If you find yourself in Deep Ellum late on a Thursday night, you’ll hear the groovy vibes of Johnny B33 & the Leo Sun Project at On Premise on Elm Street. Enjoy this footage from their 6th installation of the ongoing weekly residency, led by frontman Johnny Blanford.
Blanford released music under Johnny B33 at the beginning of 2020, and the album is called Leo Sun. When the band performs together live, they’re called Johnny B33 & the Leo Sun Project.
My favorite song from the album is “Notice Me,” which I had on repeat for months and is still part of my “slow groovy” playlist.
Yung Sting (Jacob Hammonds) plays keyboard, Anthony Cappeto plays bass, Troy Nalls plays drums, Dandy Rain plays percussion, Erfan Ebadipour plays guitar and Ksper (Carter Brown) plays drum pad (not included in this performance video).
The COVID epidemic stopped the band from making their first performance in 2020, but throughout the time venues were closed, the group stayed connected and were able to get back on stage as Texas opened back up.
Johnny B33 & the Leo Sun Project on the back patio of On Premise. (left to right) Erfan Ebadipour, Dandy Rain, Anthony Cappeto, Johnny B33, Yung Sting, Troy Nalls. Photo: Jessica Waffles
Thursday nights are an open invitation for others to participate with the group.
“So we have our band open up to do our set of original music with some covers, and then we’ll open it up to our friends or other artists that may be in the crowd,” Blanford said. “So it’s an open jam concept, there’s not really a list or anything like that, no sign-up – it’s not really formal. It’s like a community jam, everyone can kinda come together and collaborate and create, with no pressure.”
In addition to the weekly residency from 10:00 / 10:30 PM – 1:00 AM on Thursdays, the group will be performing at a diversity-inclusive event called HAWT at Doublewide Dallas this Saturday, which will also include Dezi 5, Jake Quillin, Slim Gravy, and C.B. Smoove.
On the horizon is also the return of “Our Neck of the Woods” at Trees, an event that Blanford put together & curated in 2021 for 3 months. “We’re excited about cultivating that and bringing it back,” Blanford says. Keep warm this Winter dancing to the Johnny B33’s soulful voice backed by one of the most chill, most talented bands in town.
The weekly residency with Johnny B33 and the Leo Sun Project is every Thursday at On Premise from 10:00 / 10:30 PM – 1:00 AM. Photo: Jessica Waffles
Jessica Waffles is a freelance photographer/videographer and regular contributor to KXT.
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