John Wesley Coleman III

Self-proclaimed "trash poet" John Wesley Coleman III incorporates indie rock slack with witty storytelling in his music. Coleman's music is a stripped-down combination of garage rock and lo-fi punk with a dash of '60s pop for seasoning, matched with lyrics that range from the playful to the openly confessional. After performing with the band Golden Boys, Coleman made his solo debut with the rough-and-ready Steal My Mind in 2009. While later works such as 2012's The Last Donkey Show and 2018's Cuckoo Bird Sings a Song were a bit smoother and more professional in their technique, his signature style remained intact.

Hailing from Irving, Texas and living much like a drifter in East Austin, Coleman started engaging himself in a variety of creative activities in the mid-2000s: performing with psychedelic five-piece Golden Boys, doing standup comedy, painting, writing books and movie scripts, and recording solo material. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Monofonus+Press%22">Monofonus Press</a> released Coleman’s combination poetry book/CD, American Trashcan, in 2008, and followed it up with a 7" titled Ghettoblaster, which included a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">George Michael</a>'s "Faith." His next full-length, Steal My Mind, was issued in 2009, before <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Permanent+Records%22">Permanent Records</a> released Bad Lady Goes to Jail in 2010 and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Daggerman+Records%22">Daggerman Records</a> dropped Little Miss Keith Richards. Coleman returned in 2012 with The Last Donkey Show, recorded in Oakland, California at <a href="spotify:artist:7xTIiA1G5UwWtynOR07fHb">Greg Ashley</a>'s Creamery studio, and at a friend's childhood home in Lockhardt, Texas, offering more of his uniquely colorful tales and a hint of maturity.

Coleman remixed some of his own material from American Trashcan for the 2012 release Nightmare on Silly Street, and in 2014 he teamed up with the respected West Coast indie label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Burger+Records%22">Burger Records</a> to put out the album The Love That You Own. In 2018, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22GOLIAD+Media%22">GOLIAD Media</a> issued Cuckoo Bird Sings a Song, a set produced by <a href="spotify:artist:2AubscTHZ6Gqo7hlIyDEaH">Jaill</a> guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3FCINgUJqKv4z7INXxKaDZ">Vincent Kircher</a>, with his bandmates serving as Coleman's accompanists. ~ Jason Lymangrover, Rovi