Video Premiere: Dan Israel, “Live On”

Up in Minneapolis, Dan Israel is the sort of hometown hero who can pack a local venue to the gills. He’s still an underground songwriter everywhere else, but that hasn’t stopped the acoustic folkster from releasing albums at a steady clip, combining pop hooks with the rootsy orchestration of Neil Young’s slower material. His twelfth album, Live On, continues the trend.

The title track, whose music video premieres today, is a breezy song about fighting against the hardships that seem to pile up as the years go by. “It’s a call-to-arms to persist and fight through those demons, and somehow come out of it better in the end,” says Israel. “To be quite honest, it’s become an anthem and a rallying cry for me in in the past few months, as I’ve been dealing with a pretty severe health crisis. As it goes in the song, so it goes in life:  I remain hopeful that I won’t be defeated unless I’ve conceded, and I’m not about to concede.”

Dan Israel – Live On from steven cohen on Vimeo.