The Coyote Kings make an appearance this coming Saturday, September 14 in Boise’s Sapphire Room. The Coyote Kings, who founder/guitarist/writer and singer Robin Barrett admits that “the blues guys call us a rock band and the rock guys call us a blues band and I’m not apologizing for that. When I make music; and the band subsequently makes music, it takes from a lot of different genres and hopefully comes up with a pretty good gumbo that everybody thinks is tasty”. Indeed, the Coyote Kings have a unique style all their own. Hailing from Walla Walla, Washington, the band features vocalist Tiphony Dames, bringing an urban funk/soul/blues sound to the band that is hard to beat. The show will be held at the Sapphire Room in Boise’s Riverside Hotel and is produced by the Boise Blues Society, who have produced many great blues shows there.
Robin had listened and played the blues as part of his musical upbringing for many years, but he finally reached a pivotal point where it made a big impression on him. He said, “I really started studying the blues towards the beginning of the ’90s, when I really went back and listened to the Chicago guys and Robert Johnson. The Texas guys really were a big reveal to me, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and of course Stevie Ray Vaughan. Just that whole clan really got me fired up about blues; and made me realize how much I had loved blues throughout the years and didn’t know it”. He added, “I’m never going to sound like those guys, but I want to pay homage to them in my music”.
Moving to Walla Walla around 1971, Robin traded, listened and bought many different types of LP’s with his friends. He was exposed to other types of art too in the city, where his mother founded the Theater Arts Department at one of the community colleges. By the time he graduated high school in 1975, he says “the music culture was pretty freakin’ good and pretty hip!”. In 1977 he started playing guitar professionally with several bands. In the 90s he decided to record an album. Robin said, “After ‘failing at sounding bluesy’ I decided to make an album that I would want to listen to. Instead of trying to do stuff that I thought everybody else wanted to hear, to emulate Robben Ford or Stevie Ray or whoever, I decided to make an album that I wanted to listen to. That resulted in an album called Blue Movie. You’ll hear influences in that, but I gave up trying to sound “true blue”. As wacky as that album is, it’s very true to what I like. It’s kind of mixed up; I’ve never been a purist, so while I love the old Chicago guys and especially the Texas guys. Texas blues was real big in the late 80s and into the 90s and I was really into that for the straight blues stuff”.
Following that, the Coyote Kings were born, becoming a popular, award-winning band. Following some personnel changes, Robin Barrett and the Coyote Kings took over the mantle. Kit Kuhlmann plays bass and Gordon Townsend-Farr plays drums for the band. The band has won several blues awards, including Best Blues CD and Best Blues Band for the 2014 Empire Award. Robin has won the prestigious 2014 Empire Award for Best Blues Guitarist.
Tiphony Dames came to Washington from across the country, being born and raised in Harlem, NY.There, she sang in church choirs and even sang at the Apollo Theater at the age of 10. After moving to Washington following her college graduation, Robin saw her perform several times. They started performing together, with Tiph recording a self-titled album with the Coyote Kings in 2017. This year, Rocket was released on Underworld Records and it really shows that Robin Barrett & Coyote Kings with Tiphony Dames is a match made in musical heaven.
The Coyote Kings blast into Boise on Saturday, September 14, 2019 for a marvelous evening at the Sapphire Room. Show time is 7:30-10:30pm, with doors opening at 6:30pm. Tickets are available online through Eventbrite here or at the door.
Coyote Kings website
Sapphire Room website
Boise Blues Society website
All photos and video courtesy of Robin Barrett & Coyote Kings
