CORNDAWG CO.

To put it simply I’m a cartoonist, journalist, and overall music and art lover working and making art on the Hilltop in  Columbus, OH.

Born and raised in the area I remember from the earliest ages fondly spending time watching horror films and jamming out to 80s new wave with my Dad, who instilled in me a love for music of the alternative and often the “weirdo” variety. Growing to love bands like DEVO, Talking Heads and Gary Numan as a kid. I then found genres like post-punk, egg punk, cosmic country, and my all-time favorite genre Psych Rock. Listening to music provides me with a release and a place to confide in, a place that makes me feel at home.

So how the hell did I get the nickname “CornDawg”? Contrary to popular belief this started way before my time in “Rock-N-Roll” school (more on “Rock-N-Roll” School of Art and Music later). My nickname started around 2012 or 2013, I had chosen to leave behind my High School at Briggs and do post-secondary option at DeVry’s in-person campus. To put it bluntly, I was always part of the weirdo lunch table, separate from the nerds, the jocks, and the skaters, we were the kids who didn’t fit into any of those circles yet all of them at the same time. I thought this was my chance to start new maybe not be such a loser or a weird kid. For some reason or another when we were going around the room announcing who we were and what school we came from, I decided to try to give myself a nickname (which I highly don’t recommend as that’s not how nicknames work) I was a big fan of The Walking Dead at the time, so somehow I settled at the idea of having people call me “C-Dawg”. So as I stood up to announce that my name was Connor, I decided to throw in that people could call me “C-Dawg”, to which promptly and deservedly someone called out “More like Corn Dawg, am I right?” that person became one of my best friends, and continued to call me CornDawg from that point forth. I could have shaken my head and moved on from that nickname. However, I love the name, mainly because I grew up loving corndogs as a kid, and they are always my choice for food at the Ohio State Fair. Also, lets be fair I’m way too fond of a corny dad joke for it to not fit perfectly.

After graduating from college at DeVry University, I attended what I like to call “Rock-N-Roll” School of Art and Music at the legendary WWCD radio station better known as CD101, CD 102.5, CD 92.9, and then eventually WWCD Radio.  I soaked in every bit of knowledge I could from my peers, superiors, and other folks in the arts and music community while at the station. Learning about how important it was to focus my energy on aiding and helping promote the art community in Columbus. I was learning so much while having the best time imaginable and am incredibly grateful for the experience. I truly can’t imagine I would be who I am today as a person or an artist without the 9 years I spent in “Rock-N-Roll” School. This later instilled my focus on an even hyper-local area in my hometown of Columbus my lil neighberrdhood known as the Hilltop, a neighborhood filled with salt-of-the-earth people, who oftentimes were cast aside from the affluent and people from other neighborhoods in Columbus. I can’t tell you the number of times I told someone I was from the Hilltop at an event as an intern or just around town and heard “Oh… you’re from there…” as if being from the Hilltop made me less valid as an artist or a person, but I digress…

As times are changing and after graduating from “Rock-N-Roll” School, or parting ways, or whatever you want to call it. I decided I wanted to still promote, create, and do what I love to do which is create art and share my love for music with anyone who would listen. Thus prompting me to create this website, and ultimately “CornDawg Co.”.

Speaking of my art, I draw a lot of what I call “low-brow” cartoons. My cartoons are a window into my brain’s interworkings and oftentimes are the product of whatever I see or experience in the first 15 minutes of being awake that day or whatever movie or band I’m listening to. A journal of sorts of all the weirdness that is indeed me.  So I hope you enjoy the art I’ll be sharing with you and maybe you’ll find your next favorite band or artists at the same time. So buckle up your seatbelt friends, as Jack Burton from “Big Trouble in Little China” would say “a journey into a dark and stormy night on the Ole (“porkchop”) CornDawg Express.” I hope to catch you around town, at a rock show, or at one of the many great events this city has! Don’t be a stranger say hello or punch me in the face in the pit. Both are apt greetings.

Much Love,

Connor “CornDawg” Newell