Musician Mike Coykendall grew up in Norwich, Kansas, and is currently based in Portland, Oregon. This Sunday, February 8, he’ll perform with fellow songwriters Freedy Johnston (formerly of Kinsley) and longtime Wichitan Bill Goffrier.
All three have distinguished themselves as singular voices within the musical world. Goffrier was a founding member of Kansas punk legends The Embarrassment who were inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in 2020; Johnston has been making critically acclaimed albums since the 1990s. Coykendall (pronounced kirk-en-dahl) has made significant contributions to Kansas and American music are equally notable. In the ‘80s he was a member of the Wichita band Klyde Konnor, which fused English rock sensibilities with portraits of American life. Later, he moved to San Francisco and gained wider notoriety with Old Joe Clarks.
Since relocating to Portland, he’s recorded and released a series of deeply imaginative and stylistically diverse solo albums. He’s also amassed credits working on albums from bands such as Blitzen Trapper, appearing on record with Bright Eyes, and, for several years worked extensively with singer-songwriter M. Ward and in Ward’s project with Zooey Deschanel, She & Him, both as a recording and touring musician…