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Nora O'Connor
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Nora O’Connor is a Chicago-based musician and singer whose vocal talents are the secret weapon behind some of the city’s top performers and recordings. Nora is currently touring, playing bass and singing back up for Kelly Hogan (supporting her 2012 release "I Like To Keep Myself In Pain"). She recently recorded and is performing occasionally with longtime collaborator Andrew Bird. Nora has spent time on the road or in the studio with Neko Case, Jakob Dylan, The New Pornographers, and Robbie Fulks. Nora possesses a sensitive and honey-sweet vocal delivery, and is a solid sender on guitar (and now, bass!) -- which is why this lady's phone never stops ringing. In 2010, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy enlisted Nora O'Connor and Kelly Hogan as a primary vocalists on gospel legend Mavis Staples’ Grammy Award-winning album “You Are Not Alone.”
Nora first came to our attention as guitarist/vocalist for the late, great glam-country outfit The Blacks. Since then, she has recorded and performed with about a gazillion people, among them Andrew Bird, The New Pornographers, Jeff Tweedy, Archer Prewitt, The Aluminum Group, Janet Bean, Chris Mills, Neko Case, and soul legends Otis Clay and Mavis Staples. Yow!!! All these talents must know something about the dulcet tones of Ms. O'Connor, and you should too.
"When faced with the task of describing somebody whose artistry is so subtle as to be virtually invisible, the temptation is to throw up one's hands and plead to the mercy of the court. As simply as we know how to say it, Nora O'Connor is damn good. Can't you take our word for it?" —Riverfront Times
"Some voices need to be heard, front and center, and O'Connor's is one of them." —Des Moines Cityview
Compilation Tracks
"Home On The Range" on The Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook, Volumes Two and Three
"Sticks and Stones" on Hard-Headed Woman: A Celebration of Wanda Jackson
"Looks Like I'm Up Shit Creek Again" on Down to the Promised Land
"Poor Old Heartsick Me" w/ Ground Speed on Poor Little Knitter on the Road
"Cheese, Peas, Pickles and Bananas" w/ Steve Frisbie on The Bottle Let Me Down
"Two Way Action" with Andrew Bird on For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records
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