They say nothing is more tedious than other people’s dreams… so the Tiny Mix Tapes News section seems to be the perfect place to share a recent one of mine!
In the dream, I was being pursued by a sleuth of bears who systematically tracked and cornered me into a hidden close. But instead of being killed, the bunch of them stood on hinds, counted out “a-one-and-a-two-and-a-you-know-what-to-do,” and started dancing the Texas two-step. Much like the more typical tales involving trickster coyotes instead of bears, my lack of wisdom got me into this predicament, but my lack of cleverness sure didn’t get me out: I just froze and tumbled to the pine-needled ground in fatal shock.
Moral of the story? …Okay, there kinda is none. But if there was, it’d be kinda like: we can’t manipulate our dreams while sleeping, but we can take steps toward living them while awake. The always forward-thinking, Seattle-based composer Nat Evans has been stalking his for many years now and is about to present his latest ambient drone contemplation, Coyoteways, on March 31 through Mon Amie Records.
Taking a page out of Beat-Gen poet Gary Snyder’s coyote-centric writing, Coyoteways is the culmination of Evans’s experiences with coyotes while traveling extensively in Colorado, Nevada, Washington, and along the Pacific Crest Trail, as well as his research of the mythological trickster tales often associated with this curious and cunning animal.
This inter-disciplinary work is being released digitally and can be pre-ordered here. Flexi-postcards with an excerpt of the composition (and a cover photographed by Evans’s partner Erin Burns) will be available via the heaven-sent Mon Amie label as well.
A bunch of special dates, billed not as mere “shows,” but as performative lectures, meditative listening events, and live album performances — all of which are certain to bring this unique conceptual piece of coyote tale-telling to life — are listed below.
And while you’re pre-ordering and counting down the days until the nearest meditative listening event arrives, take a listen to the ambient opening gambit “Gradient,” which TMT has the exclusive pleasure of premiering for you today. I swear it’s not a trick:
Coyoteways tracklist:
01. Gradient
02. Pine Tar on a Pebble
03. Crossing the River in an Elk
04. Gaze
05. Last Rites
Coyoteways dates:
03.25.17 - Seattle, WA - Bridge Productions @
04.02.17 - Los Angeles, CA - Machine Project *
04.21.17 - Ames, IA - Iowa State University #
04.22.17 - Kansas City, MO %
04.24.17 - Hotchkiss, CO - Yoga Tree %
04.25.17 - Paonia, CO - Blue Sage Center for the Arts %
04.28.17 - Portland, OR - Taborspace %
05.21.17 - Bellevue, WA - Bellevue Regional Library ^
@ pre-release preview event of Coyoteways performed live by Nat Evans (persussion and electronics), Will Hayes (newaxeyes) on guitar, and Evan Smith (The Dip) on saxophone
* performative lecture on Coyoteways with field recordings and live music from Nat Evans and Chris Kallmyer on guitar
# Coyoteways live performance with JC//jp
% Coyoteways meditative listening event: a collage of field recordings and music from the album
^ Coyoteways live performance at Xperience Music Festival