Thee Conductor

Jason Butler, the creative force behind Thee Conductor, works with an impressive selection of musicians for an intentional, yet open & collaborative art project resulting in a curated collection of songs. His first album titled Cotton Tornado was released in October 2017 to much acclaim. The album was co-produced and engineered by Justin Douglas of King Electric Studios in Austin Texas. This impressive debut is a swirl of orchestration both amplified and acoustic with some catchy singing & interesting rhythmic drumming. The album features the accompaniment of Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Jana Horn, Kevin Shea (Storm and Stress), Michael Patrick St. Clair (Hard Proof), Christopher Cox (Feverbones) & many other colorful characters. The second album from Thee Conductor titled “Spirit of a Ghost” gently hit the earth for all ears on January 22, 2021. The group emerges with 8 new songs and includes the lovely singing of Bonnie Prince Billy, Jana Horn and Will Johnson. Lead by Jason Butler and engineer Justin Douglas (King Electric Recording), the group continues forward movement as a collaborative art project pulling in best friends who are accomplished in their own respective right. The group also includes: The Tosca String Quartet (David Byrne), Michael Patrick St. Clair & Derek Phelps (both of Hard Proof), Vince Delgado (Knife in the Water), Christopher Cox (composer), Sonya Gonzales (Polytrue) & many other wonderful friends. Since starting the record in 2018, Butler (a late bloomer), has experienced lots of logistical delays including the effects of the pandemic limiting studio access. After cautious planning this body of work was finally completed July 2020. Butler and Bonnie Prince Billy continue their working relationship as he sings on two of the songs on the new album,“Tsk, tsk” and “Night Light”. Official video releases accompany each of these with Bonnie appearing in human form in the video for “Night Light”. Chicago artist Scott Shellhamer made the “Night Light” video and artist Mark Pearsall (Design Hut) created the “Tsk, tsk” video with his meticulous, labour intensive, animated paper drawings. Butler and his creative cohort known as Thee Conductor once again deliver an album of self reflection and beautiful singing. “Spirit of a Ghost” provides an abundance of horns, strings, singing, strumming, drumming, a remix, an iPhone recording, sadness, happiness, gentle intention, poignant words, darkness, rainbow skies, candy kisses & nighttime butterflies.