Finally part two of fave musicians:

6 Good Charlotte

I have loved Good Charlotte as long as I’ve had access to streaming music freely. I loved their hits as a teenager too but I didn’t own their cd’s, I prioritised my favourites and either bought those cd’s or purchased on iTunes. If we went back to buying music before listening, I could spend a huge amount of money on music!

This band is unique in that their lyrics are supportive and helpful more than most. I love their pop punk sound, they included synth in some of the middle albums. I love their middle albums most. I like the band’s visuals too. Both in sound and look, they sometimes had a goth leaning which I think makes them interesting. They could also be punk leaning and have angsty lyrics and music, probably more so than any of the artists I have posted about. They are currently in heavy rotation on my Spotify.

I’m hoping they will make a comeback soon!

Try listening to: Hold On, All Black, Life Can’t Get Much Better

7 Kelsea Ballerini

I find myself listening to Kelsea’s catchy songs regularly.

To be honest I haven’t listened to her most recent album much, I prefer her older albums at the moment. The most recent one is about her split and divorce from her ex husband (not sure if it has been finalised yet).

I wrote about her in my country music post: https://amyoncloudnine.home.blog/2023/02/03/country-music-2/ .

Try listening to: half of my hometown, THE LITTLE THINGS, Blindsided (Yeah, Sure, Okay)

8 Lauren Alaina

Lauren’s most recent album is an EP. I like the maturity in her newer music; there are beautiful ballads too.

I wrote about her in my country music post: https://amyoncloudnine.home.blog/2023/02/03/country-music-2/ .

Try listening to: Change My Mind, Thicc As Thieves, Just Wanna Know That You Love Me

9 McFly

I started listening to these guys about three years ago, I can’t remember what the inspiration was. I started following the Fletchers a bit before, again I don’t recall why. What struck me about their music is that it mostly is upbeat and happy. I guess I can say this especially as Fall Out Boy and Paramore aren’t always the happiest lyricists. I mentioned in a previous post from 2021 that I purchased their greatest hits album with birthday money. They performed at a local venue in 2022, so I thought if they are so local why not! They were great live and I lived watching and listening to them play.

The album they released last year was rather impressive in my opinion, the guitars are amazing and they written some catchy songs again which is their calling card.

Try listening to: Shine A Light, Dragonball, Where Did All the Guitars Go?

10 You Me At Six

I’ve been listening to this band since before they released their first album when we were all teenagers! They are low down on the list because I haven’t listened to their last four albums much. Their sound changed and I wasn’t as keen or I didn’t make the time to listen. Most artists that I love, I love all of their releases. The main reason they are still here in the top 10 is because historically they have been high on my list for 17 years and they are a British band! They may not be high on my list right now but you never know I may return to fancying listening to their sound a lot again, especially with their latest announcement. I have seen them live once if not twice over the years. I can’t remember if they were at Give It A Name 2008. They are catchy with relatable lyrics, plus I grew up with them.

I have come back to this draft with an update that You Me At Six have announced they are splitting up, I can’t believe I am writing this! What a shame, it makes me rather sad. Thankfully I was able to get tickets for their goodbye tour. I’m not sure why they are splitting and I think they have been shocked and overwhelmed with the demand for tickets for their goodbye tour. That should be a hint to the band that the fans don’t want them to split!

Try listening to: Gossip, Contagious Chemistry, Carpe Diem

11 BRELAND

A cheeky number 11 is BRELAND! His catchy songs always cheer me up and have me dancing. I always find myself searching for him in Spotify, many of his songs are in my fave country playlist. I am someone who really likes artists who merge genres, I find that they produce the most interesting sound and often lyrics. For me his music is country with a different twang.

Try listening to: My Truck (I especially love the Remix!), Cowboy Don’t, Thirsty

I wrote about him in my country music post: https://amyoncloudnine.home.blog/2023/02/03/country-music-2/ .

Rock on once more hope you are still dancing 🙂

Amy xx

Happy New Year 2024!

I wrote the original draft in the summer. The timing works out well due to Spotify releasing their 2023 Wrapped information and everyone’s top songs for the year.

These are the artists that I absolutely love, I can listen to any album and the majority of their songs without wanting to press skip (depending on my mood too of course).

