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(PLEASE NOTE: you will have to request CONNOR DESAI since that is the name under which we released our EP)
BIO:
Following the critical acclaim that met Seattle songwriter/guitarist Connor Desai ’s self-titled debut EP, Secret Stairs is the compelling result of her collaboration with bassist Alex Trzyna and drummer Mike O'Doherty . As they blend Connor’s irresistibly sultry purr and uncluttered guitar stylings with Alex and Mike’s innovative rhythms, Secret Stairs float between jazz, folk, pop and indie slowcore without breaking stride or putting audiences to sleep.
From her first public performance, singing “Jesus Loves Me†at the age of three, Connor Desai has pursued every opportunity to emulate her early influences (Victoria Williams and Kansas, among many others) and create honest, soulful music. Her first release was a success in that regard – sexy and soothing and downright real in a manner that beguiled a number of jaded music writers. In Secret Stairs, Connor will have the opportunity to bring her songs on the road while working with two musicians equally as talented and innovative.
Alex Trzyna has been playing everything from prog to funk since picking up the bass guitar for his initial 9th grade “grunge†band in 1991. He found time to produce and engineer Leanne Wilkins’ folk/Americana album Waterwheel as he gigged around Seattle in a number of local acts and assisted Connor with the creation of her debut EP.
Mike O'Doherty recently moved to Seattle from Santa Cruz, California to teach drums at The Rock School. Like Alex, Mike is conversant in a number of musical styles and has been active as a professional musician for the last fifteen years. He’s a familiar face in venues throughout the West Coast and brings a seasoned edge to Secret Stairs.
Matt Brown, NadaMucho.com
CD REVIEWS:
REVIEWER MAGAZINE :
Connor Desai's self-titled 6-track EP is an impressive debut. Seattle's Desai makes dreamily soulful jazz/pop, reminiscent of Norah Jones or Feist. Her voice is sultry, her lyrics alluring and poetic, backed by playful percussion and subtly funky bass grooves (courtesy of bassist Alex Trzyna and drummer Mike O'Doherty.)
INDIE MUSIC MAGAZINE :
Good Lord, where has this voice been all my life? Take the easy lightness of Edie Brickell, add in the scratch of Rickie Lee Jones, dip it in hot buttered rum, put it in a smoky jazz nightclub, and you have Connor Desai. And you only have her for six tracks, so savor the sound. Let it melt over you and make your toes tingle.
SMOTHER MAGAZINE :
Slowcore fanatics might be amazed with the deft ease that Connor Desai portrays a sound that’s somewhere lost between pop, indie folk, and vocal jazz. Sort of like if Norah Jones had never been discovered and was forced to record in her Brooklyn apartment.
