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Our Story
Coffee with Lions, hailing from York, PA has been described as melodic energy driven punk with influence from the 80’s/90’s punk and hardcore scenes.
Formed in 2018, having zero expectations or long term plans, Coffee with Lions was a return to music for Vocals/ John Grove, Bass/ Doug Moore, Guitars and Vocals/ Aaron Pendergast, and Drums/ Kevin Ness. An odd twist of fate brought 3 original members of York, PA based punk band Blend back together when Aaron returned to York from Philadelphia, PA
Back Story
John, Aaron, and Kevin all met in their teenage years or before. Blend was the first band where these three came together musically. Blend lasted until roughly 1999. At the same time Doug was in a different band, October (1996-2001). It was recently discovered that Blend and October played one show together around 1998. Kevin and John reconnected around 2001, in a band called Til Tomorrow (2001-2003). Doug opened up Mellow D’s recording Studio in 2005, where he and John would eventually meet.
How We Got Here
Fast forward to 2018. Aaron moves back from Philadelphia, and has joined his family business, Kevin is working as an independent contractor, Doug is managing a local factory and John is currently a financial advisor. In an impromptu visit, Aaron and John reconnect. Kevin, out of nowhere recommends he and John start a punk cover band. John lets Kevin know that Aaron is back in town. Kevin, John and Aaron discuss the idea of starting a band. John invites Doug over to meet Aaron and Kevin. The first Coffee with Lions practice was held in Aaron’s children’s playroom.
East 9th Avenue
Practice at Aaron’s house was quickly shutdown. The second practice was stopped abruptly by a visit from the local police. Doug recommended we use the garage behind his house. East 9th Avenue was called home for 2 years. Starting as a typical garage setup, eventually the upstairs was transformed into a formidable practice and recording place. This was possible because of Kevin and Doug’s skills in carpentry. At this point, Coffee with Lions had roughly 10 to 12 songs and were ready to record.
Demos, EPs, and Compilations
Coming into the end of 2019, Coffee with Lions was relying on shows and their demo for promotion and were certain it was time to release their first EP. As fate would have it, stemming from a brief back and forth on Facebook, Coffee with Lions were introduced to Scott Gross and Chris Wood of The Bombshelter recording studio. The first EP, E 9th Ave was released in early 2020. The hopes were to continue writing, live shows, and promoting the band. As with everyone, that came to screeching halt in March. After the lockdowns and limited venues doing shows, CWL went into a joint venture with another York band Break City Drowwner. Ecstatic about the feedback from E 9th, the CWL boys were back at it in late 2020 at The Bombshelter for the CWL/BCD split EP.
One of the songs, Trap, was added to a Coffin Curse Records compilation in 2021. Coffee with Lions completed their 3rd DIY EP, “Balancing Act” which was released in the summer of 2022.
What’s to Come
What will 2022 bring for Coffee with Lion’s? The plan is to not only expand the discography, but also expand CWL’s overall exposure which will likely involve festivals and more out of town venues, with shows in late 2021 and into 2022 in Lancaster, Pittsburgh, Altoona and Scranton, PA. Coffee with Lions hopes to also visit Maryland, New Jersey, and Ohio soon as well. Regardless, CWL has no plans on stopping or even slowing down anytime soon!
