Fredericton-based guitar phenom Connor Fox makes his debut with Music Room.
Matt Carter
Can a debut album also be a career retrospective? That seems like an impossibility for a 23 year old musician, but it is also a fitting way to approach Music Room, the debut album from Fredericton-based guitar phenom Connor Fox.
Known to many as the lead guitarist for The Hypochondriacs, Fox has spread his creativity over numerous projects in recent years including two tribute acts dedicated to preserving and honouring the music of The Grateful Dead and Stevie Ray Vaughan, two of the biggest melodic and songwriting influences to impact both his promising career and his debut album.
Fox, is still in his early twenties, has been playing guitar since he could walk, so to speak. He started when he was about three years old. By six, he had the beginnings of his first original composition in the works, which he chose to include on his debut. At just 58 seconds in length, Loose Tooth, takes the form of a mid album interlude, dividing up Music Room’s remaining seven songs and two instrumentals. And the song’s title says it all. What other kind of blues could a six year old guitarist be inspired by?
Self produced, self recorded, and completely self written, Music Room, though it includes one of Fox’s earliest musical ideas, should not be dismissed or overlooked as being a collection of loose concepts. Far from it. The range of compositions presented throughout the album showcase a level of growth, musical maturity, and prowess on par with some of today’s best known festival favourites.
As someone familiar with Fox’s guitar playing (I first heard him perform around the time he was writing Loose Tooth), I was most surprised to hear his voice on record for the first time. It is one thing to be able to shred like Stevie Ray Vaughan or John Mayer or insert-guitar-god-hear, but Fox can also sing. And he can write a good tune too.
As far as debuts go, Music Room is as good as any head turning first release I have come across. While it is probably safe to say the path of guitar greatness Fox has chosen to follow is set in stone by this point, I’m curious to hear how his voice and his songwriting develop. If songs like Ain’t No Time, I Don’t Know You, and Love Letter Goodbye are any indication, the road ahead looks promising. Let’s all ride shotgun shall we, and see where this journey takes us.
Music Room was released digitally November 24, 2023.
