Conroy Lee Ross

Rock

Canadian rock and alternative producer, Conroy Lee Ross, with his fast flying fingers defined his first band !nkblot on lead vocals and guitar in 2004. He's been touring and playing around the Okanagan and the world solo and as a hired gun in many projects and varying music styles since picking up the guitar at 11 years old. Having over 200 cover songs in his pocket makes every show unique with improvised solos, engaging banter and lots of singalongs with his audience. Ross teaches music lessons doing business as Last Guitar Experience, and continues to host and play live music events in Kelowna. He's currently recording his third solo album and also set to release an album with “The Pickups”. https://linktr.ee/conroyleeross

Born in 1990, Conroy Lee Ross and his family moved from Edmonton to Kelowna in the summer of '99. None of his family were musicians but they always had music playing in the house. For some reason or another in Christmas 2001 Conroy asked for a guitar. After only a few months of lessons he could perform full songs. His brother joined him on drums a year later and their first band “the Tumblin' Heads” was formed. After a few years, changing the band name to !nkblot and some rotating band members, Conroy and his brother James created 11 original tracks releasing an album in 2008, !nkblot : you are my iv. The appeal of the young rockers led them to performing many high demand venues in the Okanagan while still underage (Rose's Pub, The Blue Gator, Woody's Pub, O'Flannigans Pub) playing originals and covers by Led Zeppelin, Hendrix and other rock n' roll favourites. During high school Ross also excelled at jazz music playing guitar in the senior class and winning multiple awards with the band as a junior. After high school his rock band broke up and Ross began playing solo acoustic shows and joining cover band “Out Of Eden”. Opportunities led to Ross opening up for big names like Nazareth, Chilliwack, Tal Bachman, and Cold Driven. After years of playing local bars and Okanagan music festivals with Out Of Eden he decided to leave the band and focus on writing and performing solo so he moved to Vancouver to try something new. Over the year he played many open mics and original shows in a variety of venues which helped him really craft a unique sound. Ross moved back to Kelowna and finished a diploma in business marketing at the Okanagan College in the fall of 2013.

Ross, back in the Okanagan, began teaching music privately and playing solo shows. After a few years he decided to call high school friend and drummer Eric Rehlinger and start original project “The Pickups”. The Pickups rocked Kelowna's bar scene for 3 years and then the band released their first single “Don't Use That Brain”. The Pickups took a backseat soon after though as Ross joined band The Carbons and toured extensively for the next 3 years playing bass guitar in the band. The Carbons toured Canada and made their way to Australia too in 2019 before Covid-19 cancelled their USA 2020 tour. The band released the 2nd album in 2022 with Ross on bass and he left the band soon after. Ross is back focusing on The Pickups project with Rehlinger and producing his own solo material. He launched a music teaching series focusing on guitar on YouTube and a website for his goal to elevate the education for aspiring musicians around the world called Last Guitar Experience (https://lastguitarexperience.com/) in 2020. He continues to write songs that spread positivity and thoughtfulness towards personal growth and decimating stigmas of mental health.

Provided courtesy of Conroy Lee Ross