As an artist, Sean McConnell’s grassroots following is now hundreds of thousands deep.
Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Meat Loaf, Jake Owen, Brothers Osborne, Christina Aguilera, Buddy Miller and more have all recorded his songs––a dizzying list that spans not just styles, but generations.
Success shows no sign of slowing: Sean earned his first no. 1 single on the country charts in early 2018 with breakout artist Brett Young’s delivery of “Mercy,” which the two co-wrote.
As a performer, Sean packs listening rooms and quiets unruly bar crowds. His sound––a warm tenor painting vivid stories over acoustic guitar often cushioned by keys or other strings––has prompted a diverse range of music scenes from the storied Boston folk community to Texas’s defiantly self-sovereign camp to warmly claim Sean as one of their own.
“My payoff is just making the music,” Sean says, then smiles. “Everything else is bonus.”
At 34 years-old, Sean has the catalog of artists twice his age. He released his first album at just 15, and until his acclaimed eponymous record in 2015, he did it all independently. “Bootstrapping your own career, you get to build at an organic pace that allows you to grow with your music,” he says. “It teaches you how most musicians do it.”
“Overnight success is not the rule––it’s the exception. Most of us are doing it the other way.”
Sean’s new acoustic eP is available soon.
