beauty:design:life

As I've posted before, music is a huge part of my life. Like, I can't even come up with the words to describe my relationship with it. It goes way beyond love. For me, music is like air. I can't breathe without it.
Which is why most of my Friday Favorites posts will include music in some form or another - and today's is exclusively about it! Get excited!

Matt Hires
I first saw Matt Hires when he opened for Kate Voegele back in May '09. I have found some of my favorite artists when they opened for the headliners I've come to see, and this time was no exception. In fact, Matt and the other opener, Angel Taylor, may have been better than Kate. It happens. His song "Honey, Let Me Sing You a Song" instantly became one of my favorites. Ever.

I'm writing about Matt today because I went to his acoustic show last night, and then I was able to meet him! He was so nice, and the show was great. He's playing acoustic shows throughout his current tour, at places like Aloft Hotels and Apple Stores, and I would highly recommend trying to catch one (or 10).

The moral of this (long) story? Download "Take Us To The Start". You won't regret it.

Like the rest of the world, I learned of Sara Bareilles' greatness when "Love Song" was a free itunes download.  Since then, she has become one of my favorites. Ever.

Her album, Little Voice, is one of the only cds that is always in my car's cd player, and I never get sick of it (especially because "City" and "Gravity" make for excellent car concerts). She just released her second album, "Kaleidoscope Heart", and although I've only been listening to it for, oh, two hours now, I can already tell it's going to be another favorite. She's sassy and fun, but can also write a beautiful, touching song. Love, love, love.

My only beef with Sara is that her concerts always sell out in .2 seconds, so I am never able to see her live when she comes to Minneapolis. Hopefully someday soon...

Happy Friday!