Credit: Jenna Fournier.
Singer-guitarist Dan Miraldi has a wide range of musical interests that range from Paul McCartney and the White Stripes to Fall Out Boy and Bob Dylan. He started out listening to Elvis Presley and the Beatles, but eventually gravitated toward modern rock when he was in high school. He began playing pop-punk with Exit Suburbia, a band he formed while he was a senior at Avon High School. By his sophomore year at the College of Wooster, that act dissolved, and he formed the Cherry Flavored Elevator.

When he finished college, Miraldi started yet another project, but this time he simply deemed it a solo project, issuing his solo debut, Thirsty, in 2009 and quickly following it up with two EPs, 2010’s Tease and followed it up with 2011’s Rock N Roll Band! “The Holy Roller Stone Revival,” a song from the latter, became a finalist for “Best Rock Song” in the international John Lennon Songwriting Competition. Although the track didn’t win, it did place in the top five, giving Miraldi the motivation to keep honing his songwriting skills. In 2012, he released Sugar and Adrenaline and he followed it up a year later with two more EPs. Just this week, he issued yet another new album, Chaos, Destruction & Dancing.

“There are interesting things happening around me and I’m inspired by that,” says the prolific Miraldi, who now lives in New York where he’s in the middle of a music business masters program at New York University. He’s coming back to town to play a CD release party on Aug. 14 at Mahall’s. “I’m disciplined about writing and find it as a good medium of expression. It’s like doing a puzzle, and I enjoy doing puzzles.”

The album came together last year when he knew he was moving to New York. He worked out of two different studios and produced an eclectic set of songs. The disc kicks off with the snotty, White Stripes-like “Demon Lover” and then shifts gears with the poppy “Junkie Friend.”  It strikes a great balance between rock and pop.

“I wasn’t sure the songs would fit together,” Miraldi admits, “but I decided they worked best as a full-length and then put them in a sequence that made sense. Each song has its own identity, but the songs are united by the songwriting and musicianship.”

For the show at Mahall’s, Miraldi will debut a new band that features longtime bassist Joe LaGuardia, drummer Joshua Jesty, guitarist Ray Flanagan and keyboardist Russ Flanagan. 

This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2015.

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 25 years now. On a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town. And if you're in a local band that he needs to hear, email him at jniesel@clevescene.com.