Today, California-based, Americana sibling duo The Coffis Brothers release their fifth studio album, Turn My Radio Up, on Blue Rose. Produced by The Mother Hips' Tim Bluhm and recorded at his home studio in Marin County and at 25th Street Recording in Oakland CA, Turn My Radio Up is an album for car stereos, hazy afternoons, and long highways. Jangling guitar leads and front-porch folk songs share equal space with heartland rock anthems and campfire-worthy Americana ballads, all dreamt into existence by a group of road warriors who wear their West Coast stripes proudly. This is honest, heartfelt roots-rock with an emphasis on the roots.
"It's all-American music," says The Coffis Brothers' co-frontman, Kellen Coffis. "There's rock, blues, acoustic folk, and country in there. As music fans, we go all the way back to the beginning — to pioneers like Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers — but we also look to artists like the Eagles and Tom Petty for influence. That's our playbook."
With the aptly-titled Turn My Radio Up, The Coffis Brothers salute the glory days of the FM dial while planting their flag firmly in the present. A loose, limber album that showcases the full range of the band's abilities, the record bounces between full-throttle anthems like "Find Out the Hard Way" and acoustic folk songs like "Feel This Free." Along the way, the Californians make room for soulful, piano-driven standouts like "It's So Easy", atmospheric Americana on "Two of A Kind," and tongue-in-cheek twang of "Ramona", with brothers Jamie and Kellen Coffis trading vocal and songwriting duties throughout.
"We have always loved the radio," says Kellen. "You can listen to one station and hear something you've never heard anywhere else, or you can listen to the classic rock station and hear music that hearkens back to yesteryear. Our music does both of those things, too."
With their 2011 debut, The Coffis Brothers & the Mountain Men, the siblings introduced their mix of the new and the nostalgic, the contemporary and the classic. They began touring throughout Northern California, joined by a lineup that later coalesced around bassist Aidan Collins, lead guitarist Kyle Poppen, and drummer Cory Graves. Gig by gig, the band's audience grew. Santa Cruz Weekly described the Coffis Brothers' energetic stage show as "one part Avett Brothers and one part early Neal Young," with the San Francisco Chronicle praising the group's "easy rock vibe that’s actually hip." Meanwhile, follow-up albums like Wrong Side of the Road and Roll With It helped broadcast the band's sound well beyond California's borders.
Frequent collaborators with Tim Bluhm, the band backed the singer/songwriter for a series of livestreams when the pandemic hit in 2020. Soon thereafter, their attention turned to new songs that Kellen and Jaime had been writing. Blending the woodsy imagery of their native California with universal stories about love, loss, and the open road, it quickly became apparent they had a new album's worth of material ready to record. Allowing instinct and intuition lead the way in a deliberate effort to not overthink the material, they captured what would become Turn My Radio Up with one simple goal: turn up, press 'record,' and let the music flow.
The Coffis Brothers will tour the West Coast in support of Turn My Radio Up beginning May 6 in Albany, CA
THE COFFIS BROTHERS - Turn My Radio Up
Track Listing
1. One That Got Away
2. Turn My Radio Up
3. Ramona
4. Crying Shame
5. Two of a Kind
6. Good Enough
7. Every Now and Then
8. Find Out The Hard Way
9. It’s So Easy
10. Learn The Lesson
11. Feel This Free
LISTEN TO TURN MY RADIO UP HERE
THE COFFIS BROTHERS
Tour Dates
4/29 - Santa Barbara, CA - SOhO *
5/6 - Albany, CA - Ivy Room
5/7 - Santa Cruz, CA - Moe’s Alley
5/10 - Hood River, OR - The Ruins
5/11 - Portland, OR - White Eagle
5/12 - Bend, OR - Camp Fire Hotel
5/13 - Langlois, OR - Cheese Factory
5/14 - Talent, OR - Talent Club
5/20 - Templeton, CA - Castoro Cellars
5/22 - Big Sur, CA - Hipnic
5/27 - Cloverdale, CA - Friday Night Live
6/3 - Blairsden, CA - River Bear Farmz
6/5 - Felton, CA - Redwood Mountain Faire
6/10 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall **
6/12 - Corte Madera, CA - Sunday Concert Series
6/17 - Rohnert Park, CA - SOMO Village
6/24 - Laytonville, CA - Kate Wolf Music Festival
7/4 - Davis, CA - 4th of July Celebration
7/20 - Boulder, CO - Band On The Bricks
7/21 - Frisco, CO - Frisco Summer Concert Series
8/20 - Richmond, CA - Live On The Waterfront
9/10 - Agoura Hills, CA - Tiny Porch Concerts
* w/ The Mother Hips
** w/ Tim Bluhm
