Jupiter Coyote

Seamlessly fusing Southern rock with bluegrass, funk, and boogie, Jupiter Coyote has anchored the American jam-band landscape for more than thirty years. The self-described “mountain rock” outfit surfaced in the first half of the 1990s, supported by an ardent following that helped the ensemble stay both road-hardened and steadily productive, moving more than a million records while continuing to issue fresh material well into the 2020s.

Childhood friends Matthew Mayes (guitar, guijo, vocals) and John Felty (vocals, guitars) joined drummer Gene Bass and bassist Sanders Brightwell to form the band in Macon, Georgia. Throughout the early 1990s the quartet refined its funk- and country-pop-inflected approach through constant touring and recording, issuing the well-received albums Cemeteries & Junkyards, Wade, Lucky Day, Still Jammin', Ghost Dance, and Sage with Toad that cemented a dedicated audience. Steve Trismen (vocals, fiddle) joined the lineup in 1999, expanding the group’s sonic range. By the late 2000s the ensemble had grown to seven members with the arrival of lead guitarist John Meyer and second drummer Noel Felty, yielding another series of independent live and studio releases including Waxing Moon, The Hillary Step, and Life Got in the Way. The band remains active, delivering two concert albums in 2020 and a succession of studio singles—“Hotbox the Car,” “What If I Were a Star,” “Pack Mule,” “Pry,” and “Seasons”—in 2021.