Look out for Ruben and the track Dear God. It opens up with “Oh dear God Put me out of my misery Take this heart How did you get me like this Huh? This pretty much describes 2020. You may not of heard of Ruben here in the states, but he the 25 year old is huge in Norway. The singer songwriter grew up on an island called Bjarkøy with only 300 people. Influenced by the likes of Bebe Rexha, Sia and Sandro Cavazza, Ruben has garnered over 2 million Spotify monthly listeners and landed on Spotify’s Chill Hits and Norway’s Top 50. Give it a listen.

You’ll soon need proof of a vaccination or a covid test if you want to see a live show.

Pfizer just announced they have a covid vaccination with a 90% efficacy rate which saw a jump in stock price. But we may see the prices tumble with Ticketmasters recent announcement of mandatory covid testing.

Ticketmaster will check the coronavirus vaccination status of concert-attendees prior to shows. Customers will use their cellphones to verify vaccination or whether they’ve tested negative for the virus within a 24- to 72-hour window.
Three separate components will be involved. The California-based company’s digital ticketing app CLEAR Health Pass and testing/vaccination distributors like Labcorp or CVS.
The ticket holder is responsible for instructing a lab to send over the test results to companies like CLEAR Health Pass which would then verify the fan’s status to Ticketmaster. Anyone who tests positive or doesn’t get screened won’t be granted access to the event.
Will fans stay home or go through the process of testing and vaccination. That’s a big question.

Check out this cool downtempo/chill track Bonnie Doon by Zerbin. It stuck out to me at least, and maybe it’s because I’m in a coffee house mood. Jason Zerbin aka Zerbin no doubt has a knack for songwriting as he is best known for the tracks New Earth and Worlds on Fire which found itself on popular campaigns and TV’s Grey’s Anatomy and So You Think You Can Dance. Bonnie Doon’ is the first single from Zerbin’s coming full-length. He’s landed on Spotify’s Radar Canada, The Other List, and Starbucks Coffeehouse. Give it a stream….

Check out the track Distractions by the synth pop act KTJ & CARLY. The singer-songwriter duo consist of Katie and Carly Haynes, and they’re identical twins. The latest track comes off their debut EP, Identity. The band first made waves with their debut song On Your Mind in 2019 and a performance at The Hotel Cafe in LA. The duo picked up features including EarMilk and PopWrapped. Give the track a stream on KOAR’s Indie Invaders Playlist.

I can’t believe we are quickly approaching 2021. How fast was 2020? Time is mysterious, it can feel fast and slow at the same time. Regardless, 2020 was a year for the books and now the holidays are approaching. Anyway, I came across this Christmas/Holiday song and it’s a darn good one. Thanks for the Christmas early cheer. It’s called Another Holiday by Dylan Dunlap. The singer songwriter cites Coldplay and Mumford & Sons as influences. He supported OneRepublic at the sold-out Stadium of Fire event in Provo, UT while releasing his first-ever original “Microphones & Lights,” and toured across the US and the UK. Dylan released the single “If That’s Alright’ that clocked over 20 million streams and is recording new music for the follow up EP via Nettwerk Records.