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| Steve Conn (Photo by Terri Fensel) |
Nashville, TN--On Beautiful Dream, his most personal and fully realized album in a career full of musical accomplishments, singer, songwriter, and keyboardist Steve Conn puzzles out life’s changes with searching intensity and grace. Backed by a stellar group of musicians including fellow Louisiana greats Sonny Landreth on slide guitar and Doug Belote on drums, Conn delivers ten new original songs that map life’s emotional territory as few songwriters can.
Conn, who has performed on nine Grammy-nominated albums and was named a New Folk Finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival, co-produced Beautiful Dream with Richard McLaurin. The songs were recorded live to 2-inch tape at House of David, a small gem of a studio in Conn’s adopted town of Nashville that’s hosted the likes of Justin Townes Earle, Norah Jones, and Neil Young. “We wanted to get the spontaneity of the old days by recording to tape,” Conn says, “because you have to bring your A game. It changes the way you play. You get the moment, and that is so much of what these songs are about, my lifelong effort to live in this moment.”
Conn’s artistic accolades and partnerships read like a who’s who of blues, roots, and Americana music. After working for many years with his own band and myriad musical legends in his native Louisiana, Los Angeles, and Boulder, Colorado, Conn became the founding musical director for National Public Radio variety show eTown in the early 1990s, where he worked with guest stars James Taylor, Shawn Colvin, David Wilcox, and many others. After relocating to Nashville, Conn made his name as a songwriter with the critically acclaimed recordings River of Madness and Steve Conn. “The truth is that Conn is one of this city’s most complete artists, armed with potent, poetic songs, a soul-saturated voice and a keen sense of groove,” wrote Craig Havighurst in The Tennessean.
Calling Beautiful Dream his most introspective work yet, Conn acknowledges that the album—which he began recording on May 2, 2010, the day the devastating Nashville flood started—isn’t party music. “I’m writing for people who have lost at love but know that love is still the greatest force of all,” Conn says. “I’m writing for people who are trying to find the best in themselves and in the world, people who continue to get up and try again, over and over, because they know on some deep and ancient level that it’s all just a beautiful dream, even when it seems like a damn nightmare.”
Beautiful Dream , released by not really records in a CD package with photography by Jack Spencer and design by Megan Barra, is available through CDBaby and steveconn.com.
Conn, who has performed on nine Grammy-nominated albums and was named a New Folk Finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival, co-produced Beautiful Dream with Richard McLaurin. The songs were recorded live to 2-inch tape at House of David, a small gem of a studio in Conn’s adopted town of Nashville that’s hosted the likes of Justin Townes Earle, Norah Jones, and Neil Young. “We wanted to get the spontaneity of the old days by recording to tape,” Conn says, “because you have to bring your A game. It changes the way you play. You get the moment, and that is so much of what these songs are about, my lifelong effort to live in this moment.”
Conn’s artistic accolades and partnerships read like a who’s who of blues, roots, and Americana music. After working for many years with his own band and myriad musical legends in his native Louisiana, Los Angeles, and Boulder, Colorado, Conn became the founding musical director for National Public Radio variety show eTown in the early 1990s, where he worked with guest stars James Taylor, Shawn Colvin, David Wilcox, and many others. After relocating to Nashville, Conn made his name as a songwriter with the critically acclaimed recordings River of Madness and Steve Conn. “The truth is that Conn is one of this city’s most complete artists, armed with potent, poetic songs, a soul-saturated voice and a keen sense of groove,” wrote Craig Havighurst in The Tennessean.
Calling Beautiful Dream his most introspective work yet, Conn acknowledges that the album—which he began recording on May 2, 2010, the day the devastating Nashville flood started—isn’t party music. “I’m writing for people who have lost at love but know that love is still the greatest force of all,” Conn says. “I’m writing for people who are trying to find the best in themselves and in the world, people who continue to get up and try again, over and over, because they know on some deep and ancient level that it’s all just a beautiful dream, even when it seems like a damn nightmare.”
Beautiful Dream , released by not really records in a CD package with photography by Jack Spencer and design by Megan Barra, is available through CDBaby and steveconn.com.
For more information, please visit www.steveconn.com Myspace: www.myspace.com/steveconnmusic Facebook: www.facebook/com/steveconnmusic YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/rigolette
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