In this episode I had the privilege of speaking with one of my guitar heroes Gary Lee Conner, a founding member of the Screaming Trees. Along with Gary's brother Van Conner on bass, Mark Pickerel behind the drums, and Mark Lanegan with his classic vocals The Screaming Trees went on to find Major label success with their single "Nearly Lost You" in the early 1990's. In this episode we discuss classic Screaming Trees, from their humble beginnings to their years on SST Records, and onto Sony. We discuss things like how he came to work with Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Layne Staley of Alice in Chains as well as how Mark Lanegan may have lost the master tapes to The Screaming Trees earlier works.
We also discuss Gary's latest solo releases which you can check out here: https://garyleeconner.bandcamp.com/
Also Gary Lee Conner has a fantastic YouTube page with modern performances as was as a treasure trove of unreleased Screaming Trees tracks which you can look for here: https://www.youtube.com/user/microdotgnome
Gary Lee Conner is an American musician who was the lead guitarist of alternative rock act Screaming Trees. His brother Van Conner was the band’s bassist. Conner began his career with Screaming Trees in 1985, and played with them until their disbanding in 2000. During that time he released non-Trees music: The Purple Outside-Mystery Lane (1990 New Alliance Records), with brother Patrick Conner on drums, and the single “Grasshopper’s Daydream/Behind The Smile” (1999 Sub Pop), featuring Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age.
Conner played on Beat Happening's "Indian Summer" and "Midnight a Go-Go," from Jamboree. He also contributed to "Against the 70s," from Mike Watt's Ball-Hog or Tugboat? (1995 Columbia Records).
After ten years of seclusion, Conner released an album from his band Microdot Gnome. 4D Sugarcubes was released on Moonbus International Recordings in April 2010. He is planning future releases from the band. In August 2016, Conner released a solo album, Ether Trippers, on Strange Earth Records.
#ScreamingTrees #MarkLanegan #GaryLeeConner #BeeSoundPodcast