Jupiter Coyote

by MacKenzie WilsonThe modern rock five-piece Jupiter Coyote spawns a technicolor blend of bluegrass and American trad rock. Matthew Mayes (guitar) and childhood friend John Felty (vocals/guitar) started the band in their native Brevard, NC, as a means to earn some money in college. They spent the early 90s playing frat houses and small bars, sharpening their funk and country-pop stylings. Several bandmembers came and went and by the mid-90s, Mayes and Felty had made Jupiter Coyote their careers. Their steady five-piece, which consists of Mayes, Felty, Steve Trismen (fiddle), Noel Felty (drums), and Sanders Brightwell (bass), was intact by the new millennium. Their album roster includes Cemetaries & Junkyards (1993), Lucky Day (1995), Ghost Dance (1997), and Here Be Dragons (1998). The Live album followed in 2000 with Waxing Moon appearing a year later. Jupiter Coyote plays nearly 200 shows a year and continues to be a mainstay in the South.