In an inspiring development for anyone doggedly working to jumpstart a music career through the interwebs, Austin popster and color enthusiast Kady Rain staggeringly cracked a superstar-filled list of the songs of summer for NPR’s “Pop Culture Happy Hour” podcast.
“Pop Culture Happy Hour” host Stephen Thompson picked Rain’s catchy pop confection “R.A.D. Moves” for a short list that includes the Carters (yes, those Carters), Cardi B, Kacey Musgraves, Drake and Zedd, among others.
Rain, known for diligent social media activity and celebrating vibrant color in her hair, lips, and wardrobe, has a scant recording history of just a couple of years. But she promotes each of her new singles with gusto on her Instagram for now-12,000-some-odd followers.
We saw Rain and bandmate Ben Bazzrea play in April at the Historic Scoot Inn, where her light-up rainbow coat, engaging humor, and polished voice energized a sold-out show that also included fellow locals SMiiLE and Shiela. Check out our photos of Kady and Ben from that show below.
Noting the obscurity of “R.A.D. Moves” next to the rest of the picks for the NPR list, Thompson called it a “fun little discovery” in the summary linked above.
“Where the other picks in this episode have been streamed on YouTube millions — even hundreds of millions — of times, this one hasn’t yet cracked 25,000 views as of this writing,” Thompson wrote. “But it’s a fizzy, joyous, ridiculously infectious song that doubles as a potent reminder: You can love pop music, the slicker the better, and still find a Song of the Summer that others haven’t yet embraced.”
Plus, “R.A.D. Moves” joins P!nk’s vocabulary in the crucial effort to keep the word “rad” relevant slang in this era.
Photos by Nicole Berlin Photography