We recently connected with Johnny Blanford III and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Johnny thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

As an artist originally from Dallas Tx, I’d been performing for about 5 years locally in the DFW area. I sing, rap, make beats, and do photography. My band and I hosted a Jam session for my entire run in Dallas where we brought other artists to perform and then jammed together with local and touring musicians. I would say there are two defining moments in my career, the first was Leon Bridges joining our jam session one night for his birthday. This validated what we were doing and showed me that our art is connecting in a way someone of that status decided to join us on stage and jam. It also gave me an understanding of how big our impact was in the scene. My second would be booking my first artist showcase at a historical Dallas venue “Trees.” I was the promoter, talent buyer, photographer, showrunner, and I also performed. This really established my place in the community as a serious artist looking to connect, put on shows, and perform! We did 4 more of those shows, before I moved to LA.

Johnny, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was always surrounded by music and art growing up. My mother was a worship leader in church and my father was a hip-hop dancer majority of his life. So I didn’t have a choice but to be involved in art in some way. I danced in our youth group and sang in church choir from the time I was probably 6 or 7 years old. Once I was as in middle school a friend of mine persuaded me to audition for a play. And that became my artistic expression for the entirety of school. I was in many plays, and that’s where I got into my sense of performance. In college I auditioned for my first musical and that put together my love for performance and music. While in college I joined my first band called “Blu Heron,” in Dallas Tx, and went for it. We started to perform all over DFW and we hosted weekly jam sessions for the community that went on for a couple years. Right before Covid our band separated, and I began to make my own original music. I put out my first project titled “Leo Sun!” And the day of my release party the world shut down. About year and a half later I was able to perform my original music for the first time with my own band. This really took off, and we begin to perform regularly in the Dallas music industry! We also held a community jam session residency our entire run in Dallas. I met so many amazing people that pushed me to be the best version of myself. After being in Dallas for a while I decided that I wanted to pursue this passion on a larger scale! With more opportunities and to meet more creatives. I moved to Los Angeles in 2023 and so far I’ve played, Molly Malones, Hotel Cafe, and most notably Viper Room.

I want people to feel like they can be authentically themselves in this world. We grow up in so many boxes and categories and it takes a lifetime for people to be who they are. We deserve to live in our truth from the beginning. I just want to create music and art that doesn’t have any bounds. Whether it’s hip-hop, or jazz, whether it’s punk or singer songwriter, there’s something that everyone resonates with. My music is fun, encouraging, motivating, and full of human emotion. We have so much to express and there are so many things that influence us. I want to capture that and combine it into a work of art that everyone can relate to in their own way.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Networking! And location! You obviously have to have some knowledge about whatever it is you want to pursue in life. But I’ve seen people go to school for music, and end up in the same circle of artists making the same amount of money as artists that are self taught. I think the friends you make and people you meet are the biggest asset to your journey in the artistic world. I went to school for theatre and performance and never had any professional training in music. I have the gift of writing and using my voice and that just takes practice and ambition. Don’t get me wrong those that went to school have opportunities that others don’t have. And there are huge benefits to formal knowledge. But with the right amount of natural ability and ambition. Knowing the right people can get you where you need to be in your journey.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

I feel as though I would’ve found music, art, photography in some way professionally. I wanted to be an actor and also a cinematographer specifically growing up. So I can’t say if I went back I’d choose something else because I still do those things. Just in the realm of the music industry. I mean maybe, because these things don’t bring about a lot of money until you really start to have a following. So maybe I would have went into corporate America for long enough to make a good amount of money to provide for my music career lol. But I doubt it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.johnnyb33.com/
• Instagram: johnnyb33__
• Facebook: Johnny Blanford III
• Youtube: Johnny B33
• Soundcloud: Johnny B33
• Other: Apple Music & Spotify: Johnny B33

Image Credits

Ramone Grande
David Carriaga Hobbs
Lizzy Vasquez
Johnny Blanford III