COYLE — Singing, said Stephanie Ward, is all about “grabbing your breath from way deep down.”
That’s one thing she learned in voice lessons a long time ago. Today, Ward is the vocalist with this Saturday’s Concerts in the Woods featured band: Great American Trainwreck, the six-piece outfit to arrive on the outdoor stage at 3 p.m.
The place for this all-ages show is Coyle’s Laurel B. Johnson Community Center, 923 Hazel Point Road, with admission free and donations welcome. Complimentary cookies and coffee are laid out, as always, during intermission.
Since this is a concert on the grass, lawn chairs and picnic blankets are encouraged, while directions and details can be found at coyleconcerts.com.
Promoter Norm Johnson, working with host Joe McKinstry, looks forward to an afternoon of Southern rock, classic country and songs that tell stories.
“They play some powerful country rock with a full drum kit, electric guitars and keyboard. The whole process is guided by the beautiful voice of the lead singer,” Johnson said of Ward.
“Their rootsy music has a lot of variety,” he said, noting several Great American Trainwreck members have been out to the Coyle venue before. Ward and friends’ bluegrass band, Woodland, played there in 2017.
Tenor guitarist and mandolinist Chuck Dunklin suggested the name for the new band. Ward wasn’t wild about it at first, but “finally I said OK, and we just ran with it,” she recalled.
Shortly after, she realized Great American Trainwreck was just right as a moniker.
“We’re an Americana band,” Ward said, “and we do a really fun show. All of us have such a great time playing together,” thanks to the chemistry among the bandmates.
Alongside Ward and Dunklin are singer-guitarist Judd Wasserman, keyboardist Andy Basinger, drummer Dave Bush and electric- and upright-bassist Dan Rogers. Based in Seattle, Great American Trainwreck has been traveling around the state this summer, playing new songs and sprinkling in some Merle Haggard and Allison Krauss as they go.
Ward for her part, remembers well that Coyle community center gig four years ago.
“The crowd was so amazing: an attentive, listening crowd,” she said.
Back when the band first got together, bars were a mainstay. So it’s a joy “playing for an audience that’s actually interested in the lyrics.”
At https://gatrainwreck.com, music lovers can find information, the downloadable debut album and a video of “Sweet Pepper Jelly,” one of the band’s new songs.
“It’s sweet and spicy at the same time,” Ward said.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladaily news.com.
