Those of you who’ve frequented my blog over the years probably remember my student Connor, the 10-year-old AC/DC fanatic who writes hard rock songs about American history and his guinea pig, Spikey. I’m happy to announce that after two years of work, his EP “Too Small” is now available for sale at CreateSpace.com. You can also buy it at Amazon.com, but less of the money will go to Connor.
Making this album with Connor was such a blast. I looked at the project as an opportunity to motivate Connor to polish his songwriting and performance skills, and one skill we focused on was singing into the mic as if he were in front of a cheering crowd. It’s a huge challenge for an inexperienced recording artist to muster enough energy for a compelling vocal performance in the peaceful quiet of a small studio. If you listen to the album, I think you’ll agree that Connor “got it.”
Mixing with Connor was fascinating. He has a great ear for post-production. I always give students final say when we’re making artistic decisions, but in Connor’s case this usually resulted in a better-sounding recording. He was good at balancing the volume of the different instruments to create a nice blend, and was adventurous experimenting with guitar effects. For example, he created the helicopter-like sound in the breakdown of “Slavery” by cranking all the knobs on my BOSS Flanger pedal. I winced when I first heard the effect, but Connor insisted that was the sound he wanted. Now I love that part.
Connor’s definitely excited to make real money from his music, but I’ve been impressed with his mature handling of mom’s suggestion to donate some of the proceeds to Children’s Hospital. Connor had severe allergies and barely survived his birth, and he really seems to understand the value of giving back to the hospital that saved his life.
I hope you enjoy the music. Hold on to your hairnet!
Details
Price: $12.51
Playtime: 15 minutes
Tracks:
1. Too Small For a Giant
2. What Are You Doing For Halloween, Spikey?
3. Freedom
4. Slavery
5. Civil War
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Children’s Hospital in Seattle.
Video of Connor
Wild Thing – Filmed when Connor was six.
Death Nightmare – 2009 Coffee Shop Jam
Comments 12
This is great. It’s fantastic to see young kids doing there stuff. Its really interesting to see them express themselves through songs at a tender age.
I encourage all my students to write their thoughts into a little note book, so that later we have somthing to work with. Cool kid.
What a talented kid! I am sure you have helped him foster a life long love of the guitar.
What a great talent! I’m sure he will do very well.
The only thing I was playing at 6 was G.I Joe!!:-/
Wow! You must be really proud of him. This is his achievement as well as yours.
A young rocker on the rise!!!
Keep up the good work Connor, it’s nice to see a young man like you singing this way and helping out as well.
Love it! My son is learning guitar. What a great experience to learn and share music at such a young age.
Guitar is a great thing to learn. Thanks for the Videos.
Thanks for sharing these vids! I wish all kids would take interest in music! He has great talent for sure!
Very talented! He must have a great teacher!!
The next child rock prodigy? Well done!
How can I obtain this from Europe? Can I at all to begin with?
Author
Hey Some German Guy,
Thanks for your interest in buying Connor’s CD. It looks like CreateSpace does ship to Germany:
https://www.createspace.com/1804104
Enjoy the music!
Rob