Rock n' Roll is Dead? (Erik Ritland isn't so Bad podcast #5)

Last updated on August 7th, 2020 at 11:27 pm

“The ironic thing is that your song proves rock and roll actually isn’t dead. Only rock and roll would eulogize its own death, and do it with such tongue-in-cheek indifference. Well done.”
– Author Mike Coenen on Erik Ritland’s new single, “Rock n’ Roll is Dead”

It’s been said many times before, but at some point it has to be true: is rock n’ roll dead?

We’re living in a completely unique time in history, and its effect on music and musicians in unprecedented. Any musician with any amount of talent can record and release their music digitally for free or cheap. Record labels are superfluous, radio is dead or dying, and there’s so much out there that nothing really picks up steam. It’s harder and harder to stand out from the pack.

“Rock n’ Roll is Dead” is local songwriter and Music in Minnesota editor Erik Ritland’s exploration of this topic. It’s the lead single from his new album, A Scientific Search, due out August 16. It’ll only be available for download for 24 hours, so be sure to pre-order it here.

In the latest episode of Erik Ritland isn’t so Bad, a podcast for creative types, he discusses the song and the quarantine-influenced album that it comes from. After playing the track in its entirety, he features another song from the new record, “Goodbye to Old Times,” and the lead single from his 2019 album For An Empty Theater, “Long Gone Days.”