The singer-songwriter Connie Converse has been described by fans as a precursor to Bob Dylan. But when she made music in New York City in the early to mid-1950s, no one paid much attention. So she left the music scene to start a new life. Then one day in 1974, Converse and her music disappeared.
Decades later, in 2009, a few early recordings were released for the first time and suddenly Connie Converse had an audience. Ever since, those fans have been working to share her music and story with the world. One of them, author and musician Howard Fishman, published a comprehensive biography of Converse in May titled To Anyone Who Ever Asks: The Life, Music, and Mystery of Connie Converse. And now a new album containing 32 songs will be released Aug. 11. It's a recording Converse made herself, at home in 1956. She called it Musicks. Fishman joined NPR's Eyder Peralta to talk about the enigmatic singer and composer. Hear the complete radio story above.
Eyder Peralta: For those of us who don't know her, who is Connie Converse?
Howard Fishman: She was a trailblazing pioneering music maker in the 1950s, whose music has only recently been discovered and given the recognition it deserves. She grew up in New Hampshire, went to college at Mount Holyoke, dropped out, and moved to New York City to pursue being a writer. After being there for a few years, Converse began delving into making music at a time when the music she made really had no context. Although she had a fanbase among people that heard her in living rooms and in salon settings, she was never able to break through commercially because record company executives didn't feel like there was any way to market her music. Then in 1961, convinced that the music industry was not going to be able to do anything with her after all, she left New York and moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., to start a new life.
At some point she disappears. So we know nothing about her after that?
Right. After deciding that music maybe wasn't the avenue that was going to be open for her, she left and for the next decade worked as a social justice champion, working in conflict resolution, working against police brutality. And then she disappeared completely in 1974. She wrote letters to family and friends saying that she was going to start a new life somewhere and not to come looking for her, and she has never been heard from again.
Follow the link for the rest. NPR generally has durable links so I don't need to post the whole thing here.