SOS: I need new music!

So, those of you who know me well, know I have a fairly eclectic taste in music.  I will listen to just about anything, and like almost everything from classical to jazz to funk and pop.  The only types of music that really don't push my buttons are rap, hip-hop and a lot of the super-poppy, "boy band" type music.


If you REALLY know me, you know that my CD player has held the latest from TRAIN for the better part of the last three years.  I'm not embarrassed to say, I freakin' love them and their music, and I'm perfectly happy to listen to nothing but Train and have them as the soundtrack to my life.  If I happen to listen to anything else, it's usually country or 80's - early 90's.

However, it occurs to me that there has been some good music (other than Train... *gasp*) to come out in the last decade, and I've largely overlooked it due several factors:

* Kids.  When you have kids, you tend to listen to "kid music".  And since I refuse to subject my own ears to anything with Barney or The Wiggles on it, my "kid music" collection consists largely of They Might Be Giants, Laurie Berkner, various Disney soundtracks and a smattering of other non-annoying, kid-friendly albums.

* Nostalgia.  Country music, specifically older country: George Strait, Alabama, Willie Nelson, The Eagles, Kenny Rogers, etc.  All remind me of a simpler time when I was a kid, and my family was a family.  I remember starlit nights out on the deck of my grandparents' lake house, with my uncles pickin' and singin'... or sitting up in my room with the radio on, playing Barbies and dreaming of the future.  


The 80's - early 90's music is nostalgic too, but for a different time.  Def Leppard, old-school Bon Jovi (specifically the New Jersey album), NKOTB, Debbie Gibson and Tiffany all remind me of junior high dances, which, despite the fact that I rarely got asked to dance by anyone still hold fond memories.  Anything "grunge" - Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Bush, Smashing Pumpkins... all take me back to high school and a time when a whole new genre of music was born.  That was pretty cool.

* Train.  That's it.  The previously aforementioned band with whom I've had a mild to moderate obsession since Meet Virginia hit the airwaves back in 1999.  It's fair to say the release of Save Me San Francisco pushed me over the edge from fan to superfan with one listen.  It's simply awesome, and if you've never heard the album, you need to.  If I had the means, I would follow their tour around a significant portion of the country, because they are fantastic live, and lead singer Pat Monahan isn't too shabby to look at for a couple of hours either.  


Now, I had a point in starting this post.... what was it???


OH YEAH!  New music.  I don't really know much about what's out there.  I hear what's most popular of course, because the rare times I do switch it to the radio in my car, they play those same 10-15 "hot right now" songs over and over.  Boring.  Says the girl who has already listened to California 37 well over 100 times in its entirety.  Yes, I get the irony... moving on.  


Now, I'm not completely clueless about today's music, and I am aware that there are other artists out there... some of my other current favorites are Jason Mraz, Colbie Calliat, Cowboy Mouth and Gavin DeGraw.  You just don't hear much of them on mainstream radio simply because they don't fall into that little box of big-hit money makers that radio stations play until we are all sick of them.


The ultimate purpose of this post was and is to seek the help of my friends, the majority of whom I know have fabulous taste.  So I'm asking YOU: what are you listening to?  Who should I be listening to?  Help me branch out a little, and broaden my musical horizons!  I've got a $3 Amazon MP3 credit (thanks to my friend Laura at Wheel N Deal Mama) and I want to know what I should spend it on!  Help me out here folks, and turn me on to some new music that I might not otherwise know anything about.  Leave me a comment here, and share your favorite artists / albums / songs with me!