Lara Ruggles

Took a weekend trip to Charleston to see some of my very dearest people (and play a backyard concert with ) and got to see my cousin on the way back to Georgia.

The night I got here I met Sam and Cat in Atlanta to see Florence + the Machine, and I had a lot of thoughts about it. I learned a lot about myself watching Florence. I wrote a whole-ass essay that I shared on my Patreon (link in bio, it’s not behind a paywall). It starts with the overstimulation of being at an arena show after four days of driving, and takes a drive through neurodivergence and anti-capitalist models.

Slide 1: me and my cousin Sydney
Slide 2: with Sam Rae and their son Henry (got permission before posting)
Slide 3: Florence in a particularly witchy, light-soaked moment
Slide 4: Sam Rae setting the vibe for the night (sound on)

Have landed at in Georgia for the next four weeks, walked around town, attended a Kentucky Derby party, sketched out the many projects I want to be working on, and fallen in love with an electric guitar.

Will be playing a few house concerts while I’m in the south - stay tuned!

And if you’re in the Atlanta area, want to come hang out with me at ’s show at May 17th? She’s amazing and you won’t regret it…

A handful of music projects I’m really proud to have worked on in the last couple of years, writing vocal parts and singing backup vocals. If you want backup vocals on a project, REACH OUT! It’s one of my very favorite things to do!!

1. Our Bodies Hold Worlds - an album of medicinal liberation songs by , meant to be sung in community.

2. Heart-Shaped Rock by - have loved their song “Charleston” for well over a decade now and am thrilled that I got to sing on it and that it’s finally out where the world can hear it, I’m also on “Midnight Wind” and the whole album is beautiful.

3. Chasing Shadows by - got to sing on a couple of the songs on this album and it just came out! It was super fun to embody the sirens with Andrea Connolly of .

4. Under a Tree by - this one really grooves, and it was so fun to work on! Kevin Larkin is a musical wizard and one of my favorite people, so insanely kind and positive.

5. Phoenix Rise by - got to write parts and singing backup vocals on the title track! This was the first time I worked with - now I get to play bass and sing backups with him live sometimes and I’m really enjoying myself!

Looking forward to more.

It’s wild that almost FIFTY THOUSAND of you have seen the music video for “Boomerang”, and I’m so grateful. Thank you for all the love and the kind words, and especially to those of you who have shared stories about what this song means to you. The full video is on youtube and only a couple hundred of you have clicked the link in my bio and made it over there - I encourage you to watch it on a big screen because 𝒢𝒶𝒷𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓁𝓁𝒶 𝑀𝑜𝓁𝒾𝓃𝒶 included so many incredible little details that are hard to pick out on our lil’ phones. Can you tell which parts are nods to Andrea Gibson’s poem “Boomerang Valentine”? (the poem is quoted on the next slide).