Phony Ppl lead-vocalist Elbee Thrie serenades the House of Blues audience. (Dallas) (Miss Ari Photography)
Back in March, my friend and I traveled from Dallas to New York for just a fun weekend in the city. On our flight was a super cool dude, with colorful locs like mine. He noticed my hair. I noticed his unusual cassette chain. The cool and ever-so-calm gentleman was Elbee Thrie and everything about him screamed Brooklyn’s finest before he even opened his mouth to tell me he was originally from the area.
With Elbee Thrie were four other gentlemen, all artists and musicians respectively. We began to talk music in the terminal and continued our chat as we waited for our luggage to round the carousel at LaGuardia. Thrie and his bandmates would share with us how they most often tour and perform in Europe, but were so happy to be home where they started.
Fast forward six months and I found myself sitting at the photographer’s pit near the edge of the stage, enjoying a sound I’ve never heard before.
Five-man band Phony Ppl brought new life, musical liberation and excitement to Dallas’ House of Blues last week. If the group had to be classified under a genre, let’s go with “progressive soul.” They mesh r&b, soul, rock and hip hop perfectly. All five men are under the age of 30 and still have so much to accomplish musically.
Elbee Thrie, a former Manhattan School of Music student is the group’s lead vocalist. The two-man string section is comprised of Elijah Rawk and Bari Bass, Phony Ppl’s visual artist and bass player. The crew’s trained composer is Aja Grant and their percussionist is former Music Conservatory study Matthew Byas (his father is DJ Jazzy Jay of the legendary Zulu Nation).
Bari Bass performs at Dallas’ House of Blues. (Miss Ari Photography)
Mo’za-ik was the group’s first physical album and was released last year. They’ve also made five digital-only albums. Some of their more notable songs include: “Before You Get a Boyfriend” and “Think Your Mind.”
The group has enjoyed praise from Tyler The Creator and Childish Gambino. They’ve performed with Erykah Badu, Fetty Wap and The Roots. Their performances at festivals, such as Camp Flog Gnaw have gained then great attention. The group also has their own residency at New York City’s legendary Blue Note.
Many of the House of Blues attendees weren’t completely familiar with the group before last Tuesday night. They only came for good music, and ended up leaving with a great musical experience.