Based on CoyoteHead’s self-titled debut EP from December, you’d never even know the two-year-old quartet has indie-rock roots –– frontman Kyle Barnhill and drummer Jake Webster are from the dearly departed cut*off. All five tracks are just silly with mighty fine pickin’ and a-grinnin’.
“As far as the new country sound,” Barnhill said, “it’s the first time it was allowed by our drummer, Jake ‘Bobcat’ Webster.”
Though Barnhill and Webster are CoyoteHead’s only two former cut*off members, bassist Jefrey Hamilton is the older brother of former cut*off guitarist Jayson Hamilton, whose departure for California several years ago partly prefigured cut*off’s demise. CoyoteHead is rounded out by Leonard Schilling (formerly of Matty Girl and the short-lived cut*off spinoff, Bravo Zulu), who “can play just about anything,” Barnhill said.
With CoyoteHead, Barnhill is definitely realer, lyrically. And, vocally, a tad twangier.
“I’ve always been partial to traditional country music, and now I have a band that can pull it off,” Barnhill said, adding that he and Jefrey, “a country connoisseur,” share similar tastes “in the vein of Waylon, Willie, Haggard, and Townes. … so we’ve gelled together well.”
The feeling appears to be mutual, Barnhill joked. The other band members, he went on, “seem to like my songs about hard living, heartache, and my affection for beer and cigarettes. We’re having a blast. Our musicianship has improved and changed, hence the change in sound. I’m pretty much part hillbilly, part redneck, always have been, so country comes pretty natural.”
Though having formed two solid years ago, CoyoteHead hasn’t been able to play out much, despite opening for Old 97’s Rhett Miller in Dallas not long after forming. Barnhill blames the no-showing on a lack of CoyoteHead recordings to leave with concertgoers.
“Our plan is to use [the EP] as a springboard to more shows and opportunities,” Barnhill said. “I would love to play more often, and now that the EP’s out, hopefully, that will open some doors for us. I really enjoy these guys. They’re all awesome guys, and we play very well together.”
Though the EP is nearly six months old, it will be feted at CoyoteHead’s next gig, an “EP release show” on Saturday at Shipping & Receiving Bar (201 S. Calhoun St., 817-887-9313) opening for Charlie Oxford and headliners Midnight River Choir.
Barnhill said he and his bandmates are working on new material, all to be recorded, like CoyoteHead, at Fort Worth’s KLR Studios, a.k.a. Kyle’s Living Room Studios. “Crafty, eh?” Barnhill kids.
There are already about a dozen new songs ready to be laid down, he said.
“It’s a work in progress,” he continued. “But I like it. I’ve been out of the scene for awhile, but I’ll shoehorn myself back in.”
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
