Lauren Jenkins Put Her Life’s Work in a Backpack and Someone Stole It
Country newcomer Lauren Jenkins' backpack was stolen, and her description of the contents provides a window into how fraught life can be for an artist still working toward his or her first big break.
Jenkins — whose No Saint album was just released last month — shared news of the alleged car break-in on Wednesday morning (April 10), and in a string of tweets that follow she details everything lost. It shows what the thieves really stole. It's a nightmare come true for a creative, but fans started to pitch in immediately. Within a few hours, more than $1,000 was raised via a GoFundMe page.
Jenkins signed with Big Machine Records after spending years working the east coast, playing any bar that would have her. She was just a teenager during this time, but at age 17 she settled into New York City to study acting. The Texas-born, Carolina-raised musician earned critical acclaim for her new album, which came with a short film that she starred in. Taste of Country's review of No Saint describes "a young Sheryl Crow or John Mayer, artists who have maintained their longevity through always moving in new directions."
In February the "Running Out of Road" singer made her debut on the Today show. The outfit she wore during that performance, she says, was among the possessions stolen. Other clothes included her only pair of black jeans, all of her jewelry, a bandana she always wears on her wrist, a T-shirt from her "No Saint" music video and more. She also lost journals, unfinished songs, harddrives, and 12 years of notebooks.
If there is a silver lining, it's that the thieves didn't take her guitar.
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