Gary Lee Conner (born Lee Gary Conner, August 22, 1962) is an American rock musician, best known as the guitarist for

Screaming Trees Screaming Trees were an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bassist Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel was replaced by Barrett Martin in 1991. Screami ...

Career

Originally from

Ellensburg, Washington Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 in Washington, Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 ...

, Conner formed the band Explosive Generation with his brother

Van Conner Van Patrick Conner (March 17, 1967 – January 17, 2023) was an American rock musician, best known as the bassist for Screaming Trees. Career As a bass player in high school, Conner formed the band Explosive Generation with his brother Gary ...

and

Mark Pickerel Mark Pickerel (born March 12, 1968) is an American musician best known as the original drummer for the alternative rock band Screaming Trees. He is also an active session musician and has released several solo albums as a singer/guitarist. Biog ...

in the early 1980s. That band later evolved into

with the addition of singer

Mark Lanegan Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an American singer and songwriter. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the Stone Age ...

in 1985. The band moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

in the late 1980s to join that city's burgeoning alternative rock scene. Conner played on seven studio albums with Screaming Trees until the band split in 2000. Conner released the album ''Mystery Lane'' in 1990, under the group name The Purple Outside. During the 1990s he made regular guest appearances on recordings by other alternative rock acts. After the demise of Screaming Trees, Conner retired from music for ten years, and re-emerged with a new band called The Microdot Gnome. That band released the album ''4D Sugarcubes'' in 2010. Starting in 2016 he began releasing albums under his own name, most recently ''Revelations in Fuzz'' in 2021.

Selected discography

''For his work with

, see Screaming Trees discography''. *''Mystery Lane'' (The Purple Outside, 1990) *''4D Sugarcubes'' (The Microdot Gnome, 2010) *''Ether Trippers'' (solo, 2016) *''Unicorn Curry'' (solo, 2018) *''Revelations in Fuzz'' (solo, 2020) *''The Opposite of Christmas'' (solo, 2020) *''Thutheater'' (solo, 2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conner, Gary Lee Screaming Trees members American rock guitarists American male guitarists Grunge musicians 1962 births Living people People from Kittitas County, Washington 20th-century American guitarists People from San Bernardino County, California 20th-century American male musicians