JJ Slater Trio/Billy Scovill and the 50 Cent Drafts
Three Sheets New Haven
Aug. 16, 2026
The city was pretty quiet as I turned the corner from Howe to Elm Street yesterday afternoon about half past three, but it didn’t stay that way for long. Three Sheets hosted two bands for their Sunday matinee, both trios who offered songs about birds, the devil, wildfires, and a signature dish.
Billy Scovill and the 50 Cent Drafts are New Haven-based, bringing with them to the stage a fresh and energetic set of sweet tunes marrying their harmonies with melodies that conjured up visions of summer road trips with your best friends as you tried to squeeze every last ounce of joy out of your lazy hazy July and August days before the cold settles in once again.
Scovill helmed the keyboard – and occasionally the guitar – while Connor Rog and Dexter Lourenco made up the rhythm section on bass and drums respectively.
“We’re going to play you a song about birds … dancing?” said Lourenco, laughing.
After that song he said:
“The next song is about a crow in a Chevy Tahoe? No?”
That comment got a few laughs out of the audience, but their next selection did indeed feature a Chevy Tahoe with the lyrics “I saw the devil in a Chevy Tahoe. I saw the devil in a limousine.” That super-catchy song made me wonder what other kind of car the devil might drive. It also made me hope the band had their music posted somewhere so I could listen to it while I was driving (and elsewhere). According to Scovill they do not have any music online yet, but it is coming soon. Until then, you have the video I took below, and you can keep your eyes out for their next gig.
The JJ Slater Trio took the stage and didn’t give it back for 90 minutes, during which they tore up everything from heat-crackling covers of JJ Cale, the Grateful Dead, and Jimi Hendrix tunes to originals that ranged from “breezy” (see the video below for the song “Zephyr”) to roof-blowing.
With Slater on guitar and vocals, Joey Sicard on bass, and Kevin Mason on drums, the energy from first song to last never wavered.
They offered a definitive summertime vibe, too, even sharing a Grateful Dead song called Sugaree after Slater said August was “a good month for a Gerry song.” It was easy to see how the trio would be one of the highlights of any outdoor festival they participated in, raising the vibe with their psychedelic tinged funky bluesy beats, and Slater dancing all over the strings of his guitar to create some of the tastiest licks around. I can just imagine them playing their song “Good News” and everyone dancing and smiling along in a big open field.
While Sheets is decidedly not a big open field, there were still people bopping along and smiling throughout this set (this reporter included). Slater asked if we had been experiencing the smoke and orange skies from the wildfires here in New Haven as they have further up north (they are based in Easthampton, Mass.), sharing the song “Wildfire Creeping” inspired by that event.
A trio of JJ Cale covers was bookended by two originals: “In the Cool Salida Breeze,” which offered a melodious point of view about growing up, messing around, and finding your song; and “Signature Dish,” which featured a drum solo by Mason that was pretty tasty as well.
A cover of “Little Wing” by Jimi Hendrix gave the band room to shine around such lyrics such as “Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales, that’s all she ever thinks about, riding with the wind.” There is nothing better than when a band chooses a cover that reminds you how much you love a certain artist but also endears you to their particular way of making that song their own. This trio did an exemplary job of that not just with this song, but throughout their set.
The band ended this glorious matinee with two originals from the 2024 release “The Silver Key.” The final song was called “Bye (Forever),” but guess what? Slater said they would be back in the city on Sept. 19 for the East Rock Porchfest. Find that porch, people. Find that porch.
