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A Self-Care Playlist: 10 Artists to Listen to When Putting Yourself Back Together

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Most of my evenings involve some variation of the following: a good book, my comfy bed, a candle, and some mellow music.

It’s the only way I know how to recover from 14+ hours of parenting and trying to be a decent human. 🙂

When we moved into our home, sound systems were immediately on my husband’s mind. My mind… not so much. He bought a couple of great speakers, one of which lives in our bedroom. I’m surprised at how much I enjoy having some rich, quiet, relaxing music as the background for our evenings.

If you could use a soundtrack for your own self-care, I thought I’d pass on ten of my favorite artists. I’m drawn to music with any of the following: a stellar male voice, male/female duets, acoustic guitar, and a hint of folk.

These ten artists fall into the category of easy listening, so I think they’ll make the perfect background music for the nights when you’re putting yourself back together after a long day.

A Self-Care Playlist: Mellow Music for Your Mellow Soul

1. Alexi Murdoch

2. Benjamin Francis Leftwich

3. Bon Iver

4. The Wind & the Waves

5. Jose Gonzalez

6. Iron & Wine

7. Vance Joy

8. The Paper Kites

9. The Lumineers

10. The Head and the Heart

I’d love to generate some more ideas! What are YOUR favorite listens after a long day?

Background music for a hard day #selfcare #selfcareforwomen #music #relaxingmusic

Let’s Get You the Self-Care You Need! 👊

For introverts, in particular, few things are as crucial as quality self-care. When we don’t carve out the space we need, it shows in how we interact with our families. (And believe me, NO ONE wants that!)

In my 7-day email challenge for introverted moms, you’ll learn how to structure your daily flow so you get the time you need, and you’ll learn to utilize your STRENGTHS as an introverted mom (instead of always dwelling on your weaknesses).

Hop over to this page to learn more. 👇

Talked Out, Touched Out: A 7-Day Challenge to Help You THRIVE as an Introverted mom

A calmer, happier motherhood experience awaits! 😉

xo,

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Comments

  1. Kari

    Love your list, those are definitely some of my faves. More would be…
    Gregory Alan Isakov
    Bears Den
    Joshua Radin
    Josh Garrels
    M. Ward
    Lord Huron
    I could go on and on and on…

  3. Sasha

    So great… I have made myself a playlist! I listen to podcasts so much that I sometimes forget how much a love mellow music. I want to give you something in return – its not mellow, but it you can’t help but want to happy dance to it. Don’t judge it by its title: Hoes in Mexico by The Royal Streets. I just checked and its not on spotify, but it comes up on youtube if you google it.

  5. joanna

    Love Jose Gonzalez and the head and the heart! Paper kites are a fav too.
    New fan from your post on becoming minimalist!
    Always on the prowl for good acoustic folk music as I’m a huge fan if it.

    • Erica Layne

      Ha! You named it for me! THANK YOU! That shows how little I really know about music, the fact that I didn’t know the genre name. 🙂 🙂 Now I do, so thank you!

      And thanks so much for coming over from Becoming Minimalist. I’m so happy to have you, Joanna!

  6. Jamie

    Wailin Jennys is my go to. Folk, acoustic strings, and amazing harmonies. Enjoying your articles emensely.

  7. Troy

    I also have a list of acoustic songs to mellow out to Erica, which include a third of your top 10.
    Angus & Julia Stone’s, “Big Jet Plane” and “Paper Aeroplane” are two of my favourites, “Landslide” (originally Fleetwood Mac) and “Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness” are two songs by The Smashing Pumpkins I also enjoy along with The Lumineers, Bon Iver and many others.

  10. Pam Killebrew

    I am a fan of instrumental guitar. Chet Atkins is typical of my taste, but I had the privilege of meeting and getting to know a lovely musician named Larry Mitchell. He does a lot of rock-type stuff, but his acoustic slower album “Escape: Acoustic Passages” is my go-to for a morning drinking coffee on the patio. My iPhone alarm in the mornings is a lovely piece from that album called “River Run Deep”. Worth a listen ?.

  11. Shelby

    I would also suggest Cherry Wine and Like Real People Do by Hozier, Boats & Birds by Gregory & the Hawk, Delicate by Damien Rice, Half Acre by Hem, I’m on Fire by Town Mountain, January Wedding by the Avett Brothers, Oceans by Seafret, No Other Love by Chuck Prophet, Stubborn Love by the Lumineers, Sun by Sleeping at Last, and 1957 by Milo Greene.

  12. MondiGale

    I love The Yearbook Collection album by Sleeping at Last (great band someone else also mentioned) and also any Tom Odell album. Huge fan of the Wind and the Wave so happy to see it included in your list. Thanks for leading me to some new music! Excited to check it out.

    • Erica Layne

      Ooh, thank you! It’s been a little while since someone added some names to this list, and I was needing some new ones to try, so your comment was perfectly timed! Off to check those out!!

  15. Laura Brassie

    Love all of those! Very acoustic folk. I blog about self care + love music and always want to incorporate music in my blog. I really love this idea!! You’ve got a new fan.

    The new one for me on your list is the Wind and the Wave so I will definitely check them out 🙂 A few more of my favorites…

    Junip (side project of Jose Gonzalez)
    Gregory Alan Isakov
    The Oh Hellos
    Rogue Valley
    James Vincent McMorrow
    Williams Fitzsimmons
    Fleet Foxes
    City and Colour
    The Native SiblingThe Tallest Man on Earth
    The Middle East
    Great Lake Swimmers (I like their older stuff)
    The National Parks
    Roo Panes
    Matthew and the Atlas

    Hope you enjoy!

    • Erica Layne

      I am suuuper late saying thank you, Laura, but as I’m finally plugging some of these artists into Pandora, I couldn’t help but say thank you! I like your taste. 🙂 🙂

  16. Carly

    Thank you for these suggestions/playlist 🙂 Some very great music in that list and in the comments! One I must add though (that I didn’t see anyone mention)is Ben Howard. You simply MUST check him out 🙂
    Live long and prosper ❤

    • Erica Layne

      Genius, Lisa! I’ll let you guys know on Facebook if I make one, and I’ll update the post. Might take me a little while to work up the energy to figure out Spotify. 😉 😉

  19. Laurie

    Just discovered your blog and have enjoyed poking around. I love all the music recommendations. Jenn Grant makes beautiful music under her own name and also as part of Aqua Alta.

  22. Justin

    I love your blog! The theme, the pictures, and this article, it gives a relaxing feeling. It’s my first time listening to those kind of music and I personally love The paper kites and the wind and the waves. Thank you for sharing this article. I love listening to music, specially christian music. Now, I think I’ll be a fan of mellow music because of your post. Do you have a playlist for the paper kites and the wind and the waves?

  23. Stacy Burkhart

    This was awesome, I love Iron and Wine! Thanks for sharing this. Some of these I have never heard of and some I forgot about. <3 Love your blog, it's amazing!