“Excuse me. You look like you love me.”  
 
These were the first words I ever heard sung by up-and-coming superstar Ella Langley in 2024. “You Look Like You Love Me,” a duet with Riley Green, became a smash hit for Langley. The single would go on to win the CMA Award for Musical Event of the Year and the ACM Award for Single, Visual Media and Music Event of the Year. I listened to country music all the time growing up, but as an adult, I gravitate more toward pop music. However, songs like this bring me back to the genre that was the soundtrack of my childhood. 

Unfortunately, I did not check out her debut album, Hungover. However, Langley made her next album, Dandelion, released on April 10, a must-listen with the release of the lead single, “Choosin’ Texas.”

“Choosin’ Texas” continues to break records, the most impressive being the country song with the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song tells the story of a Tennessee girl who falls in love with a Texas boy and makes the mistake of taking him back home, where a former flame awaits. The love between them is undeniable, and she realizes she will lose him because he will choose the girl from Texas. The song has become one of my favorites of the last few years.

I am officially an “Ella Fella.” In today’s country music, there are two routes a female artist can take. It is the “Taylor Swift” way or “Miranda Lambert” way. Country music is either country-pop or sticking to traditional country music as much as possible. I personally like both routes. Examples of the “Taylor Swift way” are Kelsea Ballerini and Megan Moroney while examples of the “Miranda Lambert” way would be Kacey Musgraves and Ashley McBryde.  Langley is going the Miranda Lambert way. She sticks to traditional country storytelling, using traditional country instruments and arrangements, and does it brilliantly. 

One criticism I tend to have of country music is the lack of originality in its storytelling, or its unwillingness to tell stories that are not about drinking or falling in love. On Dandelion, Langley shows us that she has lots of stories to tell and we are going to want to hear every single one of them. She introduces us to her in the single, “Dandelion.” She gives us a love triangle in “Choosin’ Texas,” a look into her religious background in ”Speaking Terms,” tells a man to label their situationship in “Bottom Of Your Boots,” tells us she still likes her smalltown life in “Somethin’ Simple,” and how she is growing in “Butterfly Season,” featuring Miranda Lambert. The three songs that are the most similar are “We Know Us,” "Low Lights” and “Last Call For Us.” What Langley does, though, is give us different perspectives and more insight with each song.  

Growing up, when listening to country albums, I noticed that while there were hits, there were also songs that just felt like filler. It seemed like the singer just needed to fill more space and chose something of lower quality. This is something Langley does not do. Every song she wrote has a purpose, a fresh perspective, and deserves to be there, making this album a no-skip one. I felt every song was fresh, current and refreshing. It is difficult for this “Ella Fella” to choose a favorite, but my top picks would be ”Choosin’ Texas,” “Speaking Terms,” “Bottom Of Your Boots” and “Loving Life Again.” “Loving Life Again” is a song you must listen to on a difficult mental health day. It is very uplifting.

Dandelion has been almost on repeat for the past month. Langley has proven herself in a short time to be a country music powerhouse. As soon as I get over my obsession with Dandelion, I will be going back to give her debut album, Hungover, as well as her EP Excuse The Mess. I cannot wait to see where her career takes her.   

Sometimes the best thing you can do with a free Friday night is search out a band and just have some fun.

I’m no stranger to going to concerts, but Friday (May 1) at the White Water Tavern in Little Rock, Ark., was a rarity for me. Usually, the shows I go to are for musical acts I know and like, but on Friday, I took a chance on a band I wasn’t very familiar with (I had heard the name and maybe a song or two in passing) … Jenny Don’t and the Spurs.

I get that, with concert tickets skyrocketing, this might not be something people can do much of, but one of the many great things about the White Water Tavern and small-venue shows is affordability.

Jenny Don’t, and the Spurs are a four-piece out of Portland, Ore., whose website calls them cowpunk, but I would call them surf-western, which may not even be a thing, but it certainly fits the sound and groove of this outfit.

The band consists of frontwoman Jenny Don’t, the stage name for musician Jenny Connors, who was given the nickname as a child for her rebellious attitude and independent nature, which I absolutely love, bassist Kelly Haliburton (who has been married to Jenny Don’t since 2022), guitarist Christopher March (who was celebrating a birthday on Friday night) and drummer Buddy Weeks. Jenny Don’t said the band had recently surpassed 1,000 live shows together, and you could tell they’ve been at it for a while, as in tune as they are with each other.

I was instantly enthralled by the group’s surf-western sound, which was like a mix of Dick Dale’s surf-rock guitar and the classic country music of someone like Ernest Tubb, but with the look and feel, especially at times, of Patsy Cline. The closest thing I’ve ever heard to their sound was Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives' excellent 2017 album Way Out West.  

The music was stellar from the beginning of the show, but for some reason, it was hard for me to make out Jenny Don’t’s vocals for the first few songs from my perch near the stage (an issue I’ve never had in my many shows at WWT). I was worried it wouldn’t be a very fun evening if I couldn’t make out what she was singing, but luckily, when I moved to the back of the small bar venue, I could hear just fine.

The band has released four studio albums and an EP dating back to 2015 and performed material from all of them throughout the set.

A lot of the set’s most memorable tracks can be found on the band’s rip-roaring live album, Live at the Jenny, from last year, like the opening “Flying High,” “Trouble with the Law” and “Is It Too Late?”

Among the band’s other highlights were “California Cowboy,” off 2021’s Fire On The Ridge and “One More Night,” off the band’s most recent album, Broken Hearted Blue (2024).  

I’m thrilled to have a new band to keep an eye out for, both for their live performances and for whatever music they have coming out in the future. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night on my own.