Conner Cecil
Conner
(Old Dominion Records)
There was a time when hearing a boyish and manicured voice like Conner Cecil's alongside a willowy pedal steel wasn't uncommon in country music. That time is long gone, though, and hearing Conner -- a Globe native whose voice matches his cherubic face -- on his debut EP, Conner, is a little strange. In a genre where banjo accompaniment is now usually the dominion of guys with pock-marked faces and gravelly voices or quirky songstresses, Conner is an odd duck.
A former member of The University of Arizona's Symphonic Choir, Cecil
has a traditionally beautiful voice, which soars on songs like "Tear
Down These Curtains" and "I Need You." Unfortunately, when he turns to
topics traditional in country music -- drinking, carousing,
heartbreaking in "Dirtbags," -- it's about as convincing as country night
on Idol. "Juanita," the closer, is a nice midpoint. A cover of Gram
Parsons' song, it's got a little of everything Cecil does right (perfect
hushed tones where appropriate, ability to soar for the refrains) and
knowing Parsons wrote it, the references to gobbling down pills seem
more appropriate.
With his sparkling voice and the ability to play piano and guitar, Cecil has the tools to have a nice career. But I worry that his
influences (Parsons, George Jones, Alan Jackson, Hank Sr.) don't match
his repertoire. Hopefully, he can find a sound that fits his style,
maybe traditional love ballads with some piano, given that his press materials say he's classically trained.
Cecil has opened for Phil Vassar (the Billy Joel of country), so he knows it can work in the right hands. It's either that, or Cecil goes Nashville and drops the country instruments, or takes up Marlboro Reds and starts drinking Jack Daniel's Black in the hopes of getting a little more
grizzled.
