First Aid Kit at the Ryman

The last couple weeks have been not only a whirlwind, but a tornado sharknado of activity, and I am so glad I am getting the chance to stop and breathe through my very clogged and extremely allergy afflicted face holes. One event that kind of snuck up on/delighted me was going to see First Aid Kit at the Ryman last week. [Tangent: If you are not familiar with the group...seriously go fall down a YouTube portal now. First Aid Kit centers around two Swedish gals who sing Americana folk music, which in theory should be akin to Abba covering Johnny Cash, but in reality sounds like the heavens opening and angels singing...if the angels in question looked like Elle Fanning and Emma Stone.] 


 Luckily, we had really amazing seats and unlike most shows, I wasn't stuck behind Yao Ming in a novelty Dr. Seuss hat who liked to violently dance and jump about (or something equally hard to see around.)! In fact the girl sitting next to us was just in town for business from LA and taking in a show at the Ryman solo. We talked about running into celebrities and she was all:

"I live in the valley so only really get to see people no one cares about. Like I've run into the entire cast of Saved By the Bell." 

Then she went on to show me cell phone photos of Maria Lopez pumping gas. This woman was speaking my love language.

After listening to the awesome opener Samantha Crain, who was engaging and mellow without being boring, the show began and I was up to my eyeballs in shining shimmering splendid gold lame and lovely folksy melodies.
 

They sang original material off new album Stay Gold and covers ranging from Jack White to the Carter Sisters. I wanted to believe these girls were too young to be authentic [Tangent: I am over 30, so kind of have adopted the reflex that anyone under 25 is an idiot.] but these dames know their stuff and are well versed in roots music and Americana culture...as much as two twenty-somethings from Sweden can be. Go see them!