The Coteries

"Talent obviously plays an integral part of the equation. You have to be able to deliver. But beyond that, The Coteries represent the dream so many have. Their dedication, investment and determination prove that any dream is possible if you work at it hard enough."

(scroll to page 10 and 12) - Americana Rhythm Music Magazine I Greg Tutwiler

When listening to the music of The Coteries, two visuals come to mind – a stunning sunrise in the early morning and the scenic beauty of an American byway. Their melancholic music is filled to the brim with glowing heart and soul, with gentle strums of an acoustic guitar and the soothing vocals of singer Emily Parasiliti.

As their website’s biography suggests, The Coteries were ‘Born out of the midst of an 11,000 mile North American road trip, [they] bring you Folk Rock music steeped in their travels and the back roads of the American countryside.’

The New Jersey-based band released their debut EP, Reason in the Road, at the end of July. The first single off that album, I’m Travelin’ On (which you can listen to here), is a sweet, acoustic melody that makes you want to wake up as the sun is rising and go for a drive down the back roads of your town, just to take in the beauty of the area you live in. It’s music that puts you in touch with your feelings, and reflect on the past as you drive down the road ahead.

.... - Michael E. Fromm

The Acoustic Americana music of The Coteries packs in some beautiful heart and soul. Their lives and their music have recently been inspired by their travels in their old VW bus they call "Trusty Rusty". I was lucky to chat with the band members just after their appearance at the Divide Music Festival July 22-24, 2016. This talented band explained how they owe everything to what they call the "Van Life". Their Instagram photos only show half of what they went through to grow into the band they are now. Get to know Emily, Matt, and Ben and check out their first EP appropriately called Reason in the Road.



AXS: How was your experience at the Divide Music Festival in Winter Park this summer?

The Coteries: Divide was definitely worth the very steep and slow drive up to Winter Park in our 27 year old van. We opened the day Saturday, and all of the early risers out for yoga were super supportive of our set. One beautiful lady we met had come all the way from Baton Rouge, LA to Divide because it was her birthday and she was looking for something fun to do. Being the least known band at the festival had it's perks as we not only could go out personally and connect with all of the people attending the festival but we also got to chill with the other bands and staff there. Not to mention our engineer, Anthony, happened to grow up right near us in New Jersey and had mutual friends which was a cool connection. Overall, an experience we hope to repeat next year!

AXS: "Sweet Georgia" seriously gets me moving! What songs off your recent album Reason in the Road have very special meanings to you guys?

C: The new album is music written from our 11,000 mile road trip across the country, which was essentially the start of our band. Every song has significance but “I’m Travelin’ On” is the song we are all most proud of. It was the first song the three of us collectively wrote together one morning around a kitchen table. This song is essentially our ode to our Vanagon, Trusty Rusty, and all of the experiences we’ve had up to this point that has shaped who we’ve become and where we’re headed as people and musicians.



AXS: Was there a particular instrument that you found challenging to learn?

C: When we started with “Sweet Georgia” it was just two acoustic guitars and Emily singing. Over the past 6 months, Matt and Ben have picked up mandolin, percussion and adding their own vocals while Emily has taken up the harmonica. Learning to sing with three voices has definitely been the most challenging, but we’re all really enjoying learning these instruments and seeing how much they add to our overall sound.



AXS: Tell your fans about the "Van Life". Why is your VW Vanagon "Trusty Rusty" meaningful to you?

C: When we set off on our wanderlust trip we were all feeling pretty lost with ourselves and our own personal musical aspirations and knew something had to change. We only had acoustic guitars, a stick shift Vanagon we had a week of practice learning how to drive, and a road map to guide us along. We learned more than we could have imagined on the back roads of America (Most importantly, Montana and Wyoming like to drop below freezing in August, and altitude sickness in Colorado is a real thing). This was the start of everything for us.

There is a huge culture and community behind "van life"; one we've really begun diving into since we teamed up with GoWesty. The notion of the van life is a romantic one, and we have had our fair share of those moments. There have been times where we've rolled out of bed in the morning to find wild horses in New Mexico roaming around our campground, or woken to the sun rising and fog creeping into the Smoky Mountains. These moments are irreplaceable. What Instagram doesn't show is what it's like to attempt to put up your rain fly in the middle of a thunderstorm after 13 hours of driving so you can finally go to sleep, or trying to cook our one meal of the day (pasta and meat sauce) in a Walmart parking lot because we're pinching pennies to make it to the next gig. The highs and lows are constant; we're always slightly on edge not knowing exactly where we're sleeping every night or anticipating the van having a glitch as we're rolling at 15 MPH up a 12% grade. But man, the places we've seen and people we've met...we would not trade it for the world. In many ways, "Trusty Rusty" saved us. Stripping it down to the bare bones of living has helped us build ourselves back up. We owe everything we've become to the van life.


