The Lions

Part collective and part local supergroup, L.A.'s the Lions came together over their shared love of classic Jamaican reggae styles and the musicianship of bands like <a href="spotify:artist:4og9jrin5xH5JiFPbeGUPb">the Skatalites</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1akUOJhf77cbKJveLHgxpy">Byron Lee & the Dragonaires</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2qX63C7rYqUDrY3CD7sbUm">the Aggrovators</a>. The Lions explored dub, ska, rocksteady, cumbia, and other heavy sounds on their 2008 debut Jungle Struttin’, and worked with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ubiquity%22">Ubiquity</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stones+Throw%22">Stones Throw</a> on subsequent releases like 2015's Soul Riot and 2021's single “Cumbia Rebel,” a cumbia-reggae remake of <a href="spotify:artist:2QsynagSdAqZj3U9HgDzjD">Bob Marley</a> classic “Soul Rebel.”

The Lions began around 2006, growing out of a series of impromptu jam sessions that included drummer Blake Colie, bassist Dave Wilder, guitarists Sergio Rios & Dan Ubick, percussionist Davey Chegwidden, keyboardist Dan Hastie, and trumpet player <a href="spotify:artist:6DYxO4YKjS4jSDZQvEcxZ6">Todd Simon</a>. Debut album Jungle Struttin' grew out of the 2006 sessions, and was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ubiquity+Records%22">Ubiquity Records</a> in 2008, featuring vocals from future <a href="spotify:artist:4AcHt3JxKy59IX7JNNlZn4">Fitz and the Tantrums</a> member <a href="spotify:artist:6ILqhNcsJfMAE5petFCDPB">Noelle Scaggs</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5JyiDmVwRqEAmXJGRlHCbT">Black Shakespeare</a>, and Deston Berry and Alex Désert of <a href="spotify:artist:79pQC5STz5lsGdkJ0NHmGp">Hepcat</a>. Membership in the group remained fairly fluid but the core of Colie, Wilder, Ubick, Chegwidden, Désert, Berry and <a href="spotify:artist:5JyiDmVwRqEAmXJGRlHCbT">Shakespeare</a> remained throughout. In 2013, the group signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stones+Throw%22">Stones Throw</a> for the release of second album This Generation and added lead vocalist Malik “The Freq” Moore. A year later, Tom Chasteen from L.A.'s Dub Club remixed eight tracks from the album for This Generation in Dub. The more conceptual Soul Riot followed in 2015. After their contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stones+Throw%22">Stones Throw</a> ended the Lions released two singles, 2020’s <a href="spotify:artist:1ht9oSlPiNywrg22T2sM8d">Derrick Harriott</a> cover “The Loser” and 2021’s <a href="spotify:artist:2QsynagSdAqZj3U9HgDzjD">Bob Marley</a> reworking “Cumbia Rebel.” ~ Steve Leggett