Sean McConnell is an American

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer-songwriter.

Biography

McConnell was born in

Athol, Massachusetts Athol (, ) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,945 at the 2020 census. History Originally called Pequoiag when settled by Native Americans, the area was subsequently settled by five families in ...

to two folk singers who played in local venues in the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

area. His family moved to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

when he was eleven years old, and while there he began playing guitar and writing his own songs. McConnell attended

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a Public university, public research university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as ...

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 165,430 according to the 2023 census estimate, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010 United States census, 2010. Murfreesboro i ...

, where he performed regionally and continued songwriting. McConnell released his debut album on his own label in 2000, when he was 15 years old, and went on to self-issue five more full-lengths and three EPs between 2003 and 2014. Concomitantly with this, McConnell entered into a publishing deal with

Warner-Chappell Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalog consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 150,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

, writing songs for artists such as

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocated to Nashville, T ...

Buddy Miller Steven Paul "Buddy" Miller (born September 6, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in T ...

David Nail David Brent Nail (born May 18, 1979) is an American singer/songwriter and country music artist. In 2002, he debuted the single "Memphis" from an unreleased album for Mercury Records Nashville. Five years later, he signed with MCA Nashville, fo ...

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...

, Jason Castro,

Scotty McCreery Scott Cooke McCreery (born October 9, 1993) is an American country singer. He rose to fame after winning the tenth season of ''American Idol'' in May 2011. His debut studio album, '' Clear as Day'', was released in October 2011 and was certifi ...

Jimmy Wayne Jimmy Wayne Barber (born October 23, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He released his self-titled Jimmy Wayne (album), debut album in 2003 on the DreamWorks Records label. Four singles were released from it, including " ...

Phil Stacey Joel Philip Stacey (born January 21, 1978) is an American singer who first gained national attention on season 6 of the television talent show ''American Idol''. After being eliminated from the competition on May 2, 2007, he was signed to a rec ...

Brothers Osborne Brothers Osborne is an American country music duo from Deale, Maryland. The duo consists of brothers TJ Osborne (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and John Osborne (lead guitar, background vocals). They signed a recording contract with EMI Records ...

Plain White T's The Plain White T's are an American pop rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground followin ...

Eli Young Band Eli Young Band is an American country music band from Denton, Texas. The band consists of Mike Eli (lead vocals, guitar), James Young (guitar), Jon Jones (bass guitar), and Chris Thompson (drums). They released their self-titled debut album in 2 ...

, and

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

, as well as for the television show ''

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

''. McConnell's releases under his own name, including the 2009 album ''Saints, Thieves, Liars'', drew the attention of the Texas

red dirt music Red dirt is a genre of country music that gets its name from the color of soil found in Oklahoma. Many red dirt acts got their start in bars surrounding Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, a city considered to be the center of red dirt musi ...

scene while he was still living in Nashville. McConnell wrote songs for, and performed on the albums of, Texas musicians

Wade Bowen Paul Wade Bowen (born 1977) is an American Texas Country/ Red Dirt singer from Waco, Texas, United States. Bowen was a member of the band West 84 with friend Matt Miller until 2001 when the group became known as Wade Bowen and West 84., AllMusi ...

and the

Randy Rogers Band Randy Rogers Band is an American country music band from San Marcos, Texas. The band is composed of Randy Rogers (lead vocals), Geoffrey Hill (guitar), Jon Richardson (bass guitar), Brady Black (fiddle), Les Lawless (drums), and Todd Stewart (gu ...

, and opened for Bowen on a nationwide tour. McConnell signed with

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...

in 2016, and a self-titled album, the first not released on his own imprint, was released in July of that year. The album was produced by Ian Fitchuk and

Jason Lehning Jason Lehning (born April 14, 1972) is an American producer, composer, musician and mixer/engineer living in Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Early life Jason Lehning was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee in a musical family. The son of pr ...

.Album review
No Depression, July 29, 2016.

Discography

;Albums *''Here in the Lost and Found'' (2000) *''200 Orange St'' (2003) *''Faces'' (2005) *''Cold Black Sky'' (2006) *''Saints, Thieves, Liars'' (2009) *''Midland'' (2012) *''Sean McConnell'' (2016) *''Undone'' (2017) *''Secondhand Smoke'' (2019) *''A Horrible Beautiful Dream'' (2021) *''Skin'' (2025) ;EPs *''Tell The Truth'' (2007) *''The Walk Around'' (2009) *''The B-Side Session'' (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, Sean American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters American folk singers Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts Middle Tennessee State University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Athol, Massachusetts