The influences of Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, and Lucinda Williams can be discerned in her solo debut, and Country Music People ranked Life, Death, and the Spaces Between third on a ‘Best Albums of 2015’ list, dubbing Annette Conlon “a major talent” who “created a moving, intimate, magical melodic country trip.” Currently working with three-time Grammy winner Alf Rodenas on her second album, Conlon promises a “sweeter, happier, AmeriFolk/Rock” effort that “delves ever deeper into my human heart.”
A frequent performer at charity events, nightclubs, and festivals in and around Los Angeles, Annette Conlon is a passionate animal rights advocate and vegan musician. Her songs of compassion, social consciousness, human interaction, animals, and awareness have been played around the country and traces of more modern artists like Lou Reed, Nick Cave, The Civil Wars, and The Weepies can be felt here. She recently completed her second SouthEast tour dubbed the Compassionette Tour. This Tour helped elevate awareness with sponsors in music, fashion, and food, and the musical activism helped raise awareness of animal cruelty and factory farming. (See annetteconlon.com/#tour-dates.)
Annette toured the country from the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s with her Dallas-based alt-rock band Eden Automatic, opening shows for the B-52s, Duran Duran, Missing Persons, and the Pretenders, among others. When serious health issues forced Annette to face her own mortality, her music began a shift towards a more roots-based sound, resulting in a collection of her most personal musical storytelling.
Her solo debut, 2015’s Life, Death, and the Spaces Between, is rich with country-flavored melodies and lively instrumentation — accordion, banjo, cello, Dobro, guitars, mandolin, mellotron, and pedal steel — arranged alongside guitarist/husband Doug Conlon and multi-instrumentalist and producer Ted Wulfers. The 15 songs explore Conlon’s two-year journey through deadly illness, multiple surgeries, and a major brain injury. Songs like “First Suicide,” “Cedar Box” and “Faceless Angel” address challenging issues of loss, fear, faith, and relationships — weighty matters, to be sure, yet she fashions silver linings from the darkest of clouds.
Conlon recalls. “I wrote ‘Live Like an Angel’ about refusing to let crushing despair defeat you — about rising above and letting the world hear you sing.”
Along with Country Music People’s high praise, AXS.com called the new release “a sincere compilation of emotionally born composition.” Life, Death, and the Spaces Between landed on the Top 100 RadioFreeAmericana chart, and tracks are still earning radio play in the U.S. and Europe. “Cedar Box” has been picked up for the soundtrack to the Highland Myst film The Harrowing, due out Winter 2017.
Long active in LA’s independent music community, Conlon is dedicated to supporting other independent women in music. Toward that end, her monthly NetteRadio Songwriter Showcase has produced more than 100 artists showcases and has raised funds for numerous charitable causes. She received the 2011 Songsalive! Songwriter of the Year Award, and a 2015 Hollywood Music Media Award nomination in Americana.
Most recently Annette has performed at Americana Fest, NAMM, The Bluebird Café, SoCal VegFest, Plant Fest, National Animal Rights Day, Have A Heart Ranch, WorldFest, EarthDay LA, Chicago Veganmania, Mesa Music Festival, and more from California to Arizona, Colorado, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Chicago..
FEATURES/AWARDS/ENDORSEMENTS
Annette has been featured in Fierce Magazine, Examiner.com, and AXS.com, and her writing has been published in ROCKRGRL.
Annette was voted ‘Fan Favorite’ by the 2015 L.A. Music Critic readers and her CD Life, Death, and the Spaces Between received a nomination for an L.A. Music Critic Award. She is a 2015 HMMA (Hollywood Music Media Awards) Nominee. She was awarded the 2011 Songsalive! Songwriter of the Year Award and she was a recipient of the 2009/2010 ASCAPlus Award.
Her music has been licensed for several films.
She is endorsed by Bedell Guitars, Seagull Guitars, Daisy Rock Guitars, LR Baggs, Shubb Capos. Guitar Moose, Couch Guitar Straps, Kat Mendenhall Vegan Cowboy Boots, Bent & Bree, and BHAVA, and in 2016 Tofurky lent support to the Compassionette Tour by providing coupon booklets and compassionate counter-culture cards to distribute along the way.
GRAMMYS
Annette has been a voting member of the Grammy’s (NARAS) since 2001. Her work was nominated in round one for the 58th GRAMMY consideration in several categories, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year, as well as Best New Artist, Best American Roots Performance (First Suicide), Best American Roots Song (First Suicide), and Best Americana Album (Life, Death, and the Spaces Between).
She is a vegan, an advocate for animal rights, rescues stray kitties, and is passionate about everything she pursues.
She is full of gratitude.
QUICK PRESS LINKS:
Indie Pulse Interview: https://indiepulsemusic.com/2017/06/24/interview-with-annette-conlon/
Colorado Springs Gazette, feature: http://gazette.com/americana-vegan-musician-annette-conlon-to-perform-in-colorado-springs/article/1605754
Vents Magazine Interview (page 238): http://en.calameo.com/read/00046664070072ff9ea15
Additional notes:
Membership: ASCAP, NARAS (voting 2001), Americana Music Association (voting 2015), FAI (Folk Alliance), and NSAI – Nashville Songwriters Association.
Other memberships: Songsalive, WIM (Women In Music,) GoGirlsMusic.
Annette works with many great organizations such as SongNet, IMC, Rockin’ Moms, and Mamapalooza.
Life, Death, and the Spaces Between was funded by Kickstarter. Annette is grateful to everyone who supported this debut solo record by contributing to and sharing this campaign.
Previous bands: The Conlons, Eden Automatic, who toured and released
