Dan Rodriguez – 25 Years
SPOTIFY: open.spotify.com/artist/5T7PSvUO7Sm6AskUrp9iER?si=-mnprNmVR1Om1RAT8N_FQg
Dan Rodriguez’s 25 Years is a six song outing for one of the more impressive singer/songwriters working today on the indie scene. Despite his indie status, Rodriguez has experienced a number of notable successes, namely plum live appearances and placing songs in high profile advertising, and it’s a testament to how his marvelous recordings have found ready acceptance from more than just hardcore music fans. Dan Rodriguez’s fifth release shows him writing, singing, and playing with supreme confidence in his ability to seize and hold an audience’s attention. Rodriguez, in his relatively brief career, has amassed artistic powers we typically ascribe to much more veteran performers and 25 Years provides an aural embodiment of where he is right now that many listeners will find entertaining and gripping. It’s an EP that anyone who loves great songwriting and authentic rock and roll will enjoy.
One of the true musical strengths of 25 Years lies with its acoustic guitar playing. We get our first taste of that with the opening title track “25 Years” and a song slot frequently considered one of the big ticket items on any releases is well served by a track that brings a number of disparate strands together in a tight and expertly crafted weave of aural color. His voice is the brightest thread in that weave and glows with a lustrous blue light as it dips, dives, and swings with the first class arrangement. “You Feel Like Home” follows the same sort of construction but achieves different effects – the fact that there are such subtle variations in Rodriquez’s musical toolbox speaks well about his talents now and their potential for growth. He shows a different musical face with the track “Fire” and this comfortable blast of pure rock and roll makes for a nice change in atmosphere after the comparatively low-key slant we hear on the first two songs. The lead guitar lines coming through on this performance add another layer of goodness to the song.
“You’re Not Anybody” shows us yet another side to his talents while packing some of the same rock spirit we hear in the previous song. His singing shows great intelligence and sensitivity here, as well, and has a percussive quality that links up well with the drumming. “Hero” will definitely have its fans as Rodriguez takes his stab at something close to an AOR rock anthem, but it has a finessed touch that never weighs too heavily on the song and makes it more emotionally affecting and the final song on 25 Years, “Until the End”, gives Rodriguez’s listeners a muted and bare bones finale affording us our likely most personal look yet into this singer/songwriter’s heart. It’s a fitting close to an EP that takes a hands-on approach with every track and 25 Years sets Dan Rodriguez up nicely for moving to even greater heights in the months and years to come.
Lucas Botz Photography
YOU TUBE: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYSRbDKZHsw
Larry Robertson