Thomas Dollbaum Shot “Coyote” on Christmas Eve in Louisiana — and It Shows

Thomas Dollbaum wrote Birds of Paradise in three months, called up the musicians he trusted most, and met them at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, Mississippi. They learned and tracked the whole record in four days with producer Clay Jones. The result is the album Dollbaum’s writing has always been waiting for — Southern rock with the weight of short stories, the kind that stays with you the way Larry Brown and Breece D’J Pancake do. It’s out today on Dear Life Records.

“Coyote” blends a handful of memories that drifted together over time — talking a drunk friend down from a roof, watching another light an RV on fire, controlled burns and coyotes crossing roads in the part of Florida where Dollbaum grew up. MJ Lenderman harmonizes on the track, backed by bassist Nick Corson and guitarist Josh Halper. The video was shot by Dollbaum and Cora Nimtz on Christmas Eve along the Mississippi River levees, where locals build elaborate bonfire structures and shoot fireworks to mark the holiday. It looks exactly like how the song sounds. Dollbaum heads out this June with Widowspeak, including a stop at Nelsonville Music Festival in Ohio.

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