Doors @ 7:00pm
Show @ 8:00pm
All Ages
Full Bar
Free On-Site Parking
It’s hard to describe Patrice Pike’s music as one particular genre. It’s part rock, part R&B, some soul and jazz appear in the mix, and that’s not to mention all the world influences. Though, for listeners of Pike’s music, they would describe it not as a genre, but as an experience.
Music is meant to inspire, to evoke emotion, to create a shared experience of the human condition. Pike’s music and well-crafted lyrics create their own melodic solution to how we can navigate a world full of heartbreak with hope. Even in her songs that don’t shy away from hard topics such as poverty, gun control, and different forms of tragedy, Pike’s music is always about hope and finding the strength to continue. Whether she’s singing, playing the guitar, or rocking out on percussion, Pike’s music reminds us to be compassionate with ourselves and others, and to celebrate all that this life has to offer.
--
Keeton Coffman is pacing on his front porch, taking a moment to explain the tension not just that he’s found, but that he needs. “I love these new songs because you can hear the hope in them, but you can feel the weight of the circumstances, too,” he says. “If you just get dark for the sake of dark, you forget you still have a pulse, and hey, your heart is still pumping for a reason.”
The new songs Coffman is referencing make up his latest album, Hard Times, a 10- track feat of triumphant, ragtop-down rock-and-roll. Anchored in Coffman’s natural storytelling and earthy voice, Hard Times is both a reintroduction and a return for an artist who’s pushed through starts and stops, but who’s never been anything but exactly who he is. “I’ve never needed someone’s permission to write,” Coffman says. “I’ve always just thought it’s what I should do.” Growing up in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Coffman found an old Alvarez guitar in his mother’s closet behind stacks of Motown, 70s songwriters, and Tina Turner records. “My mom showed me three or four chords after I confronted her with the guitar, like, ‘Why has this been hidden in our house?’” Coffman says with a smile. An elite gymnast en route to becoming a national champion, he carried the guitar with him on long bus rides to competitions, and then west to college at the University of Texas at Austin. When an injury finally ended his athletic career at
20, Coffman immersed himself wholly in music. After graduation, Coffman packed up and moved to Houston, where he first built a following with his band, The 71s. The quartet decided to part ways in 2012, and solo projects including 2016’s Killer Eyes followed, always gaining traction thanks to Coffman’s Springsteen-esque grasp on the beauty only found in grit. Houston Press, Space City Rock, and other outlets noticed. But as projects opened doors, Coffman had to step back, moved by forces out of his control. Diagnosed with Bipolar II and Obsessive-compulsive disorder while still in high school, the
diseases reared up and set him down. “You don’t know why Bipolar pops up when out does––it just comes out of nowhere, and boom,” Coffman says. “A few years ago, when things got very difficult, I decided, well, I’m not going to stop writing even though I’m not sure if these songs are any good - my analytical skills aren’t what they should be. When I got back to myself, I had these 10 songs.” Hard Times comprises those songs––and Coffman’s willingness to trust the process. “When I just let the notes float around as they want to, I am symptom-free in the midst of all that,” he says. “On the hard days, the more music I play, the less my mind hurts.” Tracks including “The Magician” and “Night” tackle deception carried out by different actors to different ends, while songs such as “In the End,” “River Town,” and “Wounded Heart” explore faith, consistency, and love. Vivid details form multi-dimensional character sketches moving through recognizable Texas skylines, and the guitar-wrapped stories and confessions become our own. “I hope people find themselves in the characters,” Coffman says. “This is a record I
wrote from my experiences, but these aren’t stories about me. I hope these characters share your story, your thoughts, your pain. We can share the same hope––that’s what music does for me.”