Dan Rodriguez plays Coffee House series

Popular musician returns to perform in Anderson Center on Friday, April 15.

Dan+Rodriguez+performing+in+Anderson+Center+on+Friday%2C+April+15.+He+was+brought+in+as+part+of+Hamline+Programming+Boards+Coffee+House+series.

Catherine Stolz

Dan Rodriguez performing in Anderson Center on Friday, April 15. He was brought in as part of Hamline Programming Board’s Coffee House series.

Adam Whitt, Reporter

Music artist Dan Rodriguez performed in Anderson Center last Friday as part of Hamline University Programming Board’s Coffee House Series.

Each month, the Hamline University Programming Board brings up and coming artists to Hamline through the Coffee House series. Artists are able to showcase themselves and sell merchandise as students enjoy cookies and coffee.

Dan Rodriguez was this month’s featured artist. This is not Rodriguez’s first time at Hamline, however. He first performed last fall during the End of the Semester Party and was well received by the student body.

Rodriguez is a Minneapolis-based artist. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan and moved to Minnesota to further his musical career.  

Since moving to Minneapolis, Rodriguez has released two EPs and three full albums. His latest album was released in 2015.

Rodriguez’s website describes his style as “groove-based” and a “bluesy over-toned sound… mixed with his powerful, yet seductive voice creates an atmosphere different from other music.” He certainly delivered with a soulful performance as he showcased his vocal talent and range.

Rodriguez performed many songs off his newest album, including the grooving song “It’s About You”, and the country-inspired song about drinking whiskey on the Rum called “Rum River”.

As Rodriguez introduced his comedic song, “Downtown Girl” to the audience, a song about girls waiting to get into the club, he spoke about the writing process behind the song.

“I did something I shouldn’t have done, and I judged them and I should have left it alone. I should have just left it at that and I didn’t,” Rodriguez continued, “I went home and I picked up my guitar and I wrote a very funny, yet very judgey song. I should have just left it alone and I should have left it at that, and the song should have just died in my apartment, but then I proceeded to record that song and start playing it.”

Rodriguez followed up the song saying that, “there’s nothing more beautiful than someone that’s comfortable in their own skin and knows who they are.”

He also played a companion piece to “Downtown Girl” called “The Douche Bag Song” which included the lyric ”If you grab some girl’s rump or you’re voting for Trump, you’re probably a douche bag,” which was met with cheers and applause from the audience.  

Rodriguez closed his set by performing a touching acoustic song dedicated to his newborn baby son, Oak. His son laid in his mother’s arms wearing noise-canceling headphones to protect his ears from the noise.

For more information on Dan Rodriguez or to hear some of his music, go to http://www.danrodriguezmusic.com/. Rodriguez’s music is available on Spotify and iTunes.

If you are interested in hearing more about upcoming events from Hamline University Programming Board, go to https://www.facebook.com/hupb11/.  

Programming Board meets every Monday at 5:00 p.m. in GLC 105W. All Hamline University students are welcome to attend.