Karate Coyote rising in popularity

Karate Coyote ready for big show

Radio station CD101 took over the LC Pavilion April 11, with their annual CD101 Day, featuring national rock outfits People in Planes, The Cliks, Audrye Sessions and The Parlor Mob. Perhaps the group that’s most excited to play the event is Columbus’ own Karate Coyote, a six-piece pop rock group with big band sounds that are equal parts inspired and inspiring.

Karate Coyote formed in 2007 when members Ryan Horn and Eric Vescelius moved back home to Columbus after graduating from Ohio University. When they heard the voice of Sam Corlett and the drumming and bass playing of Ted Bigham and Nic Jados, Karate Coyote was born. They began practicing in a cramped attic bedroom on Indianola. Nic’s sister, Kendra, joined later that year, and the band began playing cover sets around town to mixed critical reviews, but solid crowds.

“I think we all just wanted to play in a band,” Corlett said. “We started off playing cover songs and went from there. We all had a similar taste in music, we all liked indie rock. We picked cover songs together so we kinda got an idea of the genre we were building around.”

Now they’re playing alongside some pretty solid national bands, and they’re also one of the most requested groups on CD101, often cracking the “Top Five at Five,” reserved for the five most requested songs of the day.

Click through the photo gallery to get a closer look at the band, and learn more about the members by reading the information below each photo.—By Dana Stewart, Special to Metromix