If you have yet to happen upon the immense talents of Connor McLaren, now is your chance. The Indianapolis-based musician just released his first full-length with the indelible Ben Kweller’s label The Noise Company. Today, we get to peep the music video for the single “Candy Rain.”
A casual, meandering pace opens the track as we delve into the love story that is “Candy Rain.” While his romantic interest is metaphorically compared to this tasty concept, momentum builds and instrumentals are layered. The song becomes more of a quintessential rock ballad than originally expected, with a hint of grunge/surf rock influence in the whirring guitars. McLaren’s voice has the same appeal as your favorite 90’s crooners, giving all of his music what seems to be an unintentional – but completely genuine – layer of added nostalgia.
By the song alone, it is quite obvious that McLaren’s musicianship and professionalism far surpass the expectations normally associated with his ripe age of 21. But diving into the music video is a whole other treat. (See what we did there?)
The artist takes an artful approach to this visual release, with isolated color palettes dancing around his shadow profile in some frames, playing with natural elements like the textures in mother nature and the sun in others. Shots of the curly-haired crooner performing in earnest, surrounded by bubbles. Then covered in paint. Then avoiding a literal candy downpour under an umbrella.
The video is a kaleidoscope dream you won’t soon forget.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES: August 17 – New York, NY – The Footlight August 26 – Normal, IL – House Show August 31 – Bloomington, IN – The Atrium September 2 – Cleveland, OH – Mahall’s Apartment September 9 – West Lafayette, IN – House Show September 12 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East September 14 – Boone, NC – TApp Room September 21 – Chicago, IL – Bookclub October 14 – Charleston, SC – House Show November 10 – Appleton, WI – Appleton Beer Factory December 22 – Indianapolis, IN – HiFi **Homecoming show – TICKETS
SONG CREDITS Lead Vocals – Connor McLaren Acoustic and Electric Guitar – Alec McLaren Bass and Drums – Ben Kweller Backing Vocals – Connor McLaren and Ben Kweller **Written by Connor McLaren, Alec McLaren, and Benjamin Kweller and published by Weed Funded Songs (ASCAP), Charity Chase Songs (ASCAP) and Twelve Sided Die (ASCAP)
It’s happening, it’s actually happening. After a 15 month closure Rockwood Music Hall is finally reopening this weekend. It’s so exciting and such a relief to see the calendar filling up again. Kudos to Ken, Matt, and the team for pushing through this awful time and hopefully the room will pack out every night from here on out. Never take anything for granted! On Saturday June 5th at 8pm, Irish man Niall Connolly performs with his band.
Rockwood Music Hall reopening gives me a real sense of hope. It feels like a good metaphor for the resilience of New York City. One of the most respected venues has survived this pandemic. In a time when so many people have lost so much, I am very grateful to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I am very grateful to have my health and to have an opportunity to play on one of my favorite stages. I am also so excited to play alongside the band again. I am not certain I won’t drown in a puddle of happy tears as soon as I hear them sing. We released two remotely recorded new singles during the pandemic. We have had a few socially distanced walks, countless Tuesday night zoom chats and so on, but I have really missed sharing the stage with them. It’s going to be emotional.
All of the shows at Rockwood Music Hall will require proof of vaccine (dated 2 weeks from your second shot). This includes the excelsior pass or your vaccine card. Anyone without proof will be turned away, no exceptions. There will be no mask or social distancing rules, and the venue will run at full capacity.
About 30 seconds after Rocker Stalker (Meijin) logged off Cancelled Plans Music Fest on Friday, we got a notice that her video had been taken down by a giant in the music industry because of the use of some music in the performance. Little did Facebook know that they had been approving similar performances pretty much every night all quarantine over on her Instagram page, so without further ado, here is the video that came back to life. MEIJIN, WE LOVE YOU!
On January, one woman band Raye Zaragoza made a stunning performance at Rockwood Music Hall. One of our favorites – Mr. Anthony Mulcahy – was on hand to capture the beauty for us.
Rockwood Music Hall in Manhattan’s Lower East Side was packed to the brim on September 1st. Darryl Rahn took the stage to support the release of his latest album entitled Making Strangers. Darryl’s personality and demeanor lend him a unconscious honesty, and his stage show is saturated in it. From the heartfelt opener “The Grey” it was an almost effortless captivation.
Darryl switched between playing with a full band behind him and going it alone with just an acoustic guitar. The standout from the unaccompanied portion seemed to “Reason To Run”. The crowd hung on the emotion of the lyrics and finger picked melody. It isn’t often that a palpable room-wide reaction to a performer can be spotted, especially on the Lower East Side where everyone is seemingly already over the next big thing. Darryl finds a way to connect through his songwriting its just folk enough to mean something more than a pop song, and its just pop enough to get put on a subconscious loop the following day. You can check out all the songs mentioned and keep up with Darryl’s socials via the links below.
