{"id":1531,"date":"2021-12-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sofarsoundsblo.wpengine.com\/blog\/articles\/a-wrap-on-2021-standout-sofar-artists\/"},"modified":"2022-10-09T11:12:35","modified_gmt":"2022-10-09T11:12:35","slug":"a-wrap-on-2021-standout-sofar-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/articles\/a-wrap-on-2021-standout-sofar-artists","title":{"rendered":"A Wrap on 2021: Standout Sofar Artists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s almost time to bid adieu to the year. These haven\u2019t been the easiest of times for artists, but their perseverance through it is downright admirable. While so many artists in our Sofar community wowed us, and helped us, through these rough times, here are a few who we want to recognize for their huge year.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Olivia Dean\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The English singer gave listeners a string of emotion-soaked pop songs this year, and took the crown for Amazon\u2019s 2021 Breakthrough Artist. There are no doubt big things ahead for Olivia, and while we can\u2019t wait to see what\u2019s ahead, we\u2019re still appreciating her intimate Sofar from 2020.<\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KptlrKLIUE0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2><strong>Neffy<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Kudos to Neffy for being NPR\u2019s 2021 Tiny Desk Contest Winner, and first artist to perform in NPR\u2019s headquarters since the pandemic began. The Arlington, Virginia-based artist shared the single \u201cYouth\u201d this year\u2013\u00a0could a debut LP be on the horizon? While we wait, we love revisiting her multiple Sofars, including this stunning DC performance.<\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gT67OCftvvo\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2><strong>Jensen McRae<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>At the tip-top of the year, Jensen McRae gave us the lighthearted internet moment we needed when she parodied Phoebe Bridgers with the track \u201cImmune (Visualizer)\u201d. The thing went viral, and the artist released her debut EP, a collection of heartfelt, folk-pop stellar songs. We still have her Sofar from last year on repeat around here.<\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZdMKmvfRj68\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2><strong>Jake Wesley Rogers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The pop artist got some big work done this year. He announced he\u2019d signed with Warner Records, made his major label EP debut, along with his late-night television debut, and, <em>and<\/em>, he just played Paris Hilton\u2019s wedding reception. It seems inevitable he\u2019ll be selling out stadiums soon, so it\u2019s extra special we\u2019ve shared multiple Sofars with him, including this beautiful performance from 2019.<\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3ok5BTm7dhg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2><strong>Madeline Edwards<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The recent Nashville transplant gave us a solidly grounded pop EP, and the country hued single \u201cBest Revenge\u201d.\u00a0 We also got to see her perform at the CMAs alongside Brittney Spencer and Madeline Edwards singing \u201cLove My Hair\u201d.\u00a0 We\u2019re keeping our eye on what\u2019s next for Madeline, but also, we just keep coming back to her Sofar from last year, which kicks off with the most sultry jazz version of Simply Red\u2019s \u201cHolding Back the Years\u201d. It is, SO GOOD.<\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B5inN5ikR_Y\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Photo credit: Neffy, photo by Katie Marriner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s almost time to bid adieu to the year. These haven\u2019t been the easiest of times for artists, but their perseverance through it is downright admirable. While so many artists in our Sofar community wowed us, and helped us, through these rough times, here are a few who we want to recognize for their huge [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","category-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}