AXS: A lot of my readers are geeks. I'd love to know who everyone's favorite superhero is.

C: Unless the cast of Scooby Doo counts we'd collectively have to say The Wolverine. Mainly because we were in Ohio a few weeks ago and discovered exactly what a real wolverine looks like and it's quite hilarious; kind of resembles Emily before coffee. - AXS

Have you ever found yourself looking for music that feels real or moving? Well if you have come across The Coteries then you found the right band to do that for you! With beautiful lyrics, complimenting acoustic guitars, and female lead Emily Parasiliti’s melodic vocals, this band fits the criteria for an acoustic group that makes real music.

With inspirations like the great Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell and Crosby Stills & Nash, the band has mastered a raw, folk vibe. Led by a strong, female voice and backed by rhythmic acoustics and catchy percussion. The Coteries describe themselves as “road trips, rumble strips, and some feel good music.”

Coming off their debut 2014 release, they have captured the attention of the acoustic music world. They are looking to record a full length in 2015, but you can catch their amazing live performance at DREWCHELLA 2015 here at Drew University. - WMNJ The Forest

Emily Parasiliti, 25, is a Hatfield native whose band, The Coteries, is working its way to the big time in the music business.

The group — Parasiliti and two acoustic guitarists, Matt Runciman and Ben Bosh — has performed locally (at Luthiers Co-Op in Easthampton), nationally (as far from home as San Francisco) and internationally (in Apple Hill, Ontario, Canada). Recently it was invited to perform at the Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and even snagged a spot on the conference’s compilation album with the song “Sweet Georgia,” a fan favorite Parasiliti says. The Coteries was one of just 10 artists picked to be featured on the album from a pool of the 300 musicians participating in the conference.

The Millennium Music Conference, a three day networking event that took place in late February, offers emerging musicians a chance to perform for a panel of music-industry professionals, and to get their advice and insight.

“We had just been playing restaurant gigs before this so we were pumped up — but really ecstatic to get on the compilation album,” Parasiliti said.

An early start


Parasiliti began her music studies when she was 7 years old at the Northampton Community Music Center, where she studied piano with veteran teacher Monica Robelotto.

“She was such a great student,” Robelotto said in a recent phone interview. “Easy going, easy to teach.”

Parasiliti also got involved early in the musical theater program at Smith Academy in Hatfield, although, at first, she says, she was shy and stuck to the background in the shows produced by the K-12 program. She credits Melissa Urey, then the director of the program, with encouraging her as a sophomore to show off her voice.

“She was really a mentor to me,” Parasiliti said. “She helped me get out of my shell.”

With that boost in confidence from Urey, Parasiliti applied for, and was accepted to, Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York, where she majored in music business.

After graduating in 2010, she worked as the business director for Second Floor Music Publishing, a New York City publishing company for jazz music, where she handled copyright issues. She also helped write lyrics and did vocals for some of the company’s projects.

While there, she became close friends with trumpeter Don Sickler, a Grammy Award-winning jazz music producer and owner of Second Floor. For a while, she even lived in a home owned by Sickler that he used mainly for storage of his industry collectibles, ranging from manuscripts and paintings, to possessions of famous musicians.

“I ate breakfast in John Coltrane’s chair every morning,” Parasiliti said.

Even as she immersed herself in the music-publishing business, Parasiliti says, she began to have doubts about continuing a musical career.

“I wasn’t sure if music was what I wanted to pursue anymore,” she said.


Serendipity strikes

Parasiliti’s musical goals crystallized after a musician friend introduced her to Runciman and Brosh. A musical bond and a fast friendship soon developed.

“We were all in this low but because of each other we started playing again. We really understood each other’s weirdness; we never understood anyone else musically,” Parasiliti said. “It’s like armor having them up there with me” she added. “When you’re playing solo you’re naked, stripped down.”

The trio went through some growing pains; they added, then dropped, a drummer, ultimately opting for a stripped-down, acoustic sound.

“Folk-rocky with some blue undertones,” is how Parasiliti describes the music.

After some trial and error, they settled on the name The Coteries, which means “a small secluded group of people with shared interests.”

Then they set off on the road to launch the band in earnest.

“We wanted to figure out who we are and figure out America,” she said.

Last summer, the trio went on an 11,000-mile tour across the United States, cramming themselves and their equipment into Runciman’s blue 1990 Volkswagen van, “Trusty Rusty.”

“That was the epicenter of the trip,” Parasiliti said about the van. “We slept in there, we ate in there.”

While touring the country in those cramped conditions, the musicians stretched their legs and made videos along the way, stopping in state parks and recording live performances, all of which are posted on the band’s YouTube page at www.youtube.com/user/TheCoteries.

