A friend of mine gave us tickets to see country singer Kelsea Ballerini at Capital One arena last weekend (seen above). I knew very little about her or her music — a handful of her songs rang a bell — but Landon and I almost always say “yes” to live music opportunities when we can. To me, concert-going is one big “ice cream moment” — who can be ill-tempered at a concert?! It’s a time for unbridled joy. You are there solely for pleasure! And isn’t there something extra thrilling about the live aspect of it? Anything can happen!
(I will say that Landon was one of about four men in all of Capital One stadium last weekend – ha. Definitely tapped into a Galentines spirit — but we had a great time nonetheless. Lan is used to being surrounded by spirited women anyway; I’m one of four daughters and Emory is our passionate leading lady.)
When we were talking about the concert with some friends beforehand, they were astounded I didn’t know more about Ballerini. My friend’s husband said: “You consider yourself a country music fan?!” Have I been living under a rock? I love country, and yet I wasn’t familiar with her at all. This made me wonder — what other musical acts am I somehow cloistered from knowing?
Would you share some of your favorite musicians and bands that you have a sneaking suspicion are not widely known, but should be?
I’ll start, although I’m now second-guessing myself on the heels of my Ballerini comeuppance — are these groups actually considered “mainstream”? I have a sense that some of these acts will be new to at least some of you because I’ve mentioned them to friends who’d never heard of them, though. Here goes:
+Aaron Frazer — I listen to his “Into the Blue” album probably 5-10x a week, start to finish, with only one skip (“Perfect Strangers”). I wrote a huge chunk of my fictional manuscript listening to this, too. “I Don’t Wanna Stay” gave shape to a pivotal scene in it.
+Clairo — Her “Charm” album is flawless. This is one of our go-to “weekend morning” albums — easy-listening, great voice. Norah Jones but Gen Z vibes. I learned about her from my teenage neighbor. (She just put out a funky music video featuring Weird Al Yankovic for one of the tracks on this album that’s worth a watch.)
+Teskey Brothers — Great neo-soul; the lead singer has an Otis Redding vibe I love.
+Hermanos Gutierrez — Soothing, no-lyrics guitar music with a driving beat. Great for listening to while working on a project/cooking/focusing on something else.
+Khruangbin — More cool, no-lyrics music for hanging out. We have been listening to this while playing Wingspan and enjoying a happy hour glass of wine.
+St. Paul and the Broken Bones — Lead singer has the most epic Gospel voice, which he pairs with more modern lyrics. Love the big brass sound.
+Nathaniel Rateliff — His album “Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats” takes me right back to our time in Chicago. We listened to this album endlessly! Like St. Paul, major brass, and Rateliff’s huge, raspy voice is stirring!
I’m going to add to this list a few artists we are obsessed with that I think you’re more likely to know but I recently asked a friend if she knew who Laufey was, and she had no idea! So just in case…
+Laufey — OMG. Bringing back the crooning songstress of the 40s and 50s but with modern lyrics. I love, love her album “Bewitched.” I always have a few albums downloaded to my phone when I travel — I like to have them as my “comfort blanket” while on plane / waiting / etc. This one has made the cut on my last two trips!
+Sturgill Simpson — In our opinion, the best contemporary country artist. His lyrics, his vocal stylings! We saw him at The Anthem a few weeks ago and sounded incredible.
+Tyler Childers — Another great country music artist — his lyrics are also gutting to me in different ways. We’re seeing him in a few weeks!
+L’Imperatrice — I think this group is really well known but they were new to me as of a few years ago, when my brother-in-law introduced me to them. Fun, vibey European party music. (Start with “Vanilla Fraise.”)
OK, your turn! What should I be listening to?
Post-Scripts.
+Where do you find meaningful stuff? (This is my follow-on question – how do you find good new music? I’m guessing part of the answer is in the comments section on this post.)
+Random thoughts on John Mayer. (Turns out, we Magpies love him?)
+What is your go-to “house music”?
Shopping Break.
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+One of my most-asked questions on Instagram is — where is your heart necklace from? Mine is Dorsey and I’ve been hunting for a look for less for months because I know it’s $$. I finally found a very similar style for under $100 here.
+Two GREAT, under $120, finds this week: this $98 cardigan and this $119 look-for-less for Doen’s Sebastiane skirt. (Compare with the Doen version here. I did just order the Doen! Can’t wait to style.)
+Kule is running 15% off their new spring collection with code SPRING15. Love their grass green pieces, like this top with the matching shorts paired with some great sandals for spring break.
+Last week, Lan and I went on a date to use a sauna and “float” — have you heard of float therapy? You’re in a sensory deprivation chamber, floating in the pitch black in a salt water tank. I had a really hard time relaxing in there for the first 20 minutes but the last 40 were trippy in a good way. I don’t think I’ll do it again, though. However, I LOVE the sauna. I’m trying to convince Landon we need to build one in our backyard. In the meantime, I’m super intrigued by these sauna blankets from Higher Dose. Has anyone tried?! It’s so expensive but I feel like I’d use it all the time. Or is part of the magic of sauna life actually sitting in the wooden chamber? I love it so much.
+A really chic ladylike coatigan in great colors for $138.
+Marysia vibes for less with this bikini (top, bottom). (Compare with Marysia here.)
+BTW, if you’ve never shopped at Shopbop before – they are currently running a new customer promo! 20% off with SHOPMY20. All my Shopbop picks here. Lots of great spring break finds, like this funky shirtdress from Alemais, this under-$200 striped sundress, this gorgeous wrap skirt, these Prada-inspired sunnies (under $80). Although the Prada sunglasses themselves are on sale at Nordstrom for a good price!
+Throw these fun $75 jelly sandals into your suitcase, too! I got the taupe pair. I love jellies! I actually got a ton of wear out of these jelly ballet flats last summer. Surprisingly comfortable — they don’t have that jagged/hard plastic. Every single time I wore them, I got tons of compliments!
+The Lake sale is ongoing! These Relax sets have been the bestseller among Magpies this week.
+Gorgeous $95 accent table/stand. This is in my cart because my desk is so small and I’m often throwing a stack of notebooks and notepads on the floor to make room. I think if I had this to place my notebooks on right next to me, things might be better!
+Love this new solid-colored cardi from La Ligne. Vibe for less (more of a shrunken style) here!
+I just ran out of my RMS priming/blurring serum I typically blend with my Westman Atelier foundation and realized I still had some of this stuff from Elemis, which is super similar, and you can currently get it for 20% off with code JEN20, making it slightly less expensive than the RMS. I really love this process of blending a glowy primer with the foundation for a more dewy look.
+Still digesting and so grateful for all your tips and suggestions on Disney here! I just ordered these two disposable cameras for my kids, per a reader rec 🙂