When Matthew Connor came into the world on a gloomy Friday the 13th with tornadoes touching down mere miles from the hospital, his parents knew that there was something special about him. Within a few years, before he could even write down his name, he began writing music on the rickety upright piano in the basement, confirming their suspicions. After running away from home and hitchhiking at the age of seven, it became clear that there would be no holding him back. Born in Birmingham, Alabama and raised in a number of small towns in Virginia, Matthew spent much of his adolescence locked in a bedroom practicing the piano, guitar, clarinet--anything he could get his hands on that would make a sound. At the age of twelve he was given a karaoke tape machine and a $5 plastic microphone. A year later he began mailing demo tapes and handwritten letters to record labels, the addresses of which he found on the backs of his favorite CDs. A few years passed with no phone call from an industry executive promising to turn him into an instant sensation, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. At the age of sixteen, Matthew left his high school and home to study at the prestigious University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he trained to be an opera singer under a fearsome, demanding Polish woman. He sang in a number of operas, including several touring productions, before realizing that his real passion was for performing his own music. Once again, he packed his bag

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