The Freecoasters
Fort Myers, Florida, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2013 | SELF
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SWFL Live: Your source for live music in Southwest Florida.
The band: The Freecoasters
The sound: "We play a blend of what's called 'early reggae' — that's the 1960s sound, before roots reggae and before Bob Marley — with American soul music in both the Memphis and Motown style," says bassist John Schiller.
Where they got the band name: "The name is actually from the part of a bicycle that allows you to coast while pedaling," says drummer Scott Martin. "Also known as a 'free coaster.'"
Organist David Boyko suggested the name, and the band loved the idea.
"We didn't want anything that had a really specific meaning, anything that brought a concrete image into your mind like, I don't know, 'The Scorpions' does," Schiller says. "We wanted something with a feel, something where the words sounded like they meant more than what they meant.
"We think 'The Freecoasters' hits that mark. It has a feel more than a meaning."
Influences: Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, "rougher tougher reggae" such as Toots and the Maytals and Symarip. Plus a touch of "smooth sweetness."
How they're different from other reggae bands: "I'd say most people, when they think of reggae, they only think of a very small portion of a genre that is incredibly diverse and vast," says singer/rhythm guitarist Claire Liparulo. "We try to incorporate a lot of the classic sounds of '60s Motown and a more danceable British-era, '60s and '70s reggae."
Home: Band members live in Pine Island, Fort Myers, Estero and other parts of Lee County. They rehearse in downtown Fort Myers.
Members: Claire Liparulo (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), David Boyko (organ, piano and melodica), Saul Catacora (lead guitar), John Schiller (bass) and Scott Martin (drums). Everyone in the band writes music.
How they approach cover songs: "When we decide to cover a song, we take it to the next level by changing up the rhythm, tempo and tonality of the song," Martin says. "We try to make the song more in the style of the Freecoasters.
"It's a lot of fun. It's like we get to produce these songs to feel more reggae. For instance, we do a version of 'Satisfaction' by The Rolling Stones, and that tune sounds like it could be one of our own."
Plans for a new album: The Freecoasters launched a Kickstarter campaign this week to fund an upcoming album called "Show Up."
"We finished recording the album last year, and we've been in the process of mixing and mastering," Martin says. "We were fortunate enough to have Jesse Wagner of The Aggrolites produce the album. The album is a variety of reggae, rocksteady and soul."
Learn more about the Kickstarter campaign at thefreecoasters.com.
Where to see them: The Freecoasters play Friday at The Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda, Saturday at Rack'em Billiards in Cape Coral and next Thursday at Catch 22 in Fort Myers. They have 19 shows booked for July and August throughout Southwest Florida and elsewhere.
More about the band:
Find out more about The Freecoasters on their website (thefreecoasters.com), Facebook (facebook.com/TheFreecoasters), Twitter (twitter.com/thefreecoasters) and Instagram (instagram.com/thefreecoasters).
Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells (News-Press) (Facebook) @charlesrunnells (Twitter)
Watch video of The Freecoasters performing at Livemusic.news-press.com - The Fort Myers News-Press
On vous avait parlé ici du bien qu’on pensait des Freecoasters il y a pile-poil un an, à l’occasion d’un premier EP éponyme, tendance sympatoche avec une belle voix féminine et un bon mix de reggae et rocksteady avec plein de soul dedans…
Ef bien les petits gars et fille de Fort Myers, Florida font en ce moment appel à vos participations via Kickstarter pour financer le pressage d’un album nommé « Show Up » à la cover tout ce qu’il y a de plus tip-top, enregistré ces dernières semaines sous la houlette de l’excellent Jesse Wagner, ce qui semble nous promettre du tout bon…
La date espérée de sortie est décembre 2015 et la route à suivre pour les aider est par ici.
A vot’ bon coeur m’sieurs dames…
- See more at: http://www.rudeboytrain.com/?s=freecoasters#sthash.7LqUJ6eM.dpuf - Rudeboy Train
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
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Bio
The Freecoasters create a fresh and original sound by infusing the best of American southern soul with infectious reggae and rocksteady rhythms.
The Freecoasters full-length album, “Show Up," released in 2016, was produced by renown recording artist Jesse Wagner (The Aggrolites) and has received acclaim and praise both nationally and internationally.
Band Members
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