Adam O'Connor

Adam O’Connor

BA (Contemp. Mus), GradDipEd

Adam is a contemporary guitarist with more than 25 years of playing experience. Since first taking up the guitar, Adam has engaged non-stop in what is most important to him – performing and composing.

He has a wide variety of musical experiences and styles to his credit and constantly seeks more to add to this list. He has played in Rock, Funk, Rockabilly and Top 40 cover bands and duos, Trad, Acid and Fusion Jazz ensembles, accompanied singers and instrumentalists in a variety of duo and trio settings and played and recorded in a number of other formats including Musicals and session work. He has spent a lot of time doing solo gigs, accompanying vocalists, playing standards and funky tunes and developing the way he wants to play the guitar.

Having been a guitar teacher for many years, Adam decided to extend his skills into the classroom and went back to University to attain a Grad Dip Ed. He is currently the Music Co-ordinator for Rivermount College and this role constantly finds him acting as Musical Director for performances of all shapes and sizes.

In 2009 Adam released his debut album “2 Head City”.  Co-produced by John Freiberg, the full length album of original compositions is performed on a Yamaha AEX 1500 Guitar with no backing tracks or overdubs – just as it would be live. Two already completed tracks were selected for entry into the 2008 MusicOz Awards and were honoured with a place in the Top 10 for the Instrumental category.

Adam draws upon funk, jazz, blues and rock and his tunes borrow elements from many other styles. In playing and composing alike, he tries to find the balance between familiar and exotic, rhythm and harmony. Adam takes inspiration from legends of solo guitar players such as Joe Pass, Martin Taylor, Tuck Andress and of course, Tommy Emmanuel. The style of his music is also affected by his simultaneous passion for electric guitar and it’s idols. He cites diverse influences such as ,Mark Knopfler, Stevie-Ray Vaughn, Brian Setzer, Eric Clapton, John Scofield, Scott Henderson, Wayne Krantz and many others. Adam has played in Top 40 cover bands, duos, trios and Jazz and Fusion ensembles.