Blame It On The Neon: Leaving Thomas at Boots & Hearts 2017

We've said it before, playing the opening slot of the day on the main stage at a festival isn't easy. You've got to set the tone, get people engaged, pull them into the crowd... and Leaving Thomas did all of that on Friday at Boots & Hearts 2017.

Annika and Bryton hopped up on the main stage and rolled through a 7 song set, including their latest single, Best Adventure and a banging cover of Shania's No One Needs To Know. They worked the catwalk, they brought the energy that the afternoon slot needed, and they were fantastic.

We caught up with Leaving Thomas after their set for a little sit down in the grass to talk about how things are going, how crazy festival season is, and alter egos... and while Bryton told us that he doesn't yet have one, we know from LT's latest YouTube video that Annika's alter ego of Suzie can be a real piece of work. But craziness aside, these two are enjoying the heck out of festival season right now. They told us that it's a little wild to look back to a year ago, when they weren't playing stages like Boots & Hearts and Big Valley Jamboree, but here in 2017, they've done both.

Bryton also described the experience of looking out into the BH crowd and seeing fans singing and dancing and fully embodying Waiting Kind Of Girl as surreal.

And while it may be surreal to the duo, it's no surprise to us. The harmonies that Leaving Thomas roll out are smooth and full. The melodies they're producing grab listeners. And their energy brings people in. The more stages they play, the more they're going to see people singing and dancing out the in the crowd.

I asked about what's coming next for Leaving Thomas and we learned a few things...

1) Blame It On The Neon is scheduled to be released as their next single on September 8, 2017.
2) The duo will be at the CNE on the bandshell stage opening for Chad Brownlee on Saturday, August 26, 2017.
3) They're excited for Canadian Country Music Week and the CCMAs in September - including the always fun MDM Recordings Party, where they'll hop up on stage to play.
4) They are looking at an early 2018 release of an EP that we can't wait to hear.

Annika and Bryton are a ton of fun on stage, and we heard people talking about how good they are up there as we walked through the crowd. Those people are right, they are good. And you should keep an eye on them.

Leaving Thomas just might be the next big duo in Canadian country music.