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Local Artist: Johnny Conqueroo

Johnny Conqueroo is conquering the Lexington music scene. The popular rock band took over WRFL Live Wednesday, May 30. Conqueroo played a collection of their songs, including, “Brick,” “Why,” and “Rock N Roll.”

Band members include:

Grant Curless- Guitar, vocals

Shawn Reynolds- Bass

Wils Quinn- Drums

Johnny Conqueroo is the hottest band in Lexington right now. The rock band combines old school blues rock style with elements of psychedelic rock to create a timeless sound that can be appreciated by just about anyone. Conqueroo is known for their excellent live performances, which they love delivering.

“There’s something about the live show atmosphere that you all bring that’s, like, up another notch, up another level,” said host DJ Cameron Childress to Johnny Conqueroo.

“A large amount of people bring a whole lot of energy and a whole lot of goodness, you know?” said Conqueroo guitarist and vocalist, Grant Curless.

True to the blues style, Johnny Conqueroo’s song writing process is mostly improvisational. They’ll come in to rehearsal with a guitar riff and build off of it until they have a song. Very little is written down.

“The lyrics definitely are one that I think are pretty cool,” said Conqueroo’s drummer, Wils Quinn. “They’re pretty much, up until studio, are in flux. Depending on how Grant’s feeling or how the show is.”

The band uses their live performances and audience interaction in their creative process. They test out songs in their gigs and the music evolves based on audience response.

“You can see, you have that, like, feedback with the audience,” said Quinn. “You do something good and all of a sudden everyone is freaking out it’s like, okay, that’s something we want to bring into the studio.”

Curless, Reynolds and Quinn came together to form Johnny Conqueroo in 2014, when they were still in high school. Despite still being young, they jam out like seasoned blues artists. They draw inspiration from a variety of artists such as Velvet Underground, The Cramps, Natural Child and The Growlers.

Johnny Conqueroo has their first professionally recorded EP, “Haint Blue,” coming soon. The band’s first two albums were impressively self-produced in Quinn’s basement. The new EP was recorded with Duane Lundy at Shangri-La Productions. The band says “Haint Blue,” is more cohesive than their earlier albums. Johnny Conqueroo be having an EP release party on June 16 at the Burl with other local bands, Boa USA and The Dividends.

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