Conor Meehan

Conor grew up in western Massachusetts to the sounds of his parents’ music, a steady mix of the Beatles, blues, classic rock and oldies on the radio.  He was always drawn to music and inclined to bang on things.  After wearing out his first “Diamond” brand drum set, and a small amount of cookware, Conor received an acoustic guitar as a gift from his grandmother. It was at guitar lessons in the band room after school each week where Conor started playing drums. 

For the next few years, Conor stayed actively involved in school music programs as well as jamming with friends outside of school. This led to the formation of his first band GRIN in 7th grade, whose demo of original music was chosen as the winner of the Berkshire Eagle’s “best demo in the Berkshire’s” competition.  The prize was a gig at a local bar and a recording session at a professional recording studio resulting in his first recording “The Blind Dog EP”

By high school, Conor had gained regional recognition as the drummer of his blues band, Catfish Blue, and became a mainstay in the local music scene, his ever-supportive parents often driving and accompanying him to gigs at local bars before he could drive himself.  Through playing with older musicians, Conor’s musical interests expanded beyond Blues and Rock and he started listening to Jazz and other music, improvising and developing skills like reading and writing music.  His eagerness to play and learn led to many valuable musical experiences while still in high school.  He auditioned for and won the drum chair for the Massachusetts Western District and All-State Jazz Ensembles leading to a performance at Symphony Hall in Boston when he was 18.  He was also invited by Artist in Residence Andy Jaffe to perform with the Williams College Jazz Ensemble.  Conor amassed a lot of professional experience too, getting called for jazz gigs, theaters, orchestras, recording sessions and club dates.  

In 2000, Conor headed south to study music at Purchase College.  There, he was fortunate to study with John Riley, Richie Morales, and Kim Plainfield.  He also studied jazz harmony, arranging, music history and began playing more challenging music as well as tapping into the New York City music scene.  Conor earned a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from Purchase College in 2004.

It was during this time that Conor started touring regularly.  Conor joined blues guitarist Albert Cummings’ trio in 2001 and began touring around the US including a recurring opening spot on the B.B. King Blues Festival tour, opening for Mr. King himself along with Buddy Guy, Sheryl Crowe and many other notable artists.  In the summer of 2002, Conor hit the road with “Heiruspecs,” a live hip-hop band from the Twin Cities of Minnesota to support their sophomore release “Small Steps.”

In 2003, Conor began playing with Sonya Kitchell, a talented young jazz singer and budding songwriter.  Over the next few years, the band played regularly and recorded the album, “My Words Came Back to Me,” which was released by Starbucks “Hear Music” label in early 2006 and distributed all over the U.S.  For the next year and a half, the band toured all over North America, Europe, and Japan including performances at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, The North Sea Jazz Festival and an appearance on “Late Night with David Letterman.”