ARTIST: Panda
A funky, soulful singer/songwriter classifying his music as "Soul Folk"!
Picking up guitar on a whim, at the ripe age of twenty, Mataolin ''Panda' Coffey immediately took to the art of song writing and within two and a half years was performing before live audiences. In his formative years, he toured following the American jam band, The Grateful Dead during their Shakedown Street and Mega-Dead periods. It was during this time that Panda was exposed and influenced by a unique blend of different styles of music. Somewhere along the way, he picked up a soulful bag of vocal supplies along with some funky growls and a wailing, blues gristle in place of the standard S.N.A.G. (Sensitive New Age Guy) balladeer persona, in addition to his sometimes wordless African-style vocals with an unmistakable, funky, finger-picking guitar style.
Panda's music is truly rare in its compilation of folk, blues, soul & jazz. His lyrics & music bring an intoxicating appeal to the stage with a wide array of songs about a variety of subjects spanning life's exciting challenges and myriad of inspirations...
