Article Contributed by Regime Music Group
Published on 2026-04-26
Photo credit: Sean Brady
MTN Lion is a powerhouse Denver-based funk quartet composed of drummer Adam Deitch and guitarist Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff of Lettuce, alongside keyboardist Joey Porter and bassist Garrett Sayers, both known for their work with The Motet.
While their main projects were off the road in 2020 and 2021, the group met at Deitch’s house and started playing—first for themselves, then on a livestream, and soon after assembled in the studio to record their debut album Stealth.
Today, the band shares the first taste of what to come with the lead single “Turning Up the Heat.”
Listen HERE: https://mtnlion.ffm.to/turninguptheheat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjN9I2cgogI
On Stealth, the band locks into tight, interlocking parts. Deitch and Sayers anchor a deep-pocket, syncopated groove shaped by the approach of Tower of Power bassist Rocco Prestia, while Smirnoff’s guitar moves between rhythmic drive and tonal detail.
Porter brings talkbox and vocoder into the core of the arrangements, giving the group a distinct sonic identity. That focus is evident in “Turning Up the Heat,” built from a Deitch demo that Porter finished with lyrics and talkbox lines, locking in the band’s core sound.
MTN Lion began as an informal pursuit after touring paused and left all four in the same place, building on years of overlap in the Denver scene. By that point, they were already crossing paths regularly on local gigs.
“There wasn’t any reason we had to do it,” Porter says. “We just wanted to. We like playing with each other. We were all in the same spot. There was nothing happening, so we were like, let’s play some music that we love. That’s what art should be — for nothing except the art.”
Deitch puts it just as plainly: “Funk for funk’s sake… for the love of the art, for the love of music and good friends.” He adds, “We probably wouldn’t have even done this without the pandemic, having the wherewithal to get together with a bunch of masks on our faces and do it.”
Smirnoff ties the sessions to that moment. “Because of where we were at with the pandemic, how hungry we all were to play at that time — I feel like this album captures some of that incredible hunger.”
The band’s history runs back decades. Deitch and Smirnoff have played together for more than thirty years as founding members of Lettuce, who have become a leading band in the modern funk revival on the jam and festival circuit, with multiple No. 1 debuts on the Billboard jazz charts and a GRAMMY nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.
Porter and Sayers came up through The Motet, a long-running Colorado band that has headlined Red Rocks and built a national audience through steady touring.
By 2020, all four were based in Denver and working in the same tight-knit ecosystem, already crossing paths at Cervantes, at Funk Sessions, and on one-off gigs assembled under different names. They landed on the name MTN Lion after the music was underway and their simpatico chemistry was established.
After finishing the sessions, the band moved on as touring resumed and other projects took over, and the recordings sat for several years before the band returned to them.
“We’ve been sitting on this album for almost five years,” Smirnoff says. “You’re just like, this exists — let’s put it out.”
The album is a testament to top-call musicians who are passionate about their craft, sharing a collection of songs spanning influences across the funk lineage that will get you on your feet—real instruments, no AI, and analog warmth.
“Stealth is in line with all of MTN Lion’s influences and heroes,” says Deitch. “From James Brown to Prince to Herbie Hancock to Marvin Gaye and Zapp. Fans of our longtime touring groups Lettuce and The Motet, as well as fans of funk music, will surely dig this unique quartet’s musical output. Put Stealth on at a party and watch everyone get up and dance!”
Stealth Tracklist:
1.) You Can Leave But It’s Going to Cost You ft. Nigel Hall
2.) Turning Up The Heat
3.) Funky Strummer
4.) Star of the Show
5.) My Time
6.) Garabaldi
7.) Doin It
8.) The Kid
