The local music scene suffered a major loss last week with the death of drummer Doug Tibbles of The Stone Coyotes on April 12.

The Greenfield-based band was made up of his wife, Barbara Keith, on guitar and vocals and his son, John Tibbles, on bass. In recent years Doug Tibbles Jr. joined the group to play lead guitar. The band was not only popular locally, but was known nationally as well, with a particularly large fan base in Texas.

Tibbles’ story is a fascinating one. Long before he picked up the drumsticks he lived in Los Angeles and was a successful television writer working on some of the biggest hit shows of the 1960s. Some of the series he wrote for included “Bewitched,” “The Munsters” and “The Andy Griffith Show.” One of the last shows he worked on was “Happy Days.” It’s hard to imagine somebody walking away from a successful Hollywood career like that, but Doug Tibbles did.

Tibbles met Barbara Keith, a Franklin County native who was in California because of her music career. They shared a manager and Keith was a successful singer-songwriter whose music was recorded by artists such as Barbra Streisand and Olivia Newton-John. After they married, they got to thinking about making music together. The pair ended up ditching their careers and moving to Greenfield, where they formed a rock band.

But to backtrack a little, Tibbles had to learn to play drums before he could be a drummer in a band. He was in his late 30s when he first hit a snare, but as soon as he did, it was game on. A jazz fan, he developed a minimalistic, straight-ahead playing style that would become a trademark of The Stone Coyotes sound.

“It was a treat to watch Doug in the zone,” wrote drummer J.J. O’Connell (Spouse, Soul Magnets, etc.) in a recent Facebook post. “From the drums, he said all that was needed to say with a simple kick, snare, hi-hat and crash cymbal set-up. He was a machine and had a style all his own, perfectly playing for the song.”

The Stone Coyotes’ first show took place in the cafeteria of Greenfield Community College during lunch hour. That was one of a few shows they played before releasing their first album, “Church of the Falling Rain,” in 1998.

They focused more on writing and practicing at home, but did play a gig at the Troubadour in Los Angeles in 1997, and it was there that author Elmore Leonard saw them. This was a huge turning point for the band as the writer went on to use The Stone Coyotes and some of the band’s music as inspiration for his crime novel, “Be Cool.” In the process, this brought national attention to the band after a series of shows with Leonard generated a great deal of press.

But members of The Stone Coyotes were never about chasing stardom, focusing instead on their songwriting and producing “do-it-yourself” albums, remaining fiercely independent. They were recording and releasing music on their Red Cat Records label long before other musicians did business that way. The lyrics on the title cut of their album “My Turn” summed up the band’s spirit.

“Then the man from the label walked in/Said ‘We’ll sweeten up the tracks with some violins’/We said ‘No, no, mister, let’s cut to the chase/What you hear is what you get — guitar, drums and bass.”

In yet another aspect of his creative life, Tibbles designed the artwork for the band’s album covers and posters for shows. Working with collages and photographs, his work ranges from the brightly colored and playful to a darker and edgier side. I have to confess to nabbing more than a few of those Stone Coyotes show posters off a local record store’s wall.

My introduction to the band came after the Elmore Leonard buzz. I had read about the “Be Cool” connection, but did not hear the band’s music until it released “Born to Howl” in 2001. I loved the album and was thrilled to interview the band members for this paper.

I was nervous to meet Tibbles, who had written for some of my favorite television shows growing up (He knew Herman Munster!) but it turned out I had nothing to worry about. Tibbles was warm and friendly, as were John and Barbara, and this meeting turned out to be the first of many over the years.

I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to cover the band’s career so extensively.

The shows they put on really made an impact on me. Members of The Stone Coyotes toured the country and their biggest following turned out to be in Texas where they received heavy radio play. They were also popular in their hometown of Greenfield — since there weren’t many places to play here, they frequently performed at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton. Their most fervent fan base may have been at the Route 63 Roadhouse in Millers Falls, and they entertained large crowds at the Green River Festival and the Fred Eaglesmith festival in Bellows Falls, Vermont, over the years.

Those were good times with people dancing and singing along to songs like “I Want to Rock” and “Born to Howl.” When Doug Tibbles sat at his drum kit, banging away with his giant drumsticks and wearing his trademark shades and fedora, he was the epitome of cool.

The last time I saw Tibbles was at the Academy of Music in Northampton in February 2020, just a few weeks before COVID-19 shut everything down. The show was called “Re-animate the Bay State,” a celebration of that long-gone club and all the great bands that had played there. The Stone Coyotes was one of those.

Prior to that, The Stone Coyotes played at the Shea Theater Arts Center in Turners Falls in the fall of 2019 for the release of the EP, “Rough and Tumble.” The show also marked the first time The Stone Coyotes had played the Shea since 28 years ago. The band ended up releasing a digital recording featuring material from both live shows that is definitely worth checking out.

Thank you, Doug, for all the great memories of all this music. Condolences to Barb, John and the rest of their family, friends and fans. Doug Tibbles will be missed, but with his television shows, artwork and The Stone Coyotes catalog, he left behind an incredible body of work for which he will be long remembered. In tribute to Doug Tibbles, I suggest you play your favorite Stone Coyotes song and turn it up loud!

Busy weekend of music

There is an incredible weekend of music ahead. A reminder that there are two big shows coming up at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls. On Friday at 8 p.m, it’s Iain Matthews, one of the founding members of Fairport Convention. Opening the show will be Pairdown and Allysen Callery. And on Saturday, it’s teen pop sensation Tiffany at 8 p.m. A low ticket alert has been announced for this show. Tiffany will be hosting a meet and greet that will take place at 4 p.m. on the day of the show. Please note that this is a separate purchase and that you must have a general admission ticket before you can get a ticket for the meet and greet. For more information on both of these shows, visit sheatheater.org

In other big news, WRSI The River 93.9 is bringing its popular Meltdown celebration of books and music for kids to Greenfield on Saturday, April 22. In previous years, the annual springtime event was held in Northampton, but this year it will take place at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield. The Meltdown will feature some great music for kids (big kids will enjoy it, too!) including Carrie Ferguson and The Grumpytime Club, and The Nields. The fun begins at 10 a.m. and it’s free.

Sheryl Hunter is a freelance writer who resides in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national publications. She can be reached at soundslocal@yahoo.com.

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