One Liner: Folky, chill pop that feels like many things I have heard recently
Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 12
Weekend Two Only
Sunday at 2:45
American Express Stage
Thoughts: I literally just saw the guitar on the cover of his top single and went "thank God." And then started playing it, and thought to myself - how can all of these bands sound so same?! There is a banjo in here, but I'm getting AJR vibes, or maybe Mt. Joy vibes, from this guy. His banner photo on Spotify cracks me up, because he is standing before a large crowd, guitar over his shoulder and arms stretched wide, as though this is some big moment in a show. And yet the people in the audience are mainly just blankly staring at him. Like, he might have just explain how to amortize a mortgage, for as much fun as those people seem to be having.
Sometimes, when reading about these artists, I feel the same way as I do when I read a horoscope. "oh wow, yeah, that does sound like me! Crazy how these very generic horoscope descriptions seem to always relate to me!" Here is the intro to a short bio on his label's page: "Music goes beyond skin deep for Ethan Regan. Piercing the surface, he’s not just singing and playing guitar; he’s laying his emotions bare, getting out those words that we don’t always say when we should, and practicing the best kind of therapy—out loud. As a vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, the North Carolina native shapes each facet of his artistry, architecting soundscapes, performing every part, and belting right from the soul. Sonically, he fuses gentle, yet heartfelt folk with alternative experimentation, going as far as to pull inspiration from rock, hip-hop, and funk." I feel like I have read something similar about half of the artists on this poster.
He took guitar lessons as a young kid, but was generally uninterested until he saw a clip of Damien Rice performing at a festival. He learned how to self-produce on the computer and started making little DIY clips, and once he was in college at Penn State he got a viral hit on TikTok with "Durham." That track has 5.1 million on Spotify, but is no longer in his top ten most popular tracks.
I'm playing the new album now, and I am coming around to this a little bit more. Kind of a Jack Johnson vibe in some of these, like a chill, relaxed groove in here. Got some whistling, some banjo, some bongo drums... "spring cleaning" is the top of that pile. 1.65 million streams.
He's got a piggie! We had a "pot-bellied pig" in college that ended up not being a pot-bellied pig at all. My friend Greg's family adopted Smokey once we realized we were too irresponsible to care for her, and later Greg's now-wife had to help to bury the absolutely massive, full-size hog. Very funny story. Anyway, a nice little ditty. His top streamer is actually a 2023 single that didn't make it on to any of his albums or EPs. 13.9 million streams for "secrecy".
A little more quiet and folky. "cartilage" makes me think of Gigi Perez. Overall, I have enjoyed listening to this as the days have spooled by. It is significantly better than much of this poster, but still not sure that this is where I would head during this hour.
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