Rowan Drake

Rowan Drake works as a singer, songwriter, and producer, shaping a brooding alt-pop aesthetic built on melancholic guitar, ambient electronic textures, and confessional lyrics that carry strong emotional weight. Social media brought him visibility in 2020, after which he signed with Atlantic in 2022. His first EP, Dear Ella, arrived in 2023.

He grew up in a musical home in Ithaca, New York, and began writing songs once a serious injury cut short his career as a competitive snowboarder. Referencing Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Van Morrison, and Justin Bieber as touchstones, he put out the independent debut single “Closure” in 2020. Following high-school graduation he settled in Los Angeles and committed to music full-time, issuing the singles “2 People” and “Abandonment Issues,” both of which examined the loneliness and heartache of city living. Those recordings drew interest from Kara DioGuardi’s Arthouse Music Publishing and resulted in his 2022 contract with Atlantic Records. Dear Ella, which contained the streaming successes “Elephant in the Room” and “Would You Do It Again?,” reached listeners the year after.