Ciaran Lavery, an Irish singer/songwriter, performed an intimate solo set at New York City’s Rockwood Music Hall on June 22nd.
Playing to a small, darkened room, a reverent silence took hold of the audience the moment Lavery began his first song. Switching back and forth between acoustic guitar and piano, his sparse accompaniments allowed his gentle, hushed voice to soar. With introspective, narrative lyrics, Lavery is a poetic storyteller. His ballads pull at your heartstrings, his words run the gamut of emotional experience. As a performer, he makes meaningful eye contact with each member of his audience, drawing his listeners further into his world.
In-between songs, Lavery continued his stories, revealing his sense of humor. Speaking of nervousness on an airplane, he once tried to relax by watching, as a dog lover, Marley and Me. He wasn’t, however, aware of the ending. Lavery also had a revelation while listening to the radio on a long drive, attempting to figure out the meaning of the genre “soft rock.” With a creeping sense of dread, he put it together: he is soft rock. Lavery easily pulled laughs from his listeners’ throats as he framed simple, universal experiences as ones of casual mirth.
Are you an aspiring spinster? Are humans letting you down left and right? Are cats slowly becoming the only company you can depend on? Then, look no further (for anyone),this playlist is for you: Music to Dine Alone To.
I’m releasing this playlist on May 1, which I affectionately refer to as, “Mei-Day,” when I celebrate being an independent person and give my self some self-love, self-care and self-deprecation. In other words, this playlist is for those lonely times. They can get pretty frequent as an adult in this modern age, especially if you aren’t fond of texting, social media and dating apps as the sole tools for human connection.
Feel free to dance in the mirror, bang your head, or cry into you gallon of ice cream to these tunes. Enjoy yourself!
On Dec 7th Hardworker of Durham, NC took the stage at Rockwood Music Hall in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York. The band has a sound that is deeply rooted in American folk but breaks out and finds its home in todays indie singer/songwriter pool of talent. Lead singer and guitarist Sus Long lead the band through a set of songs off their latest release Go Alone as well as a few tracks from albums past.
By the second song they had to crowds undivided by playing the folk rock turned garage rock anthem “Look More Like A Girl”. The vocal harmonies divided between Long and Alex Treyz on “Lazarus” really filled the room with a Gospel vibe. Mid set the track “Kate” brought the energy with sharp guitars from Daniel Nowell and a distorted four string banjo played by Mike Connor. Wrapping up the already heartfelt show with all out folk song “Kansas City” we were left knowing the band can channel the North Carolinian roots. Elizabeth Cotton would have even probably approved of the bands ode to home.
Hardworker fits into and breaks out of the folk rock mold and they put on a great show in the meantime. Keep up with them here.
Quickly rising indie pop/rock artist Michigander just put out a new single entitled “Giving Up”, attached with a music video and a B-side called “Breaker Box”. Michigander, led by singer-songwriter Jason Singer, has been releasing music since 2016 and has been gaining traction through singles like “Misery” and engagement from popular playlists by Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. As of now, Singer is the face of Spotify’s “The New Alt” playlist, which promotes new and popular alternative music, placing him alongside artists like The Killers and Hozier. Before the release of “Giving Up”, Singer had put out 2023’s It Will Never Be The Same EP and a live performance and EP for Vevo’s online DSCVR series.
“Giving Up” absolutely appeals to fans of Michigander’s previous songs and features his trademark sound. His alternative pop sound with hazy synths and electronics that still capture honest emotions, all sung with Singer’s distinctive Midwestern twang. It’s cutesy and very likable, and Singer has a charm and earnestness to him that makes him appealing. The backing band assembled for this single is also very good, composed of Jake LeMond on guitar, Connor Robertson on bass, Chris Koo on keys, and Aaron Senor on drums. Lyrically, it’s about desperately trying to make someone happy to have minimal success and having to be assertive about getting nothing in return. It’s a relatable sentiment and very genuine. The music video, directed by Tyler Appel, is shot well with beautiful cinematography. It features multiple scenes of Singer playing with his band, as well as aimlessly driving his truck amongst other things. It’s fun and matches the song well enough, and Singer has a good presence in music videos.
The B-side, “Breaker Box”, matches the A-side in its similar sentiments and seems to be from the same narrator and addressed to the same person as before. It’s another song about a crumbling relationship and wanting the other person to put forth more effort into maintaining it. The song has a wonderfully lush production, with a more piano-driven melody and some wonderful-sounding horns. Like “Giving Up”, it balances being catchy as well as intimate and personal.
Michigander continues to be an inspired presence in modern alternative music, and “Giving Up” is an excellent example of why. As for the future, Singer and his band have a headlining tour beginning Oct 10 in Cincinnati, Ohio, going into 2025 with support from multiple artists including Cece Coakley and Sydney Sprague, as well as solo acoustic performances with Band of Horses.
