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.”