The next step

After the tour was done, the trio applied to perform in festivals. After receiving an email from the Millennium Music Conference, saying they had been accepted, the musicians started to imagine how it could benefit their careers.

“We do our own booking right now. Our ultimate goal is to find a booking agency,” Parasiliti said.

“I’m excited, I’ve never been in this element before,” Parasiliti said in an interview right before their Feb. 20 performance day. After the conference, Parasiliti said it had been a great experience, with the new connections they made and the musicians they got to play with. They didn’t come away with an agent, but that’s OK, Parasiliti said.

“I don’t think we need it right now,” she said. “Everyone told us that we’re doing everything exactly right and not to sign with anyone. ... We’re booked every Thursday, Friday and Saturday until May.”

The Coteries will perform Thursday at the Middle East Club in Cambridge, and on March 27 and 28 at the Eighth Annual Singer-Songwriter Cape May Festival in Cape May, New Jersey, along with other musicians from the conference.

Parasiliti says the trio plans to record again in the spring.

“We’ve already written two songs since the concert,” she said.

The Coteries’ debut, self-titled EP is available at thecoteries.bandcamp.com.
-John Stapleton - The Gazette , John Stapleton

A West Orange High School alum’s folk rock band is gaining traction within the music industry, having just been accepted to perform at next month’s Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, Pa., and at the Cape May Singer-Songwriter conference in March.

On top of that, The Coteries — consisting of WOHS graduate Ben Brosh and South Orange residents Emily Parasiliti and Matthew Runciman — were selected out of 300 other artists to be one of just 10 musicians included on the Millennium conference’s compilation album.

Each of these achievements represents a major opportunity for the blossoming band, especially considering that the conferences will put the members in close proximity to hundreds of other artists and industry professionals, while the album will expose them to even more of the music business. It is a chance greatly appreciated by The Coteries.

“It is a huge honor,” Parasiliti told the West Orange Chronicle in a Jan. 23 phone interview. “We could not ask for more.”
What is even more impressive is the fact that the group has actually not been together for that long. Having met through friends, Parasiliti said The Coteries have only been performing together for the past year and a half. And she said it was not until July that they really discovered their musical identity.

They made that revelation during an 11,000-mile long North American tour in a 26-year-old Volkswagen van lovingly named “Trusty Rusty.” It was while traveling down highways, and stopping to record videos of themselves performing in each national park they visited, that they stripped away their electric instruments in favor of honing an acoustic sound they felt passionate about, Parasiliti said. It is a style of music they are still focusing on today.

And it was not just their performance that improved during the trip. Brosh said The Coteries’ original songs are based on personal experiences and the places they have seen. Getting the chance to explore the United States on an intimate level was invaluable to their music, he said.

“I think all of us kind of wanted to see America,” Brosh said in a Jan. 23 phone interview. “Our music is rooted in Americana, so for all of us it is like a rite of passage to travel around the country and see what was out there other than the East Coast.”
Of course, the closeness of traveling around in an old van proved to be a bonding experience as well.

“When you are stuck in the middle of Montana in below freezing weather, and all you have is each other and a tiny little van and Nicholas Sparks movies, it does bring you closer together,” Parasaliti said.

But The Coteries, especially Brosh and Runciman, had a solid musical foundation even before their trip, thanks to their respective backgrounds growing up in West Orange and South Orange.

Brosh said living in a community as diverse as West Orange exposed him to a wide range of musical genres that influence his playing today. Though he attended private schools, Runciman said he also received an eclectic musical education throughout his youth; plus, getting the chance to work with so many different types of local musicians was immensely helpful.

“I started playing more music when I went to St. Peter’s in Jersey City, and I got into playing with more people at that time,” Runciman said in a Jan. 23 phone interview. “I played with Maggie Kraus, who is a Maplewood-born musician who tours nationally right now and is really talented, as well as the acoustic scene. So just having memories like that to start off my musical life is something that was very positive for me.”

Even Parasiliti, a Boston native, has noticed a positive impact on her career due to South Orange. She said The Coteries have made a good living performing at restaurants throughout the Northeast — as opposed to playing the low-paying, often less-attended New York bar circuit as many bands do — but their residency at Ricalton’s Village Tavern is particularly special. That is because its management has been highly supportive, she said, and residents are always responsive.

If all goes well, however, the band might soon be playing at venues larger than local eateries. With the Millennium and Cape May conferences and a debut album on the horizon, The Coteries hope to become the latest band to benefit from the recent folk music revival.

“We are very excited to see what 2015 brings for us, to say the least,” Parasiliti said.
Who knows, West Orange might have helped produce the next Mumford and Sons. - News-Record, Sean Quinn