Corn Mo is the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

of Jon Cunningham, an American, Brooklyn-based

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

. Corn Mo sings, plays the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, keyboards, and sometimes performs as a one man band. His music style is a mixture of

circus music Circus music (also known as carnival music) is any sort of music that is played to accompany a circus, and also music written that emulates its general style. Popular music would also often get arranged for the circus band, as well as waltzes, fox ...

, glam rock, and humorous novelty songs. He is currently recording his third solo album, and albums with his band

.357 Lover .357 may refer to: *.357 Magnum, a firearm cartridge (revolver) *.357 SIG, a firearm cartridge (pistol) * .357 Maximum, a wildcat firearm cartridge (revolver) * .357/44 Bain & Davis, a wildcat firearm cartridge (pistol) * .357 Peterbilt, a wildcat ...

. Many of his songs and stylings are heavily influenced by Meat Loaf (to whom he bears a slight physical resemblance) and Queen.

Recording as Corn Mo

He started his music career in Denton, Texas. Corn Mo released his first full-length album, ''I Hope You Win!'', in 2000. His 2002 follow-up '' The Magic Is You!'', features his most popular song, "Busey Boy", about being mistaken for actor Gary Busey. He is featured on the

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was th ...

album Supersunnyspeedgraphic singing backing vocals on "Get Your Hands Off My Woman." He recently appeared in the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players' DVD release of '' On and Off Broadway''. He performed a duet with Jason Trachtenburg on his accordion to a new rendition of the Trachtenburgs' song "Beautiful Dandelion". Back in the Denton days Corn Mo teamed up with friend Mauve Oed for a cassette. It included a cover of

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

's " Home Sweet Home" which garnered play on local indie radio show The Adventure Club. In October 2012, it was announced that he had joined "Tragedy", the all metal tribute band to the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

Albums with .357 Lover

.357 Lover, first formed when Corn Mo lived in Denton, backs Corn Mo when he is not playing as a solo performer. Their current lineup is Dave Wallin on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, and Ron Salvo on drums. .357 Lover recorded their first EP, titled ''Your Favorite Hamburger is a Cheeseburger'', in 2007. A full-length debut, ''Diorama of the Golden Lion'', was released in September 2009.

Live

For several years before moving to New York, Corn Mo performed at many small venues in north Texas ( Denton and the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex), developing a small but loyal following. In 2003, Corn Mo played the Austin City Limits Music Festival. He plays accordion on Mary Prankster's live album ''Lemonade: Live'' which was recorded at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC on May 10, 2003. On May 20, 2003 Corn Mo appeared on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' where he performed "Busey Boy" with Kimmel's live band. In 2003 and 2004, he toured with The Polyphonic Spree as a member of their band. He has toured numerous times with They Might Be Giants and

. Corn Mo is featured on the 2004 They Might Be Giants live album '' Almanac'', playing the song "Particle Mo" (a live version of " Particle Man") with the band. In June 2006, he performed at the

Bonnaroo Music Festival The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in ...

. In April 2007, .357 Lover performed as the backing group for Andrew W.K. in Denton, Texas. Corn Mo toured again with Folds on his November Surprise Tour 2006. On June 15, 2007, They Might Be Giants announced via a bulletin that Corn Mo would be the opening act for "many of the shows" on their "We Got a Fever for the Flavor of a Whatnot 2007 United States Tour." In 2012, Corn Mo was the opening act for

Nick Offerman Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter. He is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received the Television Critics A ...

's college tour, and played backup on a few songs during Offerman's show. He was also the opening act for Wheatus from 12 May - 10 June on their UK tour in 2012.

Filmography

In 2014 Corn Mo, credited as Jonathan Cunningham, played a bartender in the Netflix series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...

'' in the episode entitled Low Esteem City. In 2021, Corn Mo appeared in a series of internet and television commercials for NJM Insurance playing the Agency Musician.

References

External links

CornMo.com - Corn Mo's Official SiteCorn Mo's Official MySpace PageLive performance of "Busey Boy" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!Corn Mo is Kung Fu Teenage Bigfoot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corn Mo American male singers American accordionists Outsider musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Singers from Texas Musicians from Brooklyn The Polyphonic Spree members Music of Denton, Texas 21st-century accordionists 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American male musicians