Rory Connor Pens His Folk Music The Pennine Way - with glass half full.
Charles Paxton January 18th, 2008
Rory Connor at the Piano at Penrith Playhouse’s Plug and PlayRory Connor on piano at Penrith Plug&Play (High def poster)When we heard that Rory Connor was headlining the January 6th Plug & Play event at Penrith’s Playhouse, I was determined to see him in action having heard his name around and about, along with praise of his musical talent. I’m very glad that I attended what proved to be a very convivial evening - see Open Mike’s Plug and Play review for a detailed account of what transpired. It was my first time to attend Penrith’s P&P and was extremely impressed by this music community, not just by the very high quality of the talent (a real bargain for £3), but also the friendly, laid back and genuinely encouraging atmosphere. Everyone was very welcoming and the mood was warmly inviting. People enjoyed the music, a drink or two and some very cheery social interaction. It was great to see musicians turn up, plug in and play. I recommend musicians and the general public to go along and give it a try. For details and directions see their website.
Before the show started I talked with Rory and learned more about the award winning performer and his music. He’s a pleasant fellow, amiable and easy going. Born of a musical father, who also happens to be folk oriented, Rory Connor, the talented singer-songwriter from Alston Moor (up high in the Pennine mountains) has been gigging since he was fourteen! Needless to say he loves it and is getting pretty good at it by now. Rory won an AMMY (The Alston Moor Music awards 2007) award for best live act in conjunction with The Roads. 
Educated in Performing Arts in Carlisle he split from the band ‘Zeus’ last August and is now making a name for himself as a solo performer, an experience that he describes as “quite liberating!”His progress is also exciting increased popular media interest. He’s featured on BBC Radio 2, Radio Scotland and Radio Cumbria and has been reviewed in The Herald and enjoyed centre spread coverage in The News and Star. Influenced at least subconsciously by the 70’s folk superstars like Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, he’s an artist totally immersed in his craft, “I’m constantly surrounded by music, if I’m not writing or performing, I’m listening to it,” he smiles, “constantly.” He describes his music as “acoustic based indie folk” and says it has been likened to that of Nick Drake and John Martin whom he greatly admires. He writes all his own stuff and his composition occurs in “loads of different ways. There’s no set process, sometimes I start with the vocal line, sometimes the tune, sometimes the whole song comes out, you know?” 
It’s not always easy emotionally though, his song “Australian Wine” was hard to write being concerned with the difficulties of enforced proximity. His two favorite songs are “Half full glass” and “Butterfly”.Rory performing ‘Butterfly’ at Penrith’s Plug & PlayRory performing ‘Australian Wine’ at Penrith’s Plug & PlayHe is very modest about his talent on the guitar, saying ” It’s fairly basic guitar, my voice is the highlight.” His guitar work is more than adequate for supporting his vocals, but indeed it is his voice that is outstanding. He elaborates ” I like to use open tunes (Juice: High Tenor?) and sing a lot in D major.” Check out the videos and his Myspace recordings and you’ll see what he means. His vocals are rich, passionate and distinctive, we think the tone very reminiscent of Eddie Vedder’s of Pearl Jam. Rory performing ‘Waiting’His live show normally differs from the plug and play act in several important ways. The show I saw this evening was very intimate, in concert obviously there’s a lot more to see as he performs with a band and he plays to a larger crowd. As he plays the festivals his fan base is very broad, ranging in age from about 20-60. His fondest experience as a performer so far has been headlining the last night on the drystone stage at Solfest as there was a really nice crowd, a fantastic atmosphere and his music went down really well.Rory performing ‘Won’t Stay’ at Penrith’s Plug & PlayRory wants to build on this success and play lots more festivals this summer. His long term goals are to gain more recognition and earn a bit of money. On that subject, you’ll be interested to know that his EP was recorded in June by Richard Evans (Peter Gabriel’s producer) and it features backing guitar from Joss Clapp exmember of Tarras. Five songs for a fiver seems like a very good deal. We’d like to see this lad hit the big time as he’s got the talent. May fortune favour him!Rory Connor performing his composition ‘Half Full Glass’ at Penrith’s Plug and Play recently.See his MySpace for a preview and purchasing details!Rory Connor on piano at Penrith Plug&Play (High def poster)
