Michael O'Connor is a local boy, born and raised here in Corpus Christi, but he has gone north to the fertile musical fields found in the Texas Hill Country to seek his melodic future. He has just released first CD "Green and Blue."

The CD was produced by Texas music icon Ray Wylie Hubbard and consists of, except for one cut, all original material penned by O'Connor. Excellent supporting musicians from Austin, Corpus Christi and the Hill Country execute the material with vibrant intensity and honesty.

There's lots of music on the disc with eleven cuts and a bonus track tagged on the end. Playing time is over forty minutes, which is considerably more than most pop CDs produced today.

O'Connor cut his teeth while growing up in Corpus Christi. He decided he was going to be a guitar player at a tender age and took lessons from J.D. Puente and monster guitarist Cid Sanchez. Rock was an early interest but a stint as a summer volunteer doing outreach work in Appalachia and exposure to this area's cultural diversity helped open avenues to a wider musical world. Indeed few musicians can match the wide range of musical influence and knowledge that O'Connor has to drawn from and mastered.

Rock, jazz, country, folk, Celtic and a heavy dose of blues blends into the sounds emanating from his guitar strings and wafting through the lyrics of the songs on "Green and Blue" The title even suggests a mix of cultures with Irish ancestry and American black blues.

The first cut starts with a country styled song "Slips Through your Fingers" O'Connor does some twangy country leads then slides into a little harder sound. The supporting cast is not subdued and shines all through the CD, starting with some great dobro and slide work by Jeff Plankenhorn.

The next song has more of that good dobro and it has a good beat, you can dance to it! (A comment often expressed by non-musicians about songs they like.)

             O'Connor’s blues roots come shining through on "That Ain't Right" with another former Corpus Christi musician, Mike Cross and still local Rocky Benton singing some gospel inspired backgrounds and Cross doing yeoman's work on the organ. O'Connor lays down solid blues electric and acoustic blues licks on this cut which may be the strongest on the CD.

Introspection and reflection dominate the moody "A Hundred and Four Degrees" as O'Connor plays harmonica and sings about past influences, including his grandmother who played a big role in his life. The song demonstrates an insular quality, a withdrawal from the outside world when necessary for self-preservation. On this cut some very sweet violin playing by Eamon McLoughlin sets the tone.

            The CD features some 70s guitar, country rock, a Willie Dixon cover, "The Same Thing," done with respect and echoes of Johnny Winter, a very traditional "West Memphis Blues" with Rocky Benton on harmonica and definite influences of Robert Johnson.

"The Ballad of Jack Sullivan" chronicles the turn of the century brawer. The last song is a rocking folk tune that demonstrates the eclectic nature of the disc with folk, rock and shades of Jackson Browne.

The CD ends with a "bonus'' cut with some good old rock and roll.

“Green and Blue" is a very good CD and represents a solid beginning into a future recording career for O'Connor who truly is a "local boy who done good.”