The Music of Sean P Connaughty

SEAN P CONNAUGHTY DISCOGRAPHY

Sean Connaughty:

2003 Blacklock  (Mutant Music)

2004 A History of the Earth (self released edition of 13)

2004 Five Hands Tall (Mutant Music)

2005 Lost God Ballads - Improvisations

2005 Citizen Among the Ghûls - Live at Heliotrope

2006 Transmission - Improvisations

2007 Garden - Improvisations

2008 Blossom

2012 友情 (Yūjō) - with Suishou No Fune and Comets Ov Cupid

Salamander:

1995 Red Ampersand (Camera Obscura Records AU)

1996 Red Mantra (Camera Obscura Records AU)

2000 Live at the Soo Gallery (Mutant Music AU)

2000 Birds of Appetite (Camera Obscura Records AU)

2005 Bent Hemlock (Camera Obscura Records AU)

2004 Reclaiming the Language (Mutant Music AU)

The Vortex Navigation Company:

1998 Things Make Patterns as they Fall (Camera Obscura Records AU)

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

SALAMANDER
Sean Connaughty started playing music at the age of 26, after having a vivid dream which involved playing music with friends. He sought out musical collaborators. in 1992 he found a collaborator in Erik Wivinus and they began to jam together and eventually other musicians joined the experience and the band Salamander was formed. Sean was particularly focused on capturing and sharing transcendental moments through audio recordings. In this pursuit, he made hundreds of recordings. Salamander performed many shows in Minneapolis throughout the 1990’s and toured the US east coast with Tokyo band Overhang Party.  Salamander played the Terrastock 6 festival in Providence, RI in 2006. Salamander released 5 albums on CD and Vinyl from 1994-2006.

VORTEX NAVIGATION COMPANY
in 1998-2003 Sean met accomplished guitarist Wes Morden and together they formed the band Vortex Navigation Company leading to the CD release of Things Make Patterns as they Fall in 1998 on the Camera Obscura AU label. The album includes long form psychedelic rock improvisations with occasional dark folk ballads. In 2003 extensive recording sessions were undertaken at Bryn Mawr studios in Minneapolis between Wes Morden, Sean P Connaughty, Bryce Kastning, Dave Onnen and Scott Puhl.. These extensive recordings were never released.These were psychedelic rock improvisations are explorative, innovative and fierce. Vortex played numerous shows in Minneapolis including playing music festivals and local venues. Recordings made by Dan Witt at a 2003 gig at Big Vees were captured including their eruptive version of the Ranger’s Command.

LOST GOD BALLADS
From 2004-2008, while living in the Seward Neighborhood, Sean began to make recordings of his vocal improvisations with many local musicians. He worked closely with the late Matt Zaun an accomplished percussionist. Sean created six solo albums including, Five Hands Tall on Mutant Music. Many of these albums were released independently as small handcrafted art releases. In collaboration with artist/designer/musician Matt Zaun, Sean created the 2004 multimedia release/artwork “A History of the Earth”.

BIGLOO

In 2005 and 2006 Sean worked with collaborator Matt Zaun to create a series of igloo structures dubbed Bigloos. These snow shelters were designed and built with the intent to serve as audio recording spaces and sites for intimate scale performance. Over twenty bigloos were created from 2005 to 2009. These collaborative, improvisational sessions were recorded. The CD release of “Bigloo” was handcrafted and designed by Matt Zaun and was released in 2006. Bigloo V21 was built on the grounds of the Walker Art Center in 2011 after Matt Zaun’s untimely death in 2007. It was a collaboration between Sean and California based artist collective Machine Project. Several other bigloo sessions were collaborations with Duluth centered music collective Dirt Bike Family. In the various versions of Bigloo Sean collected hundreds of recordings that may soon be compiled and released.

BLOSSOM
Recordings of composed songs were made at Sacred Heart Church in Duluth and at Bryce Kastning’s home recording space.  This album was set to be released in 2008 but the process was delayed after the untimely death of Matt Zaun and it was never released. This is Sean’s only release consisting entirely of composed songs rather than improvised ones. Blossom was finally released to digital platforms in November of 2024.

友情

“友情” is comprised of improvisations with Tokyo band Suishou No Fune.  友情 is pronounced (Yūjō) and translates as friendship. The album was recorded in two sessions. The first was on 5/18/2008 in the attic studio in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis, MN USA. The second session was recorded in the basement studio in the Standish neighborhood Minneapolis 6/10/2012 Kurenai Pirako, Kageo, Matsueda Hideo, Harada Jun, Comets Ov Cupid, Sean P Connaughty and Abby the dog (barking). Sean’s  2012 sessions with Suishou No Fune and his cameo appearance during their set at the Varsity Theater that year in Minneapolis was the last musical effort of Sean P Connaughty to date. After 2012 He no longer played or recorded music.

REFLECTION

In late 2024 Sean P Connaughty was approaching the age of 60 and entered a period of reflection during which he revisited the catalog of musical recordings made decades prior. What followed was a period of intensive listening, mastering, editing and publishing the music of twenty years of making. As of April 2025 the process of compiling recordings continues. Already most of the output of Salamander, Vortex Navigation Company and Sean’s solo efforts have been released to digital platform becoming available to the public for streaming and downloading. More releases are in the works and will soon be forthcoming.

Above: Matt Zaun at Bigloo version 1, Medicine Lake, MN, USA 2006 Art Shanty Projects.