By Brittany Rotondo
Design by: Marcus Darpino
Bong Hits For Jesus, the local band that has shared stages with the likes of Cypress Hill, Sublime and many others, are surely on their way to the yellow (or green, in this case) brick road. The title of the band is based on Joseph Frederick’s Supreme Court Case defending the freedom of speech and self-expression, after Frederick was arrested for holding a sign that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” during the 2002 Olympic Torch Relay. How rebelliously reassuring!
BH4J are a rock/funk/reggae group of cannabis connoisseurs that know how to make your “Tuesday’s feel like Friday’s” and your “Friday’s feel like New Year’s Eve”. Riding high, quite literally, off of their latest EP, “Low Rent Hustlers”, released last September, the guys have hit the road running. After touring through Southern California and traveling back to the East Coast to play festivals like Jam @ the Dam, the Irie Vibes and Hemp Heals, they’ve summoned the kind of stoner-swag that breathes a life of its own. And now, to keep the ball rolling, they’ve been aptly appointed as 93.3 WMMR’s Local Artist of the Month.
The four piece (lead by front man, Stephen Rose, and backed by CJ Bracale, Matt Boyle and Shawn Betz) hosts the infamous Jam Session every second Tuesday at The Legendary Dobbs, coincidentally where they will be showcasing for WMMR this Saturday, April 20th. The event has been dubbed as “The Philadelphia 4/20 Fest”, and there’s no better band to grace the stage on “National Pot Smoking Day” than Bong Hits For Jesus.
But, there’s more to BH4J than just lighting up the love. As Stephen Rose puts it, “We aim to celebrate our human connection through joyful self expression and basking in all the good energy”. Be sure to catch these cats on Saturday alongside veteran bands like Zymotic Flow, Baby Diaz and The Jackson Rider, amongst others.
Let me get a bong hit!
