5. “Clint Eastwood” by Gorillaz
Typically, when musical guests appear on “Saturday Night Live,” it’s to promote their new music, but occasionally bands will perform a classic instead. That happened on two instances this season with Gorillaz performing their 2001 hit “Clint Eastwood” and Paul McCartney performing his 1974 classic “Band on the Run.” Now, I like “Band on the Run” better of the two, but McCartney has actually played the song twice on ‘SNL,’ and his 2010 performance was better. So, Gorillaz it is. The highlight of this performance was Del the Funky Homosapien, who was on the recording, joining the band and knocking his verses out of the park. 

4. “Dance No More” by Harry Styles
To be quite honest with you, Harry Styles’ “Dance No More,” from his latest album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, is the type of song I might grow to dislike if I hear it too many times, but his performance of it on ‘SNL’ on an episode in which he pulled double duty as host and musical guest was a lot of fun. The song, written by Styles and his producer Kid Harpoon, is a fun dance track about how dance songs seem to be fading from radio play. When Styles is at his best, he reminds me a bit of David Bowie, and this is the “Let’s Dance”/”Modern Love” era. 

3. “The Man I Need” by Olivia Dean
Olivia Dean’s “The Man I Need” feels like a throwback, which I mean as a compliment. It’s the kind of R&B-influenced pop sound that Whitney Houston popularized in her heyday. The English singer-songwriter hit it big with “The Man I Need,” a song about “knowing how you deserve to be loved and not being afraid to ask for it,” according to Dean. It’s a bit of a peculiarity for me in that I enjoy it but also find myself a bit annoyed by the repeated “talk to me” lines. 

2. “The Great Divide” by Noah Kahan
Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan is a bit of a curiosity, as he’ll perform something like “The Great Divide,” about struggling with things like mental health and how religious trauma can play a role in it, but he’ll do it with a smile on his face like it’s a party song. It’s a bit weird, but the song itself is touching and, from a songwriting perspective, might be the best song (other than McCartney’s “Band on the Run”) performed on the show this season. 

1. “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter should annoy me. Most pop stars do. But she doesn’t take herself seriously, and I find that cheekiness to be charming, so she can get away with a song about how men are stupid without completely offending this man. Her performance of “Manchild” was a combination of fun performance mixed with theatrical staging (as if she’s performing in front of a mirror while bopping around her bedroom in her underwear) – something that isn’t a stranger to ‘SNL’ these days, but it usually doesn’t do anything for me. Bubblegum pop at its finest.  

“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.