Be the butterfly

I discovered Rayland Baxter via Instagram and I’m pretty sure I have Caamp to thank for the discovery. They’d given him a plug or he’d commented on one of their posts or something along those lines. After doing a bit of additional investigation, I started listening to Rayland Baxter and realized that his music – which is different from a lot of the stuff I tend to listen to – is pretty fun.

Know what’s even more fun? His Instagram reels. He doesn’t post a whole lot of stuff about his music, I’m finding. Instead, he films himself having ridiculous conversations with people he meets in his travels, or interesting musicians performing on sidewalks, or even snippets from the filming of his new music video (in which he’s dressed in a pair of long johns and sports antennae and a giant pair of butterfly wings).

Admittedly, another reason I took an interest in Rayland Baxter has to do with the fact that he’s kind of adorable in a very I’m-not-trying-to-be-adorable-but-I-can’t-help-it kind of way. I mean, he has a mustache and he’s still adorable. That’s an accomplishment.

The name Baxter is cool as well. My first Airedale was named Baxter and he was one of the best dogs to ever roam the earth. Just Whistle is dedicated to him and Rhett, Charley’s Airedale mix, is modeled after him. Coincidentally, I’ve been rereading Just Whistle because I want to rerelease it with a new cover and a better blurb on the back. Rhett not only reminds me of Baxter… he’s so so so much like Arlo! An absolute menace: that’s what Rhett is.

My Baxter:

Rayland Baxter: