John Calvin Abney announces new solo LP Coyote; Shares first single "Every Now and Then"

John Calvin Abney - Photo by Dylan Johnson

Stream "Every Now and Then" via Soundcloud

February 27, 2018 (Press Release) - Oklahoma singer-songwriter John Calvin Abney has officially announced his forthcoming LP Coyote, out May 18. Along with the announcement, Abney shares the ablum's first single "Every Now and Then" at Glide Magazine who wrote, "Abney's voice carries a world-weary sadness while simultaneously exuding optimism."
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​For the past decade, Abney has made a name for himself as a solo artist and sought-after sideman. He’s toured as lead guitarist for fellow Oklahoman John Moreland, recording with him on his last two acclaimed albums, and in between, the prolific Abney found time to add another impressive record to his own catalog (2016’s Far Cries And Close Calls), supporting the release with a run of solo shows during a whirlwind year filled with as much struggle as success. Abney’s new full-length, Coyote (out May 18 on Black Mesa Records), draws from this tumultuous time, fearlessly staring down distance, isolation and fading love, as well as loss, fear and disassociation from the self. 

“In the last year, I was confronted with a series of events that took the breath out of me,” Abney says. “I lost some dear friends to terrible accidents. I went through a breakup and moved to another town. My grandmother passed away. I was having some minor health issues glued together by anxiety, and there was no time to see a doctor. So much was happening. I wanted to be a million places at once, but I was barely able to be present where I was. I knew I had to figure out how to cope, how to adapt and keep moving forward.”

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​The title Coyote—taken from a joke nickname given to Abney by bandmates and friends—speaks to the songwriter’s dogged persistence. “Moreland introduced me as ‘Coyote Trigger’ onstage a couple times, I thought it was hilarious—the idea of me as this wild pup running around with big hair and tight jeans and cowboy boots. But later, when I was thinking about what to call this new record, it hit me like a spark. To figure out how to deal with all these things I’d never dealt with, I had to think on my feet, to be scrappy and cunning—I was like a coyote out on the road, confused, wounded and fighting to figure out a way.”
Working on Coyote with ace musicians Shonna Tucker (ex-Drive-By Truckers) on bass, Megan Palmer on keyboards and violin, and Paddy Ryan on drums, Abney crafted ten songs of unwavering beauty and insight, marrying languorous soundscapes to bittersweet reflections on losing what matters most, and the kind of resilience necessary to come out whole on the other side.
“I was writing a lot in the back of the van and the hotels I was staying in,” Abney says. “Though I wasn’t staying up all night and drinking a pot of coffee every three hours to try to write a record—I wasn’t rushing myself. I was just slowly working through everything. It helped keep me going.”
While Abney took his time writing Coyote, the recording process at Fellowship Hall Sound in Little Rock, Ark., was an intense three-day sprint—which is the way Abney prefers it. “I like to work fast so I don’t second-guess anything,” he says. Despite the rapid-fire sessions, Coyote boasts thoughtful arrangements—featuring Abney on piano, organ, guitar and pedal steel—that put his gorgeous melodies and heartfelt lyrics front and center. His association with Moreland might have fans expecting something akin to Americana, but the new record isn’t so easily hemmed into that genre, venturing frequently into sounds that are more dreamy and melancholy.
“For years, I’d record on cassette tape in my bedroom, humming softly to myself,” Abney says. “I still find solace in that kind of approach, though I couldn’t quite get the sound I wanted alone in my bedroom. Coyote is a step toward the dreamier pop and stripped-down compositions I was imagining on those tapes.”
Abney has the uncanny ability to paint vivid pictures with his his lyrics and music, evoking turquoise, topaz and emerald to color the album’s visions of a desert landscape. Still, his home state unceasingly tugs at him in the songs: “Remember those days of Oklahoma rain / When it was all ours,” he sings on the pensive “Souvenir Waltz.” “Honey do you know me or did you just forget?” he asks on “South Yale Special,” pondering how time apart can damage once tight relationships. “Sundowner” plumbs the depths of sorrow before the album downshifts into its lullaby of a closing instrumental, “Leslie Lane,” named after the street in Norman, Okla., where Abney moved in with friends to right the ship following his recent trials. His distinctive writing and meditative vocals let the listener feel every bump in the road, every lonely tear or heartwarming reunion. 
As Abney gears up for the release of Coyote and a lengthy supporting tour, he finds himself as steeled and resourceful as ever. No matter where his journey takes him, whatever the twists or hardships, he’s ready—like the scrappy and unrelenting canine that inspired his nickname—to push on through, finding more fodder out there for his unforgettable songs along the way.