, Castro has added an electric slide guitar.

The change from a girl and her mandolin to a rock band has happened organically, and the 3-person, 6-piece band rocks into a fade-out.

One of the few covers on this record is the sublime "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," from the great Hank Williams. Martin Garrish opens with a clean 3/4 time acoustic guitar figure, joined by Brenner's mandolin and voice. Soon in the background can be heard Castro on lap steel guitar and quiet bass. Castro's stately lap-steel solo on this primal country song is an authentic-sounding joy.

Garrish takes a pretty, tasteful second solo on guitar, and Brenner adds no more vocal embellishment than the song can use.

"Scorpio" has a saucy vocal a la Maria Muldaur, accompanied by an eccentric combination of Brenner's acoustic guitar and Castro's dobro and bass, in an allegorical -- or literal -- song about a past life.

"Follow Me" is credited to the "Duck United Methodist Church Disciple I Class of 2003 & Brenner/Castro." (For non-locals, Duck is the town on the Outer Banks, not the bird or the verb.)

Follow Me/I know and I love you/Follow Me/I give my life for you/Follow Me

"Follow Me" is a flat statement of faith in Christ, the "Great Shepherd." With a dignified backing and a lovely melody, the song will resonate not only with those who already "know His voice" (John 10:3-4).

Molasses Creek's Mitchells add their vocals to the choir on this beautiful number.

The Rock critic Richard Meltzer had a term for a pair of songs that complement each other -- "turkey tongue" (well, it was the sixties). The upbeat, syncopated "Hurricane, Flood, Tornado," completes the turkey tongue of "Follow Me."

Hurricane Isabel produced that sequence of events on Ocracoke Island in 2003. (A house moved, if I recall correctly.)

The wind and the waves/Will do what they do/I won't make it through the storms/Without you/Hurricane, Flood, Tornado

Coyote loves music, and they love the tools they use.

"Penny For Your Thoughts" is a case in point. Composed by English rocker Peter Frampton, it's a little acoustic guitar/dobro instrumental making good use of harmonics and the sparkling interplay of perfectly tuned steel strings. You can almost hear rain softly falling outside.

Again, "Penny" leads nicely into a quiet acoustic arrangement of of Greg Allman's "Come and Go Blues," originally recorded by the Allman Brothers as a full electric blues in the early seventies. Later Greg Allman released a live solo version, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, and Coyote's version threads the needle between the two.

Brenner sings over her own simple dobro accompaniment, joined presently by Castro's bass, to which Brenner doubletracks bongo drums, and what sounds like a pick drawn across muffled guitar strings as percussion.

The penultimate song is the beautiful "Beautiful Sorrow of Love," which Brenner and Castro multitracked with Dan Martier's help on drums. It uses a fine climbing chord progression and great electric lead guitar work from Castro, and leads into a bare mandolin/guitar reprise of "Home to Me."

This is the arrangement the pair use in live performance; as they've demonstrated, everything can sound good in the right four hands. Here is a CD that should be heard by anyone interested in native Outer Banks music; one that asserts that the Banks' musicians can easily hold their own.

Note Coyote; their future should suggest they put on their shades.

This is the dream we're lucky to be living/A portion of grace we've both been given/There's no telling the future with some kind of magic/Not to live while alive/Well, that would be tragic.

Coyote, Home To Me, COY02 ©2005 MRB Publishing LLC




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