Coyote Motel – The River: A Songwriter’s Stories of the South
This set is described as visionary — rooted in a psychedelic musical exploration of the lives, lore & locales along 3 great rivers of the American South. The Mississippi, the Cumberland & the Tallahatchie (where Billie Jo McAllister threw something from that bridge in 1967). And while there’s a 68-minute film to accompany this soundtrack this is solely the soundtrack.
Coyote Motel is a Nashville-based group & there is indeed innovative creativity afoot, a little determined craftiness & some effort being made to mold something different from the clay & maintain an ounce of entertainment.
So perhaps it’s worth a listen then. The music & the film’s conception were the brainchild of bandleader Ted Drozdowski (guitarist/vocals/diddley bow) who spent decades making this come to life. So, aside from outlining the story I’ll aim at the music & begin with a tale of flooding in “Tupelo.”
The 10-tracks (+ 2 additional radio mixes) comprise The River: A Songwriter’s Stories of the South – (Drops March 19/Dolly Sez Woof). Produced by Ted & recorded in Nashville, TN the set starts with a solid haunting guitar-rattling melody with a jumble of crispiness & tight performances by all. The music possesses some eccentric asides (the female backup singer is a nice touch – almost like the late jazz singer Kitty White who sang in response to Elvis Presley early in the New Orleans morning on “Crawfish” (in “King Creole”). Mesmerizing arrangement. Bravo. The tune here is 6 minutes — all well-spent minutes.
The LP drips atmosphere & mood (including when the female singer goes solo). “Black Lung Fever,” & “Still Among the Living,” while not sung gritty have grit between its weaves – a personal history, a diary of hardship squeezed out of another era. This is where the blues went – sifted through the arc of the electricity in a guitar held by a man in a worn fedora & carrying a picture of Richard Thompson in his coat with a cheroot.
Some songs are good in an old-world bluesy grind, J.J. Cale tradition & Gerry Rafferty vocal tone (“Down In Chulahoma”). The additives are there, the frosting, persistent driving sonics & its humidity, ah, the humidity – the swampiness — never disappoints a listener. It’s Americana…it’s all here.
This collection may parallel (maybe) the 1985 country singer Roger Miller’s Broadway show (7 Tony Awards) that was realized in his “Big River.” A play with excellent music like “River In the Rain.”
Highlights – “Tupelo,” “Black Lung Fever,” “The River Runs Forever,” “Homegoing,” “Still Among the Living,” “Down In Chulahoma,” & Tito & Tarantula & the Blasters’ haunting creepiness permeates “The River.”
Musicians – Sean Zywick (bass), Kyra Lachelle Curenton (drums), Luella (vocals/guitars/percussion) & Laurie Hoffma (theremin/glockenspiel).
Color yard image: the band’s website. Color image standing courtesy of Bonnie Aldcroft. CD & song samples @ Bandcamp + https://teddrozdowski.com/