Vagabond style: Local band Left Coast Gypsies brings unique sound to Fall City Days

It’s tricky to try to pin the Left Coast Gypsies, the band slated to perform during Fall City Days festivities Saturday, down to a specific musical style. “It’s a mixture of different genres,” says band frontman Mike Antone. “It’s folk rock, blues, and country, reggae, and it’s sort of all over the place.”

By Carol Ladwig • June 15, 2012 5:17 pm
Left Coast Gypsies band and crew members gather with family members in this photo from the band’s Facebook page. The dogs are there “just for giggles
Left Coast Gypsies band and crew members gather with family members in this photo from the band’s Facebook page. The dogs are there “just for giggles

It’s tricky to try to pin the Left Coast Gypsies, the band slated to perform during Fall City Days festivities Saturday, down to a specific musical style.

“It’s a mixture of different genres,” says band frontman Mike Antone. “It’s folk rock, blues, and country, reggae, and it’s sort of all over the place.”

Nor is it easy to categorize the Gypsies with a specific fan base — Antone says they’re all local, but range in age from their 20s to their 70s — or even a specific band. Many of the members perform solo or belong to other bands, including Antone (Satellite by Night, and a duo with Camelia Jade, the Gypsies’ sound technician and guest vocalist) and bass player Jonathan Nelson.

One thing is definite about the band, which includes Antone, Nelson, Jade, Lynn Cornelison, Steve Forsythe and Caycee Furulie, and it’s the reason they play.

“We like to just get together. We barely practice, and we just come together and play songs that we know and remember them all,” said Antone.  “I guess the theme probably would be all the music that we play together collectively is coming from our hearts.”

Much of their music is original compositions by Antone and poet Cornelison, who are essentially the group’s founders.

“We’ve written many songs together, and then we made this group,” Antone explained.

Of course, their shows include plenty of classics, too, something for everyone, really.

“We play basically in bars a lot, so (for) the older generation, we have songs …like ‘King of the Road’ and ‘16 Tons,’ and then we’ll go to a song from the Wailers, then a country song, then a Neil Young folk rock song,” Antone explained.

For their debut appearance at Fall City Days, Antone said they’ll play a two- or three-hour show, and hope it doesn’t rain.

With any luck, they’ll get some people dancing, too.

“We have people that get up and dance when they are called to,” Antone said. “It’s all about following their hearts, as much as we do when we play.”

The Left Coast Gypsies will take the stage at Fall City Days at 12:30 p.m.

For more information, visit www.mikeantone.com.