Liam Corcoran (born July 3, 1984) is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...

, Prince Edward Island. He is also the lead singer and co-founder of the indie-pop group

Two Hours Traffic Two Hours Traffic is a Canadian indie rock band, based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. They are named after a line in the prologue to Shakespeare’s ''Romeo and Juliet''. Critics have drawn comparisons to 1970s power pop band Big Star (b ...

Career

Two Hours Traffic

Two Hours Traffic is a Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band. Originally active from 2000 to 2013, they reunited in 2018 and continue to record and perform. Hailing from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, the group are performers of

power-pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an en ...

songs. Core members included Liam Corcoran (lead vocals, guitar), Alec O’Hanley (lead guitar, vocals, keyboards), Andrew MacDonald (bass, lead guitar), and Derek Ellis (drums), with Nathan Gill (bass) replacing O’Hanley in 2011. In the reunited version of the band, Nick Doneff has taken over on lead guitar, with MacDonald returning to bass guitar. Their fourth album, '' Little Jabs,'' was

short-listed A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

for the

Polaris Music Prize The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize. The prize was inc ...

. The band held a farewell tour before disbanding in 2013. They reunited in 2018 with select Canadian dates. Each of the band members is involved in other musical projects: Corcoran pursues a solo career and plays with The Express; O’Hanley is part of

Alvvays Alvvays (pronounced "always") is a Canadian indie pop band formed in 2011, originating from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and subsequently based in Toronto, Ontario. It consists of Molly Rankin (vocals and guitar), Kerri MacLellan (keybo ...

; Gill is part of North Lakes and Baby God; MacDonald and Ellis are part of Golden Cinema; Doneff records and performs as a solo artist under his own name.

The Express

The Express is a

side project In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style. Usually these projects emphasize ...

of cousins Liam Corcoran and former

Hey Rosetta! Hey Rosetta! was a Canadian seven-piece indie rock band from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, led by singer-songwriter Tim Baker. They released four studio albums, five EPs, and one live album. On October 13, 2017, the group announced v ...

member

Kinley Dowling Kinley Dowling (born January 18, 1983), who performs under the stage name KINLEY, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. She is a member of the band Hey Rosetta! and joined them in 2008. In 2016, she released her solo album ''Letters Never ...

. Beginning in 2010, the duo began as an outlet for the artists to explore their songwriting. During this time, Corcoran developed a different compositional voice while Dowling started songwriting. The group is described as both

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and pop, with their debut self-titled album being heavily acousticー Dowling wrote three tracks while Corcoran wrote the rest. The album explores transitions, honesty, youth, new relationships, and experiences, while Corcoran's acoustic guitar and Dowling's violin and viola (even plucked like a mandolin in her track "Sharpshooter") serve as bedrocks.

Cuff the Duke Cuff the Duke is a Canadian alt-country band from Oshawa, Ontario. They play a blend of traditional country and folk music with indie rock influences. History Cuff the Duke formed in Oshawa, drawing their name from a shirt purchased by front-ma ...

member

Dale Murray Dale Albert Murray (born February 2, 1950) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Career Montreal Expos He was drafted by the Montreal Expos out of Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, in the eighteenth round of the 1970 Major Leagu ...

is featured much in this work, not only producing (with "spontaneity over rigid structure"), but also playing frequently. He is sometimes cited as a core member of the Express in his own right. The self-titled album was described by the Graypoint Owl as "one part Two Hours Traffic catchiness, one part Hey Rosetta! sensitivity and one part Cuff the Duke earthiness", receiving the rating of "Proud Hoot (Really Good) + *swoop*". After this release, the Express went on hiatus as Corcoran and Dowling established their solo careers, but as of February 2020 the group has reconnected and performed.

Solo career

Following his ensemble experiences with Two Hours Traffic and The Express, Corcoran has developed his career as a solo artist. Although his material continues to exhibit the

catchiness Catchiness is how easy it is for a song, tune, or phrase to be recalled. It is often taken into account when writing songs, catchphrases, advertising slogans, jingles etc. Alternatively, it can be defined as how difficult it is for one to forget i ...

of pop, it has grown in other different directions. His debut EP ''Rom-Drom'' can be neatly categorized as

alt-country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

, but ''Nevahland'', his first LP, is a stylistically-complex blend of rock, pop, indie, and alt-country. In March 2020, Corcoran released ''Giving Tree and Other Songs'' ー an album split into two parts: simple acoustic songs and more elaborately orchestrated songs, each with their own flavour including

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, rock, alt-country,

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

, and

indie-pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and ...

. His first two releases also feature extra-musical themes: ''Rom-Drom'' explores separation from a distance, and ''Nevahland'' tells the story of three couples fleeing an oncoming disaster. In the summer of 2023, Corcoran released his latest full-length album, ''Hints and Traces''.

Personal life

Liam Corcoran works as the

Program Manager Program Manager is the shell of Windows 3.x and Windows NT 3.x operating systems. This shell exposed a task-oriented graphical user interface (GUI), consisting of ''icons'' ( shortcuts for programs) arranged into ''program groups''. It replaced ...

for

Holland College Holland College is the provincial community college for the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island (PEI). It is named after the British Army engineer and surveyor Captain Samuel Holland. In 2024, about 30% of the college's enrolled student ...

’s School of Performing Arts (SOPA). He has also worked in other branches of education, notably co-writing a song with students from Prince Street Elementary School. In recent years, Corcoran has become a father and husband; this is encapsulated in his album ''Giving Tree and Other Songs'' which reflects ideas of domesticity and fatherhood. Corcoran is a cousin of songwriter and former Hey Rosetta! member Kinley Dowling.

Discography

Two Hours Traffic

* 2003: ''The April Storm'' (EP) * 2005: ''

'' * 2006: '' Isolator'' (EP) * 2007: '' Little Jabs'' * 2009: ''

Territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

'' * 2012: ''Siren Spell'' (EP) * 2013: ''Foolish Blood'' * 2025: ''I Never See You Anymore'' (EP)

The Express

* 2011: ''The Express''

Solo releases

* 2015: ''Rom-Drom'' (EP) * 2017: ''Nevahland'' * 2020: ''Giving Tree and Other Songs'' * 2023: ''Hints and Traces''

References

External links

Official Facebook page of Liam Corcoran
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corcoran, Liam Musicians from Charlottetown 1984 births Living people 21st-century Canadian male singers Singers from Prince Edward Island Canadian indie rock musicians Canadian rock singers Canadian male singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters