Joe's Bio

(stuff you probably don't need and never wanted to know)

Names have been omitted to protect the innocent:

Hi am Joe, would you be my friend? We will have many fun adventures together... Ok truthfully folks. I lived my first 17yrs in Montgomery, NY (sandwiched between Middletown & Newburg and located approximately a 1/2 hr from the city). *I Must stress though that this is on the West side of the Hudson and not in White Plains...Damn snobs!* .I had a nice childhood, and was brought up by parents who listened to weird 70's and early 80's light jazz/pop radio (still love it).I took piano up at the age of 6, mostly learning music through player piano "rolls" that would have solo piano arrangements to many Jazz standards. I played piano I till I reached around 11yrs old. My teacher said I was a natural pianist because I could play really damn well for someone who never practiced. I then decided to devote my interest elsewhere and take up guitar. Actually my parents bought me a Sears built in speaker guitar in 5th grade but I used it only maybe 10 times. But now I devoted all my attention to the instrument, and the fuckin' thing changed my life. I taught myself how to play by reading Tab, by the way I am the master tab reader still to this day (and a damn fine standard notation reader too I am told). I became freak guy who played guitar 20 hrs a day. Yep that number was pretty close to accurate!!! My first guitar heroes were Yngwie, then Vai. Next up was my huge Zappa obsession late in High School. Music was life to me. I applied to Berklee and my dad applied to North Texas State for me. I had a full scholarship there, but hardly anything at Berklee, but it was my dream to go to Berklee. So I went... and had the fortune of learning and playing with some of the most talented musicians while expanding my love from music away from the guitar and to broader areas.

As you might have noticed, I like music to take me somewhere new, some unexplored territory. There is nothing like Vinnie Colaiuta doing some fucked up drum solo, or Mike Patton's shrieking beautiful vocals, Zappa's alien guitar solos, John Zorn's birdcalls, or apt Q258/Hellborg/Lane's amazing improvised compositions. That is what I try to do. I try to interact with other musicians or sounds in a way that makes me feel like when I am listening to those guys.

As far as some newer stuff, I have since graduated Berklee with a degree in Jazz Performance and Jazz Composition and have received my masters in Jazz Performance from the Boston Conservatory. I am currently starting work on a PhD in Ethnomusicology, specifically on just intonation and musical "prime number evolution". I am also playing with the band "Third Nipple" and giving private lessons.

As Brian Wilson Once Said "Wouldn't It be Nice?"

Joe Conley's Website.
Third Nipple home.