March 14 Feature – Coral Thief

Coral Thief is a name that is beginning to ring a familiar bell, and not just in Denver. With extensive regional touring through Utah, Montana, and more, the band is at the stage where they can begin to enjoy some of the fruits of their labor. Front man David Baty and crew know, however, that by no means is the hard work through. Coral Thief’s new record Colorado Roots is in post-production right now, and will drop this Spring. It will be their second release.

By press time, the guys will be out on the road to kick off a tour that will see them cover the western United States. “Starting with March, we’re gonna be in SoCal,” says Baty. “Then we’re heading out to Las Vegas. We’re going to be on tour with this band called Stranger Band out of San Diego. That’s going to be the start of our tour.”

Following the release of the record, they plan to hit the Mid-West and possibly the East Coast this summer, spreading the word and the love to a plethora of places they have not yet been.

As far as the new record, the five guys in the band could not be more stoked. “We’re really excited about it,” says Baty. “We’ve got a lot of time and effort in it. We’ve pushed things back a little bit just to make sure we’ve got everything exactly how we want it.” The first single from the album, aptly titled “Colorado Roots,” and accompanying music video will be out this month. The video was filmed in Crested Butte, CA by Trent Bona of the West Elk Project and Trent Bona Photography in Crested Butte.

They recorded the album in Salt Lake City at Rock Solid Studios, with mixing being done in Reno, Nevada. “We fell in to this dude Eric (Eschelbach), who’s a sound guy in the SaltLake area for reggae music, and he opened up a studio,” says Baty. “He did all the track work because we’re out in Utah quite a bit, and our manager’s out there.”

“We’ve been basically non-stop since September,” says Baty. “These guys are going to be back in town for about a month and then back out on the road until god knows when. It’s going to be music festival season, time to hit those fun things up.”

Since starting in March of 2010, Coral Thief has seen some lineup changes and different formations for touring and recording, but through it all Baty has worked his ass off to keep the music alive and keep it progressing. During times when Coral Thief was not as active, he gigged solo around the region as David Baty Music, performing Coral Thief songs and keeping the buzz going. “That was when we were trying to redevelop Coral Thief and get things lined out,” says Baty. “It’s a way of me, when Coral Thief wasn’t out on the road, get the music out there still and continue to build that fan base. It was me out there with an acoustic guitar, just playing as often as I could.”

He spent much of that time in Utah and Montana. “I was out in Utah because one time I was out on the road in an RV, and it would cost $300 to go 500 miles, so I parked it in Utah and lived out of it for three weeks,” says Baty. “I played shows almost every night and it just built how many people were coming to the shows. It’s helped Coral Thief because then when we went there, those people went to the show and now they’re bringing their friends.”

“We’re trying to pick base towns,” says Baty. “I live in Montana, we’re trying to build a really big fan base out there, one in Utah, one in Denver.”

“Basically he was taking all the stuff that he wrote and hitting the road with it,” says drummer Mark Leblanc.

“Coral Thief came together originally as a bunch of dudes that appreciate reggae music,” says Baty.”It’s hard to find that kind of music so far from the coast. We kind of had our growing pains here and there throughout the years, but always tried to stay focused on trying to come up with new music and getting out on the road.”

The band acquired Leblanc, formerly of 40 Oz To Freedom, last year. “That really changed the way we started approaching the band,” says Baty. “It really helped me. From there we started taking on newer people to help us build what we have today.” Bassist Remy Mark was picked up in Montana following an issue with the previous bassist not being able to tour. “He basically figured out 40 songs, these three hour sets that we were doing, we had one day’s practice. We had a show the next day.”

Coral Thief has been gigging almost constantly since their inception. Baty has learned a lot of do’s and don’ts about the musician’s life, as have his band mates, and they look to continue their hard work and turn it into a bright future. “It’s been four years,” says Baty. “It’s knowing what works and what doesn’t work., and finding people who not only can play the music, but who you’re friends with and who you get along with.”

“That’s where we’re at,” says Baty. “We’re pretty much living in a van. Right now (at home) is a glimpse of how life was prior to music.”

Locally, catch the guys at Mile High Hemp Fest June 20-22 in Springfield, Colorado. The Colorado dates, and all others, for their tour with Stranger Band are listed at facebook.com/coralthiefband.

by Tim Wenger

TWenger@ColoradoMusicBuzz.com