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  "description": "Three Kansas musicians convened for an acoustic show and storytelling session on Super Bowl Sunday. ",
  "path": "/mike-coykendall-freedy-johnston-bill-goffrier/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-26T04:30:01.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.shoutwichita.com",
  "tags": [
    "a recent interview for KMUW",
    "an upcoming book",
    "_@thirteen.hundred._",
    "Derby man has the kind of voice that turns heads — and chairs",
    "Socializing while sober: how some Wichitans are cultivating alcohol-free communities",
    "Bygone Friends University museum housed curious collections",
    "**Click here to support our work with a tax-deductible donation**",
    "Yes! I want to support the SHOUT"
  ],
  "textContent": "On February 8, Mike Coykendall, Freedy Johnston and Bill Goffrier came together to swap songs and stories at Central Standard Brewing.\n\nThe three songwriters came up in the Kansas music scene in the 1970s and '80s. While they never played in bands together, they listened to and were influenced by each other's music. Over the Sunday afternoon, they had plenty to say about that, plus (much) more.\n\nMike Coykendall, Freedy Johnston, and Bill Goffrier took turns singing, playing, reminiscing, and offering the occasional piece of commentary. __Photo by Seth Boles for The SHOUT.__\n\nJohnston said he learned how to play guitar from listening to Goffrier, a member of the influential Wichita band The Embarrassment.\n\n\"(Johnston and Goffrier) were doing great things while I was just struggling to get something going,” Coykendall told Jedd Beaudoin in a recent interview for KMUW.\n\nThe trio played a pre-Super Bowl show on an unseasonably warm February afternoon to a large crowd, many of whom had been listening to the performers' music for decades.\n\n## Our free email newsletter is like having a friend who __always__ knows what's happening\n\nGet the scoop on Wichita’s arts & culture scene: events, news, artist opportunities, and more. Free, weekly & worth your while.\n\nSubscribe\n\nEmail sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.\n\nNo spam. Unsubscribe anytime.\n\nCoykendall, Johnston and Goffrier performed round-robin style, each playing one of their own songs in turn. The songwriters often introduced the next one with a story and occasionally backed each other on vocals. Selections ranged from the last century to recent work that has yet to be recorded.\n\n“We didn't have any plan for this, and that was good because it just came together like it should,” Johnston said.\n\nFrom left: Mike Coykendall, Freedy Johnston, and Bill Goffrier. __Photos by Seth Boles for The SHOUT.__\n\nThe event had the spirit of a family reunion. \"It feels like we were all in the same room 30 years ago,\" one attendee said. Another traveled from Pittsburgh for the show.__Photos by Seth Boles for The SHOUT.__ Mike Coykendall once played in a Wichita band called Klyde Konnor, which was named for a guy he knew. Coykendall went on to San Francisco, where he was the frontman for The Old Joe Clarks, and then Portland, Oregon, where he still lives. In addition to releasing solo albums, he has worked as a recording artist with others, including M. Ward, She & Him, Bright Eyes, and Beth Orton. __Photo by Seth Boles for The SHOUT.__ Freedy Johnston said he never got the hang of being in a band. “I had to learn how to play the songs the same way every time,\" he said \"Really? We can’t just vibe with it?\" Johnston, who grew up in Kinsley, Kansas, spent most of his music career in New York, where he released his best-known albums \"Can You Fly\" and \"This Perfect World.\" His best-known single \"Bad Reputation\" is from the latter. Johnston is now based in Joshua Tree, California. __Photo by Seth Boles for The SHOUT.__ Bill Goffrier explains how he wrote \"Celebrity Art Party,\" a tune by The Embarrassment that rhymes \"artistic\" with \"narcissistic.\" The influential Wichita band was at the center of the Kansas \"post-punk revolution,\" which is the subject of an upcoming book. Goffrier is the only musician of the three who remains in Kansas. These days, he's perhaps just as well known for his paintings of Wichita architecture and other well-known local landmarks. __Photo by Seth Boles for The SHOUT.__\n\n\"I'm on stage and I get to listen these guys, so this is a great show,\" Johnston said. __Photos by Seth Boles for The SHOUT.__\n\nCoykendall joked that the show's theme was \"songs that should not be played on an acoustic guitar.\" __Photo by Seth Boles for The SHOUT.__ Thanks to some unusually wonderful February weather, CSB's garage doors were open and music spilled onto Greenwood Street. __Photo by Seth Boles for The SHOUT.__ Goffrier's former band The Embarrassment recorded a song called \"Wellsville,\" named for the Kansas town off the I-35 turnpike. Johnston told the crowd the story of how a friend once gifted him a stolen Wellsville city sign, which he transported to his apartment via the New York City subway system. __Photo by Seth Boles for The SHOUT.__\n\n_— Text by Emily Christensen._\n\n* * *\n\n_**Seth Boles** is a community-oriented creative professional with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design from Wichita State. Currently, he works at The Print Source as a prepress technician, serves on the board of AIGA Wichita, and volunteers for the Tallgrass Film Association. Seth spends his free time shooting film, playing bass, watching movies, and hanging with his dog Joe. You can find him journaling every Saturday morning at Reverie Roasters and on Instagram __@thirteen.hundred._\n\n****Popular Reads****\n❋ Derby man has the kind of voice that turns heads — and chairs\n❋ Socializing while sober: how some Wichitans are cultivating alcohol-free communities\n❋ [As a small creative business closes, the owner mourns\n](https://www.shoutwichita.com/the-sewing-center/)❋ [Painting through it: Autumn Noire on 20 years of making art\n](https://www.shoutwichita.com/autumn-noire/)❋ [How a guy from Wichita resurrected 'Dawn of the Dead'\n](https://www.shoutwichita.com/leif-jonker-dawn-of-the-dead/)❋ Bygone Friends University museum housed curious collections\n\n## Support Kansas arts writing\n\nThe SHOUT is a Wichita-based independent newsroom focused on artists living and working in Kansas. We're partly supported by the generosity of our readers, and every dollar we receive goes directly into the pocket of a contributing writer, editor, or photographer. **Click here to support our work with a tax-deductible donation****.**\n\nYes! I want to support the SHOUT",
  "title": "Photos: Mike Coykendall, Freedy Johnston & Bill Goffrier at Central Standard Brewing",
  "updatedAt": "2026-02-26T04:37:07.470Z"
}