When it comes to the music business, in many ways to quote Kenny Rogers – “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away, know when to run.” Many people would argue that if you have any shot in hell of making it in the business you must follow certain guidelines or go with the political music machine. Well to that I say, it’s a bunch of bull. Many different artists not only go against the typical music machine but some have made a name for themselves in the industry and one of those artist is Indiana’s own, Scott Coner.
Coner is an accomplished singer/songwriter who has performed with some of the legends in music including T.Graham Brown, Tanya Tucker, Charlie Daniels and Carol Chase of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Not only is he a musician, but he has written several books including When the Angels Cried, based on his song of the same name talking about domestic violence and Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie Van Zant, and Me, which is the story of the friendship between Gene Odom and Ronnie Van Zant. I recently interviewed Coner and the one thing I learned is how humbled Scott truly is. Let’s find out more about about the artist.
Above all, Coner is a family man first. He is married to his wonderful wife Cyndi and has 2 daughters.
Scott got started in 1994, when he released a Christian Country project that was getting airplay around the country and Charlie Daniels was hosting a show called Sunday in the South and had heard the single, so someone in his management reached out to Coner who was busy at the time playing shows around Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado. Daniels was able to finally get in contact with Coner and the two met up at the little Nashville Opry, where Daniels was performing, which was located near Franklin, Indiana, where Scott lives. Daniels sent Coner a pass to get into the green room and after the two talked Daniel’s had told Coner that he would like to help him.
Coner had traveled to Mount Juliet, Tennessee where the two had recorded some tracks together. After finishing the tracks there was a twist of fate, John Mellencamp’s band had split up and Larry Cain, who was the guitar player for Mellencamp for years joined Coner and helped him complete the album in Indiana. Coner and his wife, however, were expecting their first child so the album which was titled As the Silver Spills, was never released.
It wasn’t until after raising their two children that Coner decided to go work in Nashville. He originally went with the intention of becoming a writer, but oddly enough, he ended up recording his own material. Little did Coner know he was about to record with some heavy hitters. The first of these artists was when he had the opportunity to record his song “Maybe She Lied,” with the legendary Tanya Tucker.
The song came to life when he had a friend call him and tell him that his girl had left him without any confrontation or any warning, which hit Coner hard. He began writing the song and pictured himself in that situation. He took the song back to Nashville and made it more radio friendly.
A week or two later he met T.Graham Brown and the two ended up recording the single, “Sanibel.” Coner would go on to sign a small deal with Sony Red of out Nashville where they released an EP called Feels Like Friday. But, even with the building momentum he still wasn’t ready to fully commit to the road until he was sure his family would be alright.
Scott released his first single “Maybe She Lied” to radio in 2016, which got rave reviews from many major publications. An interesting fact about Coner is that he doesn’t use a major Nashville radio promoter, and the reason why is because he wanted the music to be handled by a real person who cared about the music, while also having the artist’s best interest at heart.
According to Coner, it’s like going to a big high school where the teacher doesn’t even know all the student’s names, and that is what happens in the music business. When you’re in Nashville you will see a ton of inspiring artists looking for that big break and you will get lost in the shuffle, so he feels like an independent promoter will give their whole heart when marketing his music.
Coner is someone that stands on his own two feet musically without the backing of a major label, which gives him total creative control of all aspects of his music. He likes to work with people that care about the music and have an interest in legitimately promoting his material instead of using their material.
Coner released his third album, Captiva Fallout, on August 28. The project contains 9-tracks, along with 2 bonus cuts. He will be heading on the road with his tour in 2018. You can hear tracks from Coner on Reverbnation or Soundcloud.
If you want to learn more about Scott Coner you can go to his website ScottConer.com or you can visit his Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram.
Folks, this guy is the real deal and someone worth listening to.
