Buckman Coe wants to “play it all” and that's what he'll do at The Soundgarden in Coombs Sept.29.
“I don't like to limit myself. I feel like my music is an extension of a lot of things about me,” he said. “I’m a mixture of all sorts of things, different countries and different ethnicities and the music I like is coming from a wide range… so I want to play it all.”
Coe is originally from Edmonton and made his foray into music playing the piano. He switched to guitar when he was 11 or 12 because it was “a lot cooler” at the time, and although he wishes now he'd stuck with it, he’s fallen in love with a host of stringed instruments. Besides the guitar he now plays the ukulele, banjo, accordion and kalimba.
His music has world elements and he likes to bridge blues with Americana, African music and reggae, he said, among other genres.
He released his second album By The Mountain’s Feet in March of this year and since then it’s reached number four on the Earshot Charts in Newfoundland, and has been enjoyed on CBC radio and stations throughout the U.S.
Coe performed a series of shows in Memphis and New Orleans this year as well as a number of stops between Vancouver and Montreal. This summer he and his band performed at a number of festivals including the Kaslo Folk Festival and the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival, which was the highlight of the summer, Coe said.
Coe recently shot a music video for a song that will be on his new EP, both to be released in November. The video also comes with a mini documentary on sustainability and supporting local food growers, he said.
“It’s really trendy to be talking about issues, but making it something you're practicing, kind of putting it out there in more than just words, is really important.”
Coe and his group will release their full length album in Holland in November this year followed by a tour, and another tour of the United States will most likely be in the cards, he said.
Although Coe’s full band is six people strong, he has a very portable group of three, he said, which will rock the Soundgarden next Saturday, Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 from the Coombs General Store and Cranky Dog in Parksville. For more on Buckman Coe visit www.buckmancoe.com. For more on the Soundgarden in Coombs visit www.thesoundgarden.org.