Connor Leimer

Kansas City, United States

For music, bio & more visit www.connorleimer.com In person, Connor Leimer comes across as your average high school student. He’s tall and lanky, with a fresh face and a wide, easy smile. He trusts easily. His tender 17-year-old heart has yet to be split open by life.That’s fortunate — at least for the rest of us — because we wouldn’t have his excellent debut EP, Like It’s June, if not for that ingenuous, youthful spirit. Leimer, a Blue Valley North High School junior, has been writing songs for the guitar since seventh grade, but he composed most of the EP’s five tracks last summer. Leimer was part of the Grammy Museum’s 2013 Music Revolution Project, a four-week summer school of sorts for teens interested in developing their craft. There, Leimer met fellow artists Hank Wiedel, Blair Bryant, Haley Ryan and Brandon Thomas, all of whom appear on June. The record was recorded at the local Weights and Measures Soundlab. As its title suggests, Like It’s June is an easy, windows-rolled-down collection. Yet it’s also surprisingly mature, with a sound somewhere between the sunny catchiness of Jack Johnson and the rawness of Jake Bugg. And that’s what Leimer wanted. "I’m primarily a songwriter, so I really get into that," he says. "The lyrics are really important to me. It’s natural. That’s what I like about it. You have a memory of that particular moment in time, and you can play it back for your kids 30 years later. It kind of becomes a little bit of history." By Natalie Gallagher. The Pitch. February 18, 2014