Fulfilling crazy childhood dreams

My name is Mike Coykendall. I live in Portland, Oregon. I’m on tour with your normal correspondent, Mark McKowski.

We’re out rolling around the UK and Europe, playing in Jolie Holland’s band. Also with us is Anders Pederson from Denmark.

It’s a good crew, and I love the music we’re playing. I’m gonna write Mark‘s column for him today. Not sure where to start. I’ll probably just ramble on.

I’m 60 now, it’s been a long road. I think there’s a fair stretch ahead yet. I was born in Norwich, Kansas, a small town of 500. I was always attracted to music.

I could sing full songs by the time I was two-years-old.

They would stand me up on the counter at the restaurant, or at the bank, or at the grocery store, and ask me to sing.

Sometimes they would give me a quarter.

So, I guess I’ve been professional since the age of two.

My mom says my voice wasn’t particularly good, but it was loud.

I think it got better, and quieter, over the years.

My mother had a nice singing voice, and would also whistle around the house while she did housework. So, I can whistle as well.

Some even know me as ‘the whistler’. That’s a name that the folks in the band, Bright Eyes, gave me.

I started playing drums in bands in high school. I loved it. It was all I wanted to do. I soon learned to play guitar, and then bass guitar. I can also play a little bit of piano and harmonica.

My big sister, Kathy, told me when I was 10 or so that the Beatles were the perfect band. Even though I was only six-years-old when they broke up, I heard their records later in the mid ‘70s, and agreed.

I think that’s what hooked me into wanting to be a musician full-time. Being in a band seemed like a fun way to go about things.

I’m probably happiest when playing in a someone else’s band as a supporting member.

Fronting a band is something I’ve done a lot of as well. But, that is a lot more responsibility and more of a mind game. I always feel like I should be doing better for my players, for the venues I play at, etc. I’ve had a few periods of time where I could draw a pretty good crowd and that felt great, but most the time it’s been a little sparse for sustaining a band. So, when I’m playing my own stuff I tend to play solo.

I’ll be doing a solo tour of the United States in June and early July. I’ll combine it with a trip back through Kansas to see my mother who is 87 now. She still lives in Norwich and needs my help whenever I can. It’s not always easy to get back there and spend time with her. Doing a tour of my own music is a good way to do it. Saves on the expense of a plane flight and a rental car.

I get to play music and make new connections.

I look forward to visiting Omagh someday, and doing a tour of Ireland. What a beautiful country.

So far, I’ve only been to Dublin in Belfast. Mark and I are cooking up a plan for a joint-tour some spring or fall. I hope it works out.

As a musician, I resigned myself to being poor at this point. I don’t plan to retire until I physically can’t do it anymore.

I have been able to see much of the world which is a wonderful thing.

The creative side of things is also its own reward. I still write songs, and love to play on other peoples songs as well.

I’ve learned to interpret other songwriters material in my own way, and I incorporate a lot of that into my own shows.

It’s nice to bring smiles to the faces of people when you’re performing. Or if not a smile, to make them feel something. A shared connection.

I also love to record and started recording myself in 1984.

That turned into a bit of a career for me: I engineer and produce records for other people. That’s how I met Mark. I recorded the first Lost Brothers record back in 2008. That was a good time. I was thrilled to find out that Mark would be the guitar player on this tour. This is the first time we’ve done a tour together. It’s been great.

A lot of hard work, short sleeps, and long drives through beautiful countrysides. 13 countries in 30 days. There’s little time or opportunity to be a tourist.

I’m very much an American, and have no plans to move elsewhere, but it’s so great to get to see the world. It seems to me like in many of the places we visit people have pretty good lives.

Maybe even better than what most of us in America have. It’s great to see older people out riding bicycles. In general, people seem a little more healthy, even though they probably smoke and drink more… haha!

The countryside and the history is just breathtaking and awe-inspiring. I feel very lucky to get to experience it. I doubt that many people from my small town in Kansas of 500 will ever venture to travel abroad so, thank you to music and crazy childhood dreams for giving me the opportunity.

Much love, and I hope to get to perform for you someday.