Keeton Coffman certainly has a way with a song and his knack for souful indie rock makes him a diamond in the DIY world of reckless recordings. Coffman shines with a tender delivery and a big powerful song structure that is an unscripted blender of John Mayer, Nick Lowe and Matthew Sweet.
Coffman will be returning with Hard Times on 6/18, a 10-track feat of triumphant, ragtop-down rock-and-roll. Growing up in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Coffman found an old Alvarez guitar in his mother’s closet behind stacks of Motown, 70s songwriters, and Tina Turner records. “My mom showed me three or four chords after I confronted her with the guitar, like, ‘Why has this been hidden in our house?’” Coffman says with a smile.
Hard Times comprises songs of triumph––and Coffman’s willingness to trust the process. “When I just let the notes float around as they want to, I am symptom-free in the midst of all that,” he says. “On the hard days, the more music I play, the less my mind hurts.” Tracks including “The Magician” and “Night” tackle deception carried out by different actors to different ends, while songs such as “In the End,” “River Town,” and “Wounded Heart” explore faith, consistency, and love. Vivid details form multi-dimensional character sketches moving through recognizable Texas skylines, and the guitar-wrapped stories and confessions become our own.
“I hope people find themselves in the characters,” Coffman says. “This is a record I wrote from my experiences, but these aren’t stories about me. I hope these characters share your story, your thoughts, your pain. We can share the same hope––that’s what music does for me.”
Glide is proud to premiere “Wounded Heart” by Coffman a courageous anthem that stings with power pop adhesiveness and jubilant guitar chords. Coffman echoes the sounds of his heroes while projecting his own flair of songwriting singularity.
“I run to music in the midst of heartache… that’s how this character started in my mind. I picture them sitting by the radio dial late at night like I did when I was a kid, waiting for a song… a new song… an old fav… to speak to me and remind me of what was true. Writers like Bruce Hornsby, Don Henley, Springsteen, Petty and Mellencamp. Their stories just made perfect sense to me when I was a kid. It’s what I turned to and still do. Something about hovering over that radio, the waiting and hoping the universe would speak and heal your broken heart – that’s what created this character,” says Coffman.
Photo by Jess Genevieve
