Joel T. Conner

A fixture on the Indianapolis music scene, Joel Conner has played virtually every kind of music and given hundreds of performances. Guitar, bass, and keys are among the 30 instruments he plays. His song, "Winter Blast," was featured on the holiday special "Rocking Hoosier Holiday," which was nominated for a regional Emmy. Best known as a founder of local bands Whiskey and Indiscretion, he continues to work on new projects, as described on this website.

Quotes from an April, 2006 Nuvo article by Paul Pogue. [Unfortunately, when they deleted their archives the article disappeared, but at least some quotes from it tell a little about the musical background and style of Joel Conner.]

"Conner puts on one-man festival Show Review" (by the way, the ONLY Nuvo show review ever written at a person's residence) by Paul F. P. Pogue

"The Joel Conner Basement Music Center...As house party plans go, this one had to be filed under 'lunatic ambition.' Five hours [actually six], 10 bands (actually 14), and the musical history of four decades all wrapped up in one show..."

"Joel Conner has been a fixture in various endeavors of local music since 1978...Indianapolis music is a many-faceted gem that will drive you crazy if you try to take it in all at once, but IconFest '06 was...a single moment that may not represent everything at once but nonetheless cuts straight through the face of Indy music and catches...an interesting musicography just in the wide range of bands Conner's been in: the 1960s/'70s Schizophonix; soft-rock Triple Threat; early-'80s Undercover; and modern alt-rock with Tigris and Indiscretion."

"Conner's stage presence is an unusual dichotomy; on the one hand, he seems to genuinely enjoy the whole rock-star thing more than any musician I've ever seen. He throws his whole body into the bluesy guitar riffs, like Clapton on a rampage; he has a higher TWPS (Townshend Windmills Per Solo) than is recommended by doctors. But for all that, he never forces himself center stage, leaving the spotlight to the frontmen and -women of the various bands...(including)…Conner's latest project," a male-female duo, This Boy's Fool, performing Dido-styled adult contemporary work.

He, and the bands, played non-stop. "Doesn't hold them back at all. In this city, that's usually the only way anything musical ever gets done anyway."