My top 5 musicians:

1. Fall Out Boy

My all time favourite musician and band, since 2006! I love every album they’ve ever released, including all the changes in how they sound. It sounds cliche but Fall Out Boy were a huge part of my teenage years and influenced directly who I am. Pete Wentz’s lyrics especially have been inspirational, his wit and emotional perspective aligned with me in some way. The band’s image, how they dressed, what they said in interviews were a highlight especially back in the late 2000s. They released a new album last year and I still feel the way I did back then.

To be honest I don’t watch music videos anymore, so I’m not overly sure what type of music videos they shoot anymore either.

I have seen Fall Out Boy live about four or five times I think. The first time was in 2007 and the last was in 2014 until November last year. I loved the show, they are still amazing live!

Try listening to: Sugar We’re Going Down, Love From The Other Side, The Last of the Real Ones.

2. Taylor Swift

I have technically covered writing a post about Taylor in my Country Music post. However, Taylor changed genre to Pop and then a bit of Folk too.

I’ve loved every one of her albums with the exception of the last three which I still do like, but only love half the songs. I feel guilty for writing this but I feel the last few albums have lost the spark of her previous seven.

I’m not completely sold with the rerecorded albums either, although I love the recently released Taylor’s version of Speak Now. Speak now is probably my favourite era! Anyway she has so many great songs! I saw Taylor live on the Red tour back in 2014. I am booked to see her again hopefully in Summer 2024! I can’t believe that will be ten years later!

I find most of her songs catchy, the lyrics are almost always relatable and heart felt. I like the change in genre, amazing for different moods or vibes. She is the same year group as me and I feel our generation have grown up together. Although I actually didn’t like her until late 2008 or early 2009.

Since the original draft of this post, I have fallen in love with more songs from the 2020s, especially Folklore over the past three months or so. They are the sort of albums that you need to be in the mood for, in my opinion.

Try listening to: Wildest Dreams, Delicate, Cruel Summer.

3. Paramore

I’ve been a fan of Paramore since 2007, if not before the release of Misery Business. I like both of the band’s sounds, with Josh Farro in the earlier albums and without him in the post 2009 albums. The majority of the pop punk bands I listen to have male lyricists and singers, so this makes Paramore more special to me.

They also released a new album last year. I love five songs but find the others more album filler songs to be honest which is unusual as the majority of songs are usually solid on their albums.

I saw Paramore live in 2008 at the Give It A Name Festival at Earls Court in London. I’ve wanted to see them since, I missed out on their most recent tour sadly but they are due to support Taylor Swift in Summer 2024!

Try listening to: Misery Business, Still into You, Hard Times.

4. Sam Hunt

Again I mentioned Sam Hunt in the country genre post, sorry! His music is mostly peaceful, romantic and seductive. There are a few upbeat songs too. I love his lyrics as they are heartfelt and often unique. Hopefully he will release a new album soon.

I’ve not seen Sam live yet but I hope to one day! I don’t think he usually tours outside of America.

Try listening to: Start Nowhere, Water Under The Bridge, Kinfolks.

5. Carrie Underwood

Yet another country artist repeat, there may be one or two more in these posts.

Carrie released an album in 2022 which I absolutely love! It contains upbeat catchy songs I find myself singing and dancing along to. She was actually my favourite artist of the year for 2023 apparently which shocked me, I was convinced it would be Fall Out Boy’s new album.

Again, I’ve not seen Carrie live yet but I hope to one day again! Maybe all of my favourite Country musicians will perform at C2C Country festival one year! She keeps performing in Las Vegas but that is a bit of a trek.

Try listening to: Inside Your Heaven, Before He Cheats, Pink Champagne.

Other musicians that didn’t make the cut, look out for another post maybe:

You Me At Six, Good Charlotte, McFly, Kelsea Ballerini, Lauren Alaina, BRELAND, Luke Combs, Cassadee Pope, Avril Lavigne, old school Christina Aguilera, Ed Sheeran, Bowling For Soup, Cobra Starship, All Time Low, Panic! At The Disco, Rihanna, Beyonce.

Rock on and keep dancing,

Amy xx