Songwriter Feature - Ian McConnell

I met Ian McConnell three years ago at a songwriters get together I organized at a publishing house here in Nashville, TN.  Shortly after that get-together, we had our first co-writing session with Lydia Dall.  That was the first of many writing sessions, over the next few years the three of us spent most Fridays writing and became very good friends.  If you don't already know Ian, I'm very excited to introduce you to his music! 

I hope you'll join us tonight on Instagram LIVE at 8pm central time for some original music! In the meantime, I would like to pass the mic over to Ian McConnell so you can get to know him!

How did you get into songwriting?

I started a (very bad) rock band when I was 13. The first songs I wrote were basically just rip-offs of the metal/punk rock songs we were listening to at the time, but I gradually started writing actually original content after the *band broke up*. I stuck to writing a sort of indie acoustic rock style in high school and early college, then began writing country when I spent a summer in Nashville in 2016. I’ve been writing country and pop since then.

Who are your biggest influences?

Taylor Swift is number one all time – her storytelling and emotional evocation are unmatched in the last 15 years. I also draw from blink-182, Eminem, 80’s pop/rock, Kenny Chesney, and Train.

What are you listening to right now?

Avenue Beat, Doja Cat, Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, Sam Hunt, and blackbear are my most recent plays on Spotify.

If you could only listen to one artist for the rest of your life, who would it be?

Taylor Swift. She has a song for every occasion so I think I'd be alright.

What is "Her Heart" about? What do you want listeners to know about what the song means to you?

Her Heart comes out on July 3. It’s a true story about my struggle with how to end things with someone I still really cared about who hadn’t done anything wrong, just wasn’t the right person for me. I wrote it as more of a therapeutic exercise than something I planned to release, but the more I sat with it, the more I realized how true the song rang and how much I wanted to share that story, even though I’m the bad guy in it.

If you could write a song with any person dead or alive, who would it be?

Taylor Swift forever.

What was/is your experience in quarantine like as a musician?

I produce all my own music out of my house and write alone regularly, so I was able to get a lot of work done and continue to release music every month as I had been since last May. I had some difficulty with motivation at times, but was thankful to be able to continue at my own pace regardless of the state of the virus.

What advice would you give to an aspiring singer/songwriter?

Don’t write what you think people want to hear, write what you want to say. I’m still learning that. Also, be open to the idea that you might suck at writing at first, and take the time to get better and take constructive criticism (speaking from experience).

More about Ian McConnell

Ian is a writer, singer, performer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist in Nashville, TN. Ian began writing songs at age 12 in his hometown of Reston, VA, and – luckily – has improved since then. Like those songs were really bad. Be thankful these songs are not those songs. He then continued his musical endeavors at Furman University in Greenville, SC, receiving a bachelor’s degree in cello and math before moving to Nashville in 2017. Ian’s original music has racked up over 1.5 million all-platform streams, and songs he has written have a combined 2 million all-platform streams. His “Laundry Room Mixes” and “Fire Sauce Tapes,” two collections of monthly releases written, recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered by Ian in his Nashville residence, are a DIY inspiration and have been featured on major Spotify editorial playlists such as Wild Country, Breakout Country, PopCo, and Fresh Finds: Country. Additionally, he is proficient on several instruments, performing on guitar, bass, cello, and piano in and outside of Nashville. Described as “Keith Urban meets the Barenaked Ladies,” “boy band country,” and “the self-proclaimed funniest singer on Instagram,” this generally dope and hilarious dude thanks you for listening to the things that come out of his head.