The Coffis Brothers & The Mountain Men are five young men from the Santa Cruz Mountains and they have been playing around the Bay Area and beyond since 2010. The band consists of Jamie Coffis (Vocals, Keyboard, ) Kellen Coffis (Guitar, Harmonica), Kyle Poppen (Guitar), Mason Hutchinson (Bass) and Henry Chadwick (Drums) The play a style of music that is rock and roll in the most classic sense. Melodic, rootsy and heartfelt, the songwriting duo of Jamie and Kellen show an obvious love for a bygone era of music and for groups like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Neil Young and The Beatles as well as a sense of maturity and experience beyond their years.
The group recorded their debut album in 2011 at Andy Zenczak’s Gadgetbox Studios. A local institution that has recorded many notable artists such as, Lauren Shera, Honeymoon, Keith Greeninger, Tammi Brown, Audiofauna, and Wooster. It was released in the summer of 2011 and has received stellar reviews.
The Coffis Brothers have played in front of healthy sized crowds at some of the Bay Area’s most renowned venues and festivals including, Moe’s Alley, The Crepe Place, and Don Quixote’s International Music Hall in Santa Cruz, The Rockit Room and Hotel Utah Saloon in San Francisco, Club Fox in Redwood City, The Redwood Mountain Faire in Felton, and countless others across California and beyond. Album Reviews Music News Nashville BLD Music Quest
From the Santa Cruz Good Times For Ben Lomond brothers Jamie and Kellen Coffis—the former, a 25-year-old keyboardist and singer, and the latter, a 21 year-old vocalist, guitarist and harmonica player—it’s not a matter of what life has to offer, but when they’ll get it. On “Love On My Side,” off of their debut album, they wonder, if “life is really just a battle with time, and I’m sick and tired of waiting in line, when will that arrow point at me?” Turns out they don’t need Cupid’s assistance, since locals have fallen fast for these budding folk rockers. The Coffis Brothers & The Mountain Men was released on June 17, after four days in Gadgetbox Recording Studio, with the help of producer Andy Zenczak and friends, The Mountain Men: bassist Mason Hutchinson, drummer Henry Chadwick, and guitarist Kyle Poppen. “We are all more than satisfied with the results because there is a nice mix of impatience and spontaneity on the record, which gives it a kind of personality,” says Jamie. That personality is present throughout the album, with heavy keyboarding and electric guitar complementing Kellen’s country-tinged vocals. Their easygoing disposition shines through too; Jamie admits they’re “pretty damn near 50/50 on songwriting … it kind of sounds like we could have written each other’s songs.” Perhaps the two are so in sync because they play soccer and beer pong together, plus share an affinity for Jackie Greene, Buddy Holly, Tom Petty, Jay-Z and Kanye West. The band heads to The Crepe Place this week for what they consider to be, a life-altering gig. “It’s a rite of passage for a Santa Cruz band to play there,” says Jamie. Little did they know that the lyrics for “Shape I’m In,” would articulate the band’s anticipation for what the future holds: “Yeah, I can taste it. I ain’t never been that close before.”
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