It all began over thirty years ago as longtime friends and former members of such local popular bands as “American Teen”, “Cuckoo's Nest”, “Brownstone”, “Passion”, and “Trilogy” came together to form a four piece rock band dedicated to playing classic rock that featured huge power vocals layered over hot rock music. That was the birth of “Coming Alive”. Over the next fifteen years, Coming Alive played countless clubs and private shows, picking up a large and loyal following along the way. A ten year hiatus from 1995 to 2005 allowed members to raise their families and pursue other less demanding musical, studio, and session projects. In the fall of 2005 (now that the kids were all grown up) former band members Bill Sivret, Mike Zawada and Bob Lituri reunited the band with a new focus in mind; performing current / new “top 10” rock tunes along with some carefully chosen classic -progressive rock hits that most other bands won’t even try to play—live. During the last four years, the band has been working hard to develop the current show which combines stunning power vocals and impeccable musical delivery; resulting in near-perfect renditions of hits by Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters, STP, Shinedown, 3Doors Down, Drop Kick Murphys, Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Santana, The Eagles, Boz Scaggs, Steely Dan, The Beatles, Toto, Little Feat, Chicago, Lynyrd Skynyrd and many more. The current band line-up includes: Bob Lituri–Vocals/Guitar Ed Grenga–Vocals/Keyboard* Larry Novak–Vocals/Keyboard* Mike Zawada–Vocals/Keyboards* Bill Sivret–Vocals/Bass Guitars Randy White -Vocal/Drums/Percussion * Sub
		Band Bios
		- Bill Sivret-Vocals/Bass Guitars - Randy White-Drums/Percussion - Bob Lituri-Vocals/Guitars - Ed Grenga-Vocals/Keyboards - Larry Novak-Vocals/Keyboards - Mike Zawada-Vocals/Keyboards

Band History

Ted Millen and Mike Zawada grew up together in the 1960’s as neighbors in West Concord, Massachusetts where Mike was taking piano lessons and Ted was taking drum lessons. Mike started a band in 8th grade called “Lite” and his first drummer didn't last too long. That is when Ted joined his band. Ted and Mike were in and out of bands throughout high school. One of the bands Mike joined was Bob Lituri’s band from Maynard called “The Satin Blues”. This was when he first met and played with the Maynard based lead singer/lead guitar player. Ted was not a member of that band.

In Mike’s junior and senior year of high school he joined a band from Lincoln and Sudbury called “Brownstone” which is when he met Mark Beaton - the first bass player of Coming Alive. Ted Millen eventually joined Brownstone and that band stayed together for a number of years with different musicians coming in and out at various times. Around 1978 Mike attended a 50's dance at the Concord Elks to see his friend Bruce Bolton play. The band Brownstone had just split up and he was looking to put another band together, but wanted to do something different.

Being at the 50's dance gave him the idea of playing 60's music. Mike liked the music that came out in the 60’s, (Billboard top 40, Motown and WBCN) and at that time bands weren’t playing 60's music. Mike knew Bob Lituri was not currently playing in a band and the same went for Mark Beaton. So Mike floated the 60’s idea to the both of them and they were “in”.

They needed a drummer, Ted was already in a band, Mark said he knew a drummer -- Peter Grady from Stow. The band tried Peter out and he won the spot. Now they just needed a name for the band and it was Mark and Peter who came up with the name “Coming Alive”.

The band started out by performing mostly Beatles, Beach Boys and songs that were number one hits in the 60's. Their first job was a hockey banquet in Waltham in the Spring of 1978. The band later auditioned for a music agent and started playing the circuit from Revere Beach to Nashua NH and everywhere else in between. They were booked every weekend. After three years, the band had become very popular and had a very large following. Peter Grady then left the band when he got married and that was when Ted joined Coming Alive.

Ted played with the band for a couple of years, but then he left again, and Peter was reinstated as the drummer for Coming Alive. Mark Beaton left the band in 1982…so the band now needed a bass player. That was when Ted introduced Bill Sivret to the guys, the bass player with whom he had played with in “Cuckoo's Nest”. At that time, Bill was playing bass for “American Teen”. He thought Bill would be a perfect fit for the band, and he was right! The addition of Bill’s strong vocals gave Coming Alive unique three part harmonies, which allowed the group to enhance their repertoire of music to include tunes by The Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, Van Halen and add other, more challenging classic rock and roll songs.

