Van Conner
{{Short description|American rock musician (1967–2023)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Van Conner
| image = Van Conner with Screaming Trees (1980s SST promo photo) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Conner with Screaming Trees in the 1980s
| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_date = {{birth date|1967|3|17}}
| birth_place = Apple Valley, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|1|17|1967|3|17}}
| death_place =
| genre = Grunge, psychedelic rock, alternative rock
| occupation = Musician
| years_active = 1984–2023
| instrument = {{hlist|Bass|guitar|vocals}}
| label = Velvetone Records, SST, Epic, Small Stone
| past_member_of = {{Flatlist|
- Screaming Trees
- Gardener
- VALIS
- Solomon Grundy
}}
| website =
}}
Van Patrick Conner{{cite web|url=https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/900361520 |title=ALL I KNOW |website=ASCAP |publisher=American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers |access-date=November 13, 2023}} (March 17, 1967 – January 17, 2023) was an American rock musician, best known as the bassist for Screaming Trees.
Career
As a bass player in high school, Conner formed the band Explosive Generation with his brother Gary Lee Conner and Mark Pickerel. That band later evolved into Screaming Trees with the addition of singer Mark Lanegan in 1985.{{Cite web|title=Screaming Trees Biography, Songs, & Albums|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/screaming-trees-mn0000312353/biography|access-date=November 26, 2021|website=AllMusic|language=en}} The band moved from their native Ellensburg, Washington to Seattle in the late 1980s to join that city's burgeoning alternative rock scene.{{Cite web|last=Wilding|first=Philip|date=June 20, 2016|title=Screaming Trees: Grunge's Nearly Men|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/screaming-trees-grunge-s-nearly-men|access-date=November 26, 2021|website=loudersound|language=en}} Conner played on seven studio albums with Screaming Trees until the band split in 2000.
While he was with Screaming Trees, Conner formed the side project Solomon Grundy, in which he performed lead vocals and guitar. That band released an album in 1990,{{Cite web|title=Solomon Grundy Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/solomon-grundy-mn0000751246|access-date=November 26, 2021|website=AllMusic|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=April 21, 2019|title=Shadows of the Season. Looking Back at Screaming Trees' Sweet Oblivion with Gary Lee Conner|url=https://sonicnews.blog/2019/04/21/shadows-of-the-season-looking-back-at-screaming-trees-sweet-oblivion-with-gary-lee-conner/|access-date=November 26, 2021|website=SONIC NEWS|language=en-GB}} and during that period Conner also joined a live lineup of Dinosaur Jr.{{Cite magazine|last=Mundy|first=Chris|date=April 18, 1991|title=Dinosaur Jr. Pull Guitar Rock Back From the Brink|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/dinosaur-jr-pull-guitar-rock-back-from-the-brink-181156/|access-date=November 26, 2021|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}} He later formed another side project called Gardener, which released an album in 1999.{{Cite web|title=Gardener Biography, Songs, & Albums|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gardener-mn0001247075/biography|access-date=November 26, 2021|website=AllMusic|language=en}} After the breakup of Screaming Trees, Conner worked as a session musician and had formed several additional alternative rock bands, including VALIS{{Cite web|last=Barbrick|first=Greg|date=May 17, 2013|title=Music Review: VALIS - Minds Through Space and Time [Colored Vinyl Edition]|url=https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Music-Review-VALIS-Minds-Through-Space-and-4526948.php|access-date=November 26, 2021|website=Seattlepi.com|language=en-US}} and Musk Ox.{{Cite web|last=Diamond|first=Lee J.|title=Album Review: Valis - Minds Through Space and Time|url=http://www.heavyplanet.net/2012/10/album-review-valis-minds-through-space.html|website=Heavyplanet.net|access-date=November 26, 2021}}
Illness and death
In December 2021, Conner fell into a comatose state after suffering complications from emergency stomach surgery.{{Cite web |title=Screaming Trees Co-Founder and Bassist Van Conner Dead at 55 |url=https://people.com/music/screaming-trees-co-founder-and-bassist-van-conner-dead-at-55/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=People |language=en}} While hospitalized, Conner also contracted an infection of COVID-19, severely worsening his condition. Conner would continue to struggle with respiratory and mobility issues for the rest of his life.
Conner died from pneumonia on January 17, 2023, at the age of 55.{{Cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2023/01/van-conner-screaming-trees-bassist-and-co-founder-dies-at-55/|title=Van Conner, Screaming Trees Bassist and Co-Founder, Dies at 55|website=Spin.com|date=January 18, 2023|access-date=January 18, 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/van-conner-dead-screaming-trees-co-founder-bassist-dies-55-1235200889/|title=Van Conner, Screaming Trees Co-Founder & Bassist, Dies at 55|author=Starr Bowenbank|website=Billboard.com|date=January 18, 2023|access-date=January 26, 2023}}
Selected discography
For his work with Screaming Trees, see Screaming Trees discography.
- Solomon Grundy (Solomon Grundy, 1990)
- New Dawning Time (Gardener, 1999)
- Vast Active Living Intelligence System (VALIS, 2002)
- Head Full of Pills (VALIS, 2004)
- Dark Matter (VALIS, 2009)
- Minds Through Space and Time (VALIS, 2012)
- Coming Back Again (Van Conner, 2018)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{discogs artist|Van Conner}}
- {{IMDb name|0175188}}
{{Screaming Trees}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conner, Van}}
Category:20th-century American bass guitarists
Category:20th-century American male musicians
Category:American rock bass guitarists
Category:American male bass guitarists
Category:Screaming Trees members