Watch out for Yorkshire singer songwriter Ellur and the new track Moments.  If you like upbeat indie rock you’ll love Ellur. The 20 year old indie-pop artist cites Madonna, Kate Bush and Stevie Nicks as influences. She’s garnered support from BBC Introducing West Yorkshire to Spotify playlists. Moments comes off her new EP that’s released via independent Leeds label Dance To The Radio. Check out the video here. Stream it on KOAR’s Indie Invaders Playlist.

The mandate debate is heated and has become an emotional battle ground within the artist community.

Dee Snider has a message to the unvaccinated. Your chance of making me sick is an invasion of my privacy, so f**k you.

While Eric Clapton sings “This has gotta stop” (referring to mandates and lockdowns) Joe Rogan says he won’t force fans to get vaxed, and offered a refund for a NYC show.

Neil Young who has a worth of $200 million called music festivals super spreader events and says “Live Nation, AEG, and the other big promoters could shut this down,” “if they could just forget about making money for a while”

Chart topping Christian artist Danny Gokey went on Twitter and said “I’m not an anti vaxxer. I myself, my kids and my wife have been vaxxed. But I am ANTI-MANDATE. If you want to get the vaccine you should be able to do it.”

While some artists are calling for mandates, others are not. What could go wrong with mandates? A decimated touring industry. It’s been estimated that tickets would decline by 30%. Working musicians in NY or LA who refuse to get vaccinated are out of jobs.

According to artist managers, this has become nightmare. The discussion around covid and mandate measures has ripped bands apart as each member has a different opinion on public health policy. The Offspring drummer was kicked off their tour after refusing the covid vaccine.

I get calls from road crew, the ones who travel with the act on tour. They say it’s a disaster. It’s not just state laws, but acts coming to town also have their own rules. This particular act had designated areas for those who were vaxxed and unvaxxed. Apparently some people in the crew couldn’t produce a vaccine card and were banned from entering the catering room. Instead, food was delivered to them in another room. There is also a shortage of workers which forces other crew members to work double shifts with no breaks in between.

Since covid was first detected in the USA, it’s been 18 months, nearly 2 years since the madness begun, and the chaos resumes.

Look out for– LA based singer songwriter Tessa Rae and the new track “i don’t miss you”. The track would fit perfectly fit on Spotify’s Indie Rock Club Playlist while Tessa would feel more comfy performing along with The White Stripes than Tate MacRae.

“i dont miss you” is anthemic indie rock at it’s core. It’s the moment you realize you don’t need the person you’ve been longing for all along” says Tessa.

An Oakland native and early influences ranging from Johnny Cash, The Kinks, and Mazzy Star, she says “No cookie cutter pop team is writing my music. Just me and my best friend doing what we love”.

She’s garnered support from Pigeons and Planes Ones To Watch, EARMILK, Clash Music, and Atwood.

Could shows be off the table in 2022? I wouldn’t count it out. A string of artists cancelled their tours in the fall of 2021. Fauci now said he doesn’t see any type of normalcy until the Spring of 2022, at the earliest. Artists and managers are frustrated, because there is more uncertainty now than ever. At least last fall, the hopes of touring the Spring seemed plausible and it was. Now, nobody knows where this going. It’s a cruel summer.

The artist on the road now have full understanding that the wheels could fall off at any moment.

We all thought the vaccines were going to buy us out of this mess, but Israel with a highest vaccination rate also has the highest covid surge. A booster is on its way. Who knows if the latest booster will settle the score. Maybe an annual booster because the virus changes so rapidly.

And what about the debate around vaccine reports? No doubt it will harm business. I wouldn’t be surprised if concerts saw a 40% reduction in ticket sales. It’s risky business when you mix a weary population, and many who’ve been struggling for work 18 months with new laws like vaccine passports.

We want to keep people safe without destroying entertainment with all the restrictions.

Hard question, tough answers.

Olivia Rodrigo has added two members of Paramore to the writing credits of her single “Good 4 U”. Why? Rodrigo’s hit song is very similar to Paramore’s 2007 hit song Misery Business. They both share an identical verse and chorus accompanied with a rock production.

Paramore singer Hayley Williams and ex-guitarist Josh Farro are now listed as co-writers of the song.

Check out the Mashup.