Coyote Bill Boogie Band Interview for the 2012 Pitch Awards
What's new?
Well, we dropped the "and the Wild Ones" a little over a year ago, but it's all right because a lot of people still call us that [Coyote Bill & the Wild Ones]. We have a new drummer in Cody Castille — he's the son of Billy Beale and he's been with us for a year or so.
 Any recent releases or anything on the horizon?
We hope to have a new CD out before the end of the year. In October, we are going back to play at the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas. It will be our second year in a row there, and we are really excited about that. Other than that, we've been playing shows all over the area and generally flipping the bird at the blues bourgeoisie.
 In a perfect world, how would critics describe your music and band?
Rugged and raw. Fun, entertaining, electrifying. Energetic and regicidal.
 Who are some other nominated acts you're a fan of?
Them Damned Young Livers, Linda Shell & the Blues Thang, Margo May — because they are all really talented and hardworking and have been busting their arses on the local scene for a while now. Plus any band that calls themselves the Pizza Party Massacre has got to be great. Don't know anything about them, but I like them already.
 What's your favorite KC venue, and why?
A lot of the status quo blues venues in town won't give us the time of day, so we play wherever we can.
 What keeps you in KC rather than moving to a bigger music city?
Hell, I don't know. I can say this: Four years ago, I competed in one of the Kansas City Blues Society's solo/duo competitions as a solo act. I didn't win, and afterward one of the judges said to me that he couldn't vote for me because I didn't grow up in the KC area, so he didn't consider me a local artist. Well, since then, my band has been nominated for The Pitch Music Awards twice, so that jackass can suck it.
 
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Local Blues Musician has been nominated for a Humanitarian Award. William Bartelt, better know as Coyote Bill, is one of several honorees for this year’s Compassion Award from Care of Poor People (COPP Inc.). 
Local Blues Musician has been nominated for a Humanitarian Award. William Bartelt, better know as Coyote Bill, is one of several honorees for this year’s Compassion Award from Care of Poor People (COPP Inc.). 
COPP Inc. is an organization aimed to help Kansas City’s homeless population.  Coyote Bill is being recognized for his efforts as an organizer of clothing drives and fundraisers the past two years.  The award will be presented April 7, 2012 as part of COPP Inc.’s Spring Break for the Homeless Event, held in the parking lot of The Scottish Rite Temple, located at 1330 East Lynnwood Blvd, Kansas City, MO.
Background:  Coyote Bill is a native of the South Side of Chicago and has made his home in the Kansas City area for several years.  During this time he and his band, The Coyote Bill Boogie Band, have hosted clothing drives, fundraisers and participated in several charitable events to help those in need in the Kansas City area.  In addition, Coyote Bill has written for the Kansas City Blues Society Blues News and currently writes about the Local Blues Scene for Big City Blues Magazine.
  - KANSAS CITY UNDERGROUND PRESS - March 20, 2012
 
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THE COYOTE BILL BOOGIE BLUES BAND should require a seat belt, it's a wild and uncharted ride. So glad to have them this Saturday at Danny's Big Easy. They were invited to play at the King Biscuit Festival last October and kicked butt at the festival, at the famous Red's Club and at the Hopson Plantation ... you don't have to go to Mississippi (although you should) to hear the Rockin' Blues of this 3-some, we have them from 2pm to 6pm.
One of my favorite lines from 2011: (At the end of Coyote Bill's last 'Best of the Blues' show at Danny's)  ... A tall, well-groomed, elderly gentleman made his way to the door and said to me "Man, I hate to leave, I'm from Oklahoma and have been in KC over 50 years, I've seen and heard a lot of jazz and blues cats in my time ... that's One Bad Dude on that slide"... I totally agree. -KC BLUESIACS MEETUP PAGE - February 11, 2012 
"Very few blues guitarists can properly manage a truly thundering guitar tone into an all-night-long, three-sets-of-fury show without wearing out the crowd's eardrums, but Coyote Bill has the taste and the tone to get the job done. Once one is accustomed to the idea that his amplifier will not shiver into a pile of its lesser components, one can thoroughly enjoy a rhythmically tight performance that is delivered with equal parts mirth and honesty by Coyote Bill and his Wild Ones; the authentic feel of the blues is openly apparent in this transplanted south side of Chicago kid's Kansas City performances."
-Scott Patterson - KANSAS CITY JAZZ EXAMINER -Nov 3, 2009
 
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"Blues is alive, to be sure; however, if it is alive in Kansas City, then the blues scene should be growing instead of becoming more exclusive. Coyote Bill is out to prove that blues fans can still be made and brought into the fold. If he and others with the same spirit reach out to new fans and make them welcome to the blues scene, perhaps Kansas City can generate enough blues fans again to fill as many clubs as this city has entrepreneurial club owners to open. That is how music history is made."
-Scott Patterson - KANSAS CITY BLUES & JAZZ EXAMINER -Dec 18, 2009
 
 
"I ended my evening with Coyote Bill & His Wild Ones, who further fortified my faith in local music. He had folks dancing and stomping, screaming and smiling with his boogie blues. With his floppy hair flying, Coyote Bill looked pleasantly surprised to see people eating it up. Susan Barrett, the bass player, put out controlled licks in contrast to CB's wild, grungy stylings and played with her pinky finger raised. "That's what I'm talkin' about, ladies and gentlemen," said CB. "I'm big, fat and ugly. Drunk and uneducated too," he commented before going into his version of Howlin' Wolf's "Wang Dang Doodle." It was awesome. I loved seeing the cute bros and girls get down to something besides the usual indie-rock fare. "
- Berry Anderson - THE PITCH 'Wayward Blog' - Aug 6, 2010
 
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"Coyote Bill and His Wild Ones will kick off the weekend of blues. This group may have formed in Kansas City, but frontman Coyote Bill is actually a Chicago native. Therefore, the group’s music is heavily influenced by Chi-Town blues. Some Coyote Bill songs, however, have a Southern tinge. “Wang Dang Doodle” features a one-chord rhythm reminiscent of ZZ Top’s “La Grange.” Coyote Bill and His Wild Ones is the only act that performed at the 2009 Bikes and Blues Festival that was asked back this year. Rhea Williams-Carpentieri, a member of the blues festival’s music selection committee, says the group is back by popular demand. “Their music was excellent,” Williams-Carpentieri says. “Everybody that listened to them last year said, ‘These guys are awesome! You have to get them back!’”
- Shea Conner - ST. JOSEPH NEWS-PRESS NOW - Sept 9, 2010
       
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