Stevie Coyle, late of fearsome guitar duo The Quitters (and very late of whiz-bang string band The Waybacks) is one lucky bum. When he was a kid, his dad ran a radio station in southern California and brought home all the promo LPs that didn't fit the new Spanish-language format. The Ventures' "Guitar Freakout," and "The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett" and "Alvin And The Chipmunks Play The Beatles' Hits" all came home on a single fateful day.

It didn't hurt, either, that string-meister David Lindley played in a bluegrass band that rehearsed right next door, and played at Disneyland, and gave Stevie his very first guitar lessons, or that his dear Granny was a pianist in the heyday of vaudeville, or that his sainted mother was a whiz in mandolin orchestras during the 1930s. Music was all around.

Fortunately, not even several years of playing Folk Masses every Sunday could quash his musical spirit, and in high school, he began fingerpicking, inspired -- as so many were -- by that first Hot Tuna album. Leo Kottke, Pierre Bensusan, Chet Atkins and Doc Watson soon became guitar heroes, as well.

After securing degrees in Theatre and Theology from Santa Clara University, he hit the road for 3 years with The Royal Lichtenstein Circus as juggler, wire-walker, magician, sword-swallower, musician, clown, storyteller, comedian and housecat trainer. 

Once back home, he signed on as actor and stage manager for The San Jose Repertory Company. He also announced killer whale, dolphin, sea lion, lion & tiger, elephant and water-ski shows at Marine World/Africa USA. His best friend was an elephant.

He and his good pal Roy Zimmerman have worked closely in several collaborations over the past 30+ years, including folk tribute / parody band The Foremen and comedy duo The Reagan Brothers in Los Angeles. While there, Stevie appeared on Cheers and in many television commercials, and had a regular role on The Young And The Restless, which was utterly subsumed by then-daily broadcasts of the interminable Iran-Contra hearings.

Safely back in the Bay Area, he continued his acting career, doing commercials, radio, voiceovers and films, and he played music in acoustic duos The Frontmen and The Back Room Boys. In 1998 he co-founded The Waybacks with Wayne "Chojo" Jacques and Glenn (Houston) Pomianek. Soon the acoustic trio was joined by drummer Peter Tucker and bassist Chris Kee, and  it was this configuration that initially established and developed The Waybacks' considerable reputation.

Peter, Chris and Glenn eventually moved on to other music projects, and Chuck Hamilton, Joe Kyle and James Nash came aboard. Stevie fronted both versions of the band and toured steadily with them from 2000 through 2007. They released 4 albums in that time, played major festivals like Merlefest, Grey Fox, Floydfest, Great Waters, Old Settlers, Winfield, Bumbershoot and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. They played the Australian summer festival circuit, and collaborated with Lloyd Maines, Michelle Shocked and Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead.

Stevie went solo in 2007 and toured nationally for the next 5 years. He released a concept CD called “Ten-In-One” in 2009, featuring Mike Marshall, Philip Aaberg, Kit Walker, producer Walter Strauss, Rich DePaolo, Hank Roberts, Corinne West, Teresa Tudury, Rachel Tree, Kendrick Freeman, Sam Bevan, Heidi Clare, Marla Fibish, Mike Phelan, Dr. Robby Virus and Nick Weber.

In 2012, he opened his own snooty, high-end acoustic guitar shop, Mighty Fine Guitars, in Lafayette, CA, and even all these years later, can be found there selling mostly handmade instruments on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and giving lessons to players (and would-be players) of all levels on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. He has just very recently gone solo again, after a wonderful 8-year collaboration with fellow Waybacks founder Glenn Houston.

Whew.

Hit that Mailing List button below to stay abreast of gigs, news and gossip, eh?.