In late June/early July, Nathan Peters began posting Facebook videos that showcases his latest endeavor. Fleshing out some original songs with his bandmates in Lioness, the clips roughly averaged about three to five minutes. The views of the videos themselves were fairly modest, reaching over two hundred plus. The number of clicks on Lioness videos changed dramatically starting on August 11th. The video itself wasn’t different from the previous ones; Lioness huddled together in a living room with Peters standing in the middle.
The stunning instrumental play from the group, along with Peters passionately vocals attracted thousands. Everyone immediately became captivated. Lioness’ very first show at Jimmies Ladder 11 a few weeks later was a huge success; filling the establishment from top to bottom, people eager to see the next up and coming ensemble in town. As he takes a slip of his coffee at our meetup in Ghostlight Coffee, Peters mentions the increasing attention was all too surreal. “It’s fun when you can do something cool in a room, put it on social media and it gets a lot of attention like. I was floored at how many people were viewing it.”
For Peters, Lioness will be added onto his list of involvement of some of the great bands that have come and gone within the Dayton music landscape. Most notably, Peters was one of the members of the legendary group Captain of Industry. Establishing themselves in the early 2000s, Captain of Industry toured vigorously and released three full lengths and an EP. Life events and members going separate directions caused the group to disband around seven years ago; the occasional reunion show comes and goes, but nothing has been said of reuniting again. Since the mutual fragmentation, Peters hasn’t even been playing or recording much with any other bands. The closest to being a part of a group prior to Lioness was Swim Diver, whom included members from Brainiac, Me and Mountains, Human Reunion. Peters had some thought to going about recording solo for, but it never fully got off the ground. “I would record some songs and write a lot,” Peters said. “It was about figuring out the means.”
For the incarnation of Lioness, it was ultimately what Peters needed to rejuvenate himself. It all began this past December when Peters, Evan Davell (mandolin), and Dave Shields (guitar) were hanging around jamming. Since then, Peters started rounding up singers (one of the them has a special spot in Peters heart-his sister) and other to join. A handful of the musicians have also been successful with other Dayton bands past and present: Starving In The Belly Of The Whale, Motel Beds, Pig Eyed Jackson, among others. The talent that has been ensemble gives Lioness a unique style that they can call their own. To better explain what it’s like when Lioness are all together, Peters referenced a late great musician as a reference. “Ray Charles and those dudes from Motown-when they were doing their thing, they played at appropriate volume levels. They wouldn’t use monitors onstage.”
“When we rehearse in a room, we have drums are going and we aren’t micing anything and you can hear everything. That’s a powerful thing,” adds Peters.
With the lineup intact, Lioness have been in the process of recording their debut album with Micah Carli at Popside Recording Studio in Troy. The band started recording with the vision of everyone being in one room; Peters vocals and the drums ended up bleeding over everything. To remedy the situation, Carli boldly placed everyone in various locations and record live. The singers were in an isolated booth, strings were in the main room, and the others were placed in a warehouse that was next to the studio. The result is a lively, acoustic sound that is filled with prog rock and folk treatment. Lioness hope to release the album in the near future; a possible Kickstarter campaign to put the album on vinyl is in the works. As for their live shows, Peters wants to build his audience through participating in the local festivals and playing regionally.
“I just want it to be more dynamic and be able do some really interesting things. Do some different 
arrangements. We want do a big show production at some point,” Peters reveals on what Lioness what to do in the near future.
If they continue publishing videos of songs courtesy of the band, it shouldn’t be too hard to see it become reality.
Lioness will be performing tonight, Sept 22, at Rockstar Pro Wrestling Arena, located on 1106 E. Third St. in Dayton, Ohio. Also performing will be The Slackers, The Duppies, and Jasper the Colossal. Doors open at 7pm. Advanced tickets are $13. $15 at the door.