Coming Alive then played the club circuit for a number of years. The Red Line Junction in Westford, MA, the Halluwa in Nashua NH and the Maynard and Concord Elks were all mainstays for the band. In 1990 the band started moving in a different direction; playing more weddings and other private functions.

It was around this time that Peter Grady had to leave the band a second time due to a serious illness, which unfortunately, took his life one year later at the tender age of 34. He was, and still is to this day, missed dearly by the other band members and those who had the pleasure of knowing him. His loving manner and funny, unique sense of humor endeared him to all who knew him. Peter was always a gentle and considerate man who invariably put other people’s needs ahead of his own. His untimely death closed a chapter in the history of the band on a very sad note. Teddy once again returned to the band as the permanent drummer for Coming Alive. Teddy’s unique talent and renewed presence in the band allowed Coming Alive to continue the legacy of making great music; one which Peter was so passionately instrumental in starting so many years earlier.

The band went on playing until 1994 when they realized that playing out was taking quality time away from their families. Mike, Bob, Pete/Ted, and Bill had played for thirteen years together ….It was time to hang it up.

Eleven years later, Bill made a call to the guys to see if they would like play at a benefit for the Maynard Stow Baseball Charitable Corporation in January of 2006. They thought it was a good idea to get together for this one function, but as they began rehearsing, they quickly realized how much fun it was playing and reminiscing about old times. After five weeks of rehearsals they agreed to get the band back together.  This time, though, the goal of the band quickly evolved into a desire to perform classic-progressive rock hits that most other bands wouldn’t even try to play - live.  This lofty goal required changes to both the music the band chose to perform and a dedication by all band members to “ratchet it up a few notches”. 

In March of 2007, Jim Sanchez joined Coming Alive as their new drummer / percussionist.  Jim’s amazing sense of rhythm and unique ability to lay down the perfect groove proved to be the final key element needed to embark on this new musical journey.

November of 2009 we welcomed a new member, Randy ("Animal") White, one of the premier drummers in the northeast. He's been banging away since the age of 5 with such bands as Falcon, Straightaway, RWB, Mumbo Jumbo, White Noise and now Coming Alive. A drummer who can play anything and has no problem showing off his talent (just ask anyone who has seen him play). 

January of 2011 we celebrated the retirement of Mike Zawada as a full-time member. He is one of the founding members of the band and is a great friend to all of us. We have a feeling you won't see the last of him. Hopefully we will have him perform at a few of our upcoming shows in the years ahead.

In February of 2011, we have added two sub keyboardists to fill out our esemble, Ed Grenga and Larry Novak. Eddie relocated to Boston from Los Angeles in 1989, after having bolstered his resume with music scores and songs for 3 major motion pictures, a Top Ten song, the recipient of 2 Gold and 2 Platinum albums, and creator of themes for network and cable programs. Establishing himself as a prolific composer and producer, he has composed thousands of soundtracks for Fortune 500 companies and has contributed his talents to numerous PBS programs, Emmy Award winning documentaries, feature films and television shows. He also has worked with Jeffrey Osborne, Howard Hewett, Kim Carnes, Robert Ellis Orrall, Ross Vannelli, Buddy Miles, Ellis Hall, to name a few.

Larry is a 30 year veteran of the Boston Music Scene and Berklee Alum. Larry has spent the last 11 years as half of the popular duo 2 MUCH! playing keyboards, guitar and singing. He is also currently playing with the popular Northshore Overdrive eight piece horn band.

Today, as one of New England’s premier Progressive Rock bands, Coming Alive continues to work hard to deliver on that formula, combining stunning power vocals and impeccable musical delivery, dazzling audiences with near-perfect renditions of hits by Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters, STP, Shinedown, 3Doors Down, Drop Kick Murphys, Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Santana, Tom Petty, The Eagles, Boz Scaggs, Steely Dan, The Beatles, Toto, Little Feat, Chicago, Lynyrd Skynyrd and many more.