Expressing energy Comatose Posse brings rock spark to the stage

If you are looking for a slow, smooth, easy-listening and low-key experience, you probably shouldn’t attend a Comatose Posse show.

This six-man band brings an energy and intensity to their performances that tends to provoke singing along, dancing and rocking out. Audiences have come to expect as much from the band, and the group’s members are more than happy to oblige.

“We play the songs we like to play and hope that passion translates to other people,” said Tommy Edwards Sr., who provides vocals and occasionally plays guitar with the group. “This project is all about choosing songs that move us.”

Comatose Posse includes Edwards, Frank Long on guitar, Mike Ovik on bass, Tommy Edwards Jr. on vocals and guitar, Joe Neitzling on drums and Mark Hendricks on guitar.

“It’s six dudes who, at the end of the day, just like playing music together,” Hendricks said.

“It’s cool to get to do what we do,” the younger Edwards said.

The Edwardses, performing as a father-son duo, first met Long and Henricks through an open mic event in 2012. According to the elder Edwards, they decided to collectively “scratch the itch” and try jamming together. When that went well, the group went about rounding out the lineup with veteran bassist Ovik and local drummer Neitzling.

“We wanted two guitar players because we wanted to do some heavy stuff,” the elder Edwards said. “And [the lineup] is all guys we knew we get along with.”

“You see the same players rubbing shoulders [around the valley] and kind of make the rounds,” Ovik said. “But you find the right recipe and it works.”

The band has successfully built a camaraderie and connection that is evident on and off stage.

“The idea was never to get famous,” Hendricks said. “It’s just sheer joy to play together.”

“We work really well together, and read each other well,” added Neitzling.

Out of that joy and passion for the music, Comatose Posse has created a large fan following in the Flathead Valley since first performing together almost five years ago. In that time the group has constantly added repertoire and expanded into various sub-genres of rock, creating a strong show from start to finish.

“We all lived through the grunge era, so we started with that ’90s rock,” Hendricks said. But because the band rotates songs and is willing to experiment live with what works, “there’s no weak material. We don’t have that problem.”

Comatose Posse is exclusively a live cover band, with no albums or plans to record any time soon. The elder Edwards said that the idea was never to create original songs.

“We wanted to try to create a not-normal bar band,” he said. “It’s about sharing our passion for the music that’s already out there, that’s influenced us and that speaks to us.”

“We like music that’s fun to play but that people will recognize,” Long said.

“We cover a good cross-section of music,” Ovik said. “There are so many different forms of expression in music, and the fact that we have the music covered and vocals to back it up make it work.”

The elder Edwards said the name Comatose Posse came from “posse comitatus,” describing a group of men who might be called upon to enforce the law. It was originally a band name a friend had for a different project that ended up falling apart, and Edwards offered to buy him a beer at every gig in exchange for permission to use it.

It stuck — as did the beer-buying deal — and Edwards said he liked the irony of the word “comatose” because it is the opposite of what the group is going for.

Irony aside, it’s the band’s energetic shows that keep audiences coming back for more.

“The energy really gets us,” the younger Edwards said. “We just like to play.”

“[The band] is first and foremost about the music,” Neitzling said. “It’s energetic. It’s powerful.”

Comatose Posse’s next performance will be Friday, July 21, in Columbia Falls. The show is a benefit for the Abbie Delaney Jones Fund, an event billed as “a rock concert to bring awareness to motorcycle safety.”

The younger Edwards explained that Abbie Delaney Jones, killed earlier this month in a motorcycle accident, was a fan of the band. They had been hired to play at her wedding later this year.

The Coop, at 830 First Ave. W. in Columbia Falls, is hosting the benefit event from 6 p.m. to midnight on Friday. It’s a 21 and older show, with food trucks and a beer garden available on site. The proceeds from the $5 cover all go to the Abbie Delaney Jones Fund.

For more information about the band and a schedule of upcoming shows, visit https://www.facebook.com/comatoseposse.

Arts and Entertainment editor Stefanie Thompson can be reached at 758-4439 or ThisWeek@dailyinterlake.com.