Alan Chapell is a unique character – even by the quirky standards of the West Village, NYC. The product of years of traveling the world, honing his craft and moving seamlessly through musical genres, Chapell’s lush sonic pallet falls somewhere between the progressive pop rock of Bryan Ferry and the jangle rock nuance of 10,000 Maniacs.

Growing up on the “mean streets” of Stamford, Connecticut, Alan was something of a musical wunderkind – playing piano and trumpet before the age of six. He recorded with the legendary producer Jimmy Ienner at age 15, and more recently with Talking Head Jerry Harrison. He’s played to jam-packed houses around the world from Managua to Mumbai. It took Chapell a while to get to this point, but audiences across the U.S. are starting to take notice in a big way. [more..]

Stumbling Across Musical Gold At A California Open Mic

A few weeks ago, I accompanied friend who lives in the Bay area to an open mic in Mill Valley, California at a venue called Sweetwater Music Hall…. Just your typical, ordinary, for the love of god please keep the drinks flowing Monday night open mic. And then something special happened. The house lights dimmed and a six-foot tall, maniacal ball of energy appeared on the stage. The people at the table next to me whispered to us: “that guy was here […]

What the hell exactly is Chapell trying to do here: and other not so serious questions

Indie rocker Alan Chapell is a big, enigmatic ball of contradictions and juxtapositions in a nicely tailored white linen suit. Born in Stamford, Connecticut and now living in NYC’s West Village, Chapell has made music from Mumbai to Managua over the years. Showing no sign of tiring, Chapell has been writing new material at a feverish pace. He sent over a handful of songs from his soon to be released album “Love in the Summer of Trouble” and asked me what I […]