The Push & Shove - The Rookie (2023)

The Push & Shove’s powerful debut album The Rookie; a fiery combination of blues/roots/rock that is reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen, Warren Zevon and Thin Lizzy; comes out today via Nine Mile Records.

The Push and Shove’s pointedly-titled debut album, The Rookie, marks the belated yet timely emergence of Austin-based singer-guitarist Sean O’Connor as a one-of-a-kind musical force. The Rookie is a powerful vehicle for the vibrant musical vision of the longtime songwriter, chef, independent entrepreneur and single dad, showcasing his keen ear for organic vintage grooves and his talent for deeply expressive, emotionally resonant lyrics.

Consolidating O’Connor’s longstanding ties in both the Austin and San Francisco music scenes, The Rookie‘s 12 original songs also showcase the abundant creative rapport between O’Connor and his instinctively soulful bandmates, who breathe organic life into the dynamic musical vision that’s he’s been developing for as long as he can remember.

“I’ve been building things my entire life,” O’Connor notes. “I built Thee Parkside roadhouse bar in San Francisco, and I invented consumer products that reached millions of people, including Batter Blaster and Big Swig water. I’ve always had creativity in my professional life, and I’ve spent a lot of my working life in bars. But making music has always been where I found spirituality and soul, and now at 51, I knew that this was my shot to show what I could do creatively in something I love that’s not tied to rent and bar staff and inventory and selling. Through finding these players who share my crazy vision, the Push and Shove has become an outlet for that other side of myself that I hadn’t really shown to the world until now.”

The Rookie gathers a representative sampling of the massive songbook that O’Connor and his frequent lyricist Tony Mattioli have built over the past several years, reflecting the extensive life experience and musical knowledge they’ve accumulated. Such propulsive tunes as “Play Me Something,” “Hell of a Year,” “These Times,” “Write Themselves,” and “Right Side” feature infectious, organic arrangements that incorporate classic rock riffs and gritty soul grooves, with uplifting horn lines that lift the songs into transcendent territory. All the while, the insightful, introspective lyrics are balanced by the gruffness of O’Connor’s husky, commanding voice.

O’Connor traces his affinity for epic arrangements to the first rock show he attended: a concert by the fabled jazz-rock ensemble Blood, Sweat and Tears. “The physical power of the horn section really grabbed me and really spoke to me,” he recalls. “When I started writing songs and forming my own bands, that became a part of how I thought about music. I wanted to channel that kind of power.”