Biography
Sean Condron, 'A fine broth of a man,' as his mother would say, was born and raised in Sunnyside, Queens, New York City to Irish immigrants who themselves grew up during the Great Depression. At an early age, Sean took up the tin whistle under the tutelage of Martin Mulvihill in the back room of an Irish bar. Soon though, the guitar beckoned to Sean as his instrument of expression. Better known these days for his banjo picking, strumming, and frailing, Sean also plays the mandolin, a mean electric guitar, lap steel, harmonica, piano, theremin, jug, washboard, drums, and has picked up an electric bass when the occasion demanded.
Although formal training at the Manhattan School of Music during his teens and later at both New York University and S.U.N.Y. Purchase could not satisfy his Gypsy head and his Punk Rock heart, it was perhaps the potent early mix of economic displacement, music, and backroom bars that really lead to his restlessness and wanderlust. Whatever the case, Sean lit out for far-flung corners of the globe, as he has played the bars, toured and lived in a myriad of places including Ireland, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Russia, Guatemala, Belize, Canada, and Mexico.
Though he would site the music of the British Invasion and the early punks as the spark which set the tinder of his soul alight, in his later years, Sean has felt the deep call of tradition and has been drawn back to the music from 19th and early 20th century America seeking out music with the same energy and populism of the punk that so inspired him. In so doing, he has sought resolution with his own history, as, in this earlier era, the sons and daughters of Irish immigrants were playing much of this early folk music - in the backrooms of bars, in the medicine shows, and the circus wandering from town to town. (Twenty years late, Sean has finally run away with the Cirkus!)
In his years on the road, Sean has worked with his own groups and a myriad of artists both onstage and in the recording studio. He is a composer in his own right, having not only written for his own groups, but also for the stage and screen. In addition, his music has earned mention in Rolling Stone, The New York Times magazine, The Alternative Press, The Village Voice, Germany's Die Zeit, and The Prague Post to name a few. Below a list of these artists, you can hear some examples of Sean's work with his own groups and for other artists.
A Partial List of Sean’s Co-Conspirators and Credits
- Wretch
- Marshmallow Scare
- Civil Disobedience
- Friction Wheel
- Pork
- Daddy
- Elevator (w/ Malcolm Riviera of The Velvet Monkeys, Gumball; John Hammill of Pussy Galore)
- Dope (w/ Steve Coulter from Tsar)
- The Wicked Shitz
- The Jazz Factory Rejects
- Hooch Face
- Julianne McCambridge
- Ho Chi Minh’s Banjo Landmine Choir
- The Bog Warriors
- The Lazy Pigs
- The Band of Jakeys
- Impure Thoughts
- Andi Neate
- Some Like It Hot
- Mean Steve Piano
- The Disciples of Jointy
- The Color Factory
- El Boracho and the Tijuana Trannies (w/ John Barry, Beastie Boys)
- Dr. Israel
- Nikki Sudden (The Swell Maps, The Jacobites)
- The Big City Stompers (w/ Jerry Teel of The Honeymoon Killers, Knoxville Girls)
- The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn
- The Jose Flatfix
- The Blue Orchids
- Cantonment Jazz Band (w/ Bliss Blood of The Pain Teens, The Moonlighters)
- The Brooklyn Rhythm Masters
- Phil Roebuck
- The Brooklyn Browngrass
- The Jug Addicts
- The Cosmic All Stars
- The Wooster Street Trolley
- Benjamin Ickies' Failure
- The Strung Out String Band
- The BindleStiff Family Cirkus – Buckaroo Bindlestiff’s Wild West Jamboree
- The Captains of Industry
Releases
- 1989 Friction Wheel - Something Tells Me/Won’t Fall Down
45 RPM
single on S.O.L. (Bob Mould’s 45 RPM record imprint)
Guitar, backing vocals
- 1993 Dope - Pozor Baby
Guitar, Vocals
- 1994 Matt Welch - Slip Disko
Guitar, Bass
- 1994 The Bog Warriors - Weekend Flush
Guitar, Engineer
- 1994 The Lazy Pigs - Zdarma Bums
Engineer, Electric Guitar
- 1994 Hoochface - Shanty Town
Vocals, Guitar, Noises, Percussion, Engineer
- 1997 Impure Thoughts - Life and How To Ignore It
Greatest R'n'R band you never heard. We were oft compared to The Faces.
Vocals, Guitar, Organ.
Sound Clips: High on the Rise - Taste of Bitterness
- 1999 Dyslexic Heart - Dyslexic Heart Soundtrack
My first and only foray into electronic music.
Co-composer (w/ Dante Desole), Sound Designer, Performer
Sound Clips: The Cowboys in my Head - Said the Spider to the Fly
- 2001 The High Society - The High Society
My last R'n'R band - inspired by the cream of the 1970's rock. Initially included all of my old high school friends.
Vocal, Guitar, Mixing and Production.
Sound Clips: Bottle Baby- Rock Without Parole
- 2001 Awesome America Television Theme Song (Henry Hagerty, Sean Condron)
Banjo
Sound Clip: Theme Song
- 2002 Flakey Jakey and The Bohemian Wetbacks - Bar Salon Corona
Jimmy Bozeman continues to make great music in and out of Prague. We recorded this in a medieval castle the night before I returned to America.
Banjo
Sound Clip: Water Under the Bridge
- 2003 Contraband - In Times That We Live
Banjo
Sound Clip: Let Me In
- 2003 The Big City Stompers - Soul Filling Station
Jerry Teel of the Honeymoon Killers fame. As he fostered many other rockers, he gave me my first gig playing banjo.
Banjo, Lap Steel
Sound Clips: Leavin' Song - I'm Going Home
- 2004 Rosemary Wells - My Kindergarten
Banjo, Guitar, Mandolin
Sound Clips: The Lining of a Milkweed Pod - The Clouds