![]() ![]() While in Huntsville, he met Nelson Larkin, a producer who helped the fledgling singer sign to the independent label GRT in 1974. Conley wasn't making any headway, so he relocated to Huntsville, AL, where he worked in a steel mill. Following his discharge, he worked a number of blue-collar jobs while he played Nashville clubs at night. While he was in the military, he fell in love with country music. After living with his older sister in Ohio, he rejected a scholarship to art school, deciding to join the Army instead. Although he has been a hitmaker for more than a decade, his contributions to country have often gone almost unnoticed.nnThe son a railroad man, Conley left his Portsmouth home at the age of 14, once his father lost his job. He spent part of the late '80s and early '90s overworking himself to pay off his debts. He's admittedly chased a more commercial sound, with a certain degree of success, but the run for the dollars also put him into a financial bind. ![]() His public self-analysis - in both his songs and his interviews - has proven inspirational to some, bothersome to others, but Conley has evolved stylistically, even though the "thinking man" label continues to follow him. ![]() Eventually, torn by the limits of the "law," he found his own niche by breaking many of those same rules. Influenced by everyone from Hank Williams to the Eagles, Conley delved into the details of writing, trying to learn the craft by following the rules and regulations of the Music Row songwriting community. He aspired to be a painter or actor, but found that his aspirations for music lingered after the other interests died down. Born into poverty in Portsmouth, OH, Conley struggled with the limits of his social class. In the process, the astute listener can find fragments of himself/herself in nearly any Conley creation. Early in his career, Earl Thomas Conley's music picked up the label "thinking man's country." An accurate description - Conley looks into the heart and soul of his characters, finding the motivations for their actions and beliefs. ![]()
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