Darryl Rahn ’15 Wins Battle of the Instant Songwriters
The recurring segment on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon challenges musicians to compose a song in under an hour.
Darryl Rahn ’15 (studio composition) proved his songwriting chops on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon this week when he participated in the recurring segment, Battle of the Instant Songwriters.
Fallon selects two musicians from his audience and provides a title and one hour for them to write an original song. Rahn delivered the winning performance, captivating the audience with “It’s 2023 (Go to the Gym For Me).”
The audience loved the line “And picking up my clothes technically counts as a squat,” but he really clinched the win with “Why would I get on a treadmill / When I could simply sit still / Just breathing in the steam of mac and cheese.”
The Utica native recently released his fifth album, The Mend, in September and can be seen performing in and around New York City regularly.
But First, There Was Sean McVerry ’13
In September, Sean McVerry ’13 (studio composition), a friend and frequent collaborator of Rahn’s, also competed in the Battle of the Instant Songwriters and won with his composition “Fantasy Football, Regular Life.”
McVerry is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. He’s released two EPs and several singles of his own music and has facilitated the work of others, including Hip Hop producing for artists such as J.I.D. and Princess Nokia and playing with Danger Mouse, Karen O, and AURORA.
He’s produced and written music for commercial clients (such as Adult Swim, Dunkin’, Facebook, Spotify, and Red Bull), freelance composed with independent record labels, and provided audio solutions for artists and corporate clients, including songwriting, producing, recording, and ADR (automated dialogue replacement) work.