Two of our favorite bands are coming to Pittsburgh. 

The Wood Brothers are here tomorrow. The Zac Brown Band, a week later. I’ve been listening to both for almost twenty years, but they only became fixtures on our family soundtrack in the last six. 

When we hunkered down at our cabin during lockdown, my daily morning playlist included a song called “River Takes the Town” by the Wood Bros. Our afternoon playlist included a song called “Toes” by ZBB. I figured the kids tolerated them, at best, as per most kids and their parents’ music.

Many weeks later, I realized they’d delved deeper into both bands’ archives than I ever had. We’ve seen them every time they’ve come through Pittsburgh since. In 2023, The Wood Brothers played in Pittsburgh the same night as Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. Noelle and Maddie might’ve been the only teenage girls in America at the time who would choose the former. 

Serendipitously, because they read this email, we’ve become friends with members of both bands. I owe that to Bob Lefsetz, the legendary music industry writer who once gave me a generous nod in his newsletter. Our signups were instantly flooded by artists, agents, and record company execs. Little-known fact: Scott Galloway – who became much more famous than I’ll ever be – will tell you he owes his rise from obscurity to a plug from Lefsetz as well. That’s what real influence looks like. 

While The Wood Brothers never had a mainstream hit like “Chicken Fried” to launch them into the stadium-filling stratosphere ZBB occupies, their following might be even more rabid. Both groups have top-notch musicianship. Their shows are nothing but positive vibes. You don’t have decades-long touring careers – especially in today’s deluge of streaming music – if you aren’t special. 

I would write about music every week if I could. Next to my family, there’s nothing I like talking about more, with sports as a close third. But I’m no expert in it. I’ll leave that to Lefsetz. 

So why am I writing about music this week? For the same reason I wrote about the World Cup and my family vacation before this. For the same reason I took off three weekends since Memorial Day. 

Because it’s summer. And August, the “Sunday of Summer,” starts today. Soon enough, I’ll be bombarding you with heavier topics like the dreaded political midterms, the fast-approaching holiday retail extravaganza, and groundbreaking work we’re about to publish on AI, tectonic shifts in consumer brand loyalty, and God knows what else we can’t see coming.

For now, enjoy your beach vacations, golf, hiking, outdoor day-drinking, or whatever else you do during the waning vestiges of summer.  

I’ll be seeing some live music.        

Here’s what we’re seeing:       

So much for the warm-and-fuzzy consumer confidence. After a nearly four-month run of generally positive gains, our Economic Sentiment Index took a hit in its latest reading, falling 2.6 points in the final two weeks of July. The numbers fell to levels we haven’t seen since early May, owed likely to the renewed Iran kerfuffle (and resulting oil price increases) and the White House’s announcements of even more tariffs. While all five core metrics declined, the index was especially pummeled by a steep drop in optimism for the longer-term (6-month) U.S. economy, which receded a whopping 8.2 points.  

Americans are exercising more, for different reasons. As health & wellness continues to be a driving force in U.S. consumerism in 2026, the rise in exercise frequency (up significantly since 2024) should come as no surprise. Strength and resistance training top the list, while cardio exercise has fallen slightly out of vogue – particularly among younger age groups. What I found most interesting in this study, though, was people’s stated rationale for exercising. While physical health, logically, is the main reason among the Gen Pop, Gen Xers are the most likely to exercise to improve their mental health or physical appearance. Gen Z is the most likely to do it for social reasons (good). 

Only one in four college graduates currently works in a field related to their degree. In our 3 Things to Know this week, we discovered a surprising disconnect between college study and career outcomes. Notably, people who work in fields related to their undergraduate or graduate degrees are much happier than those who don’t, highlighting the toll of underemployment on emotional health. In somewhat related news, we also looked at the reasons behind the growing rate of co-living (kids with parents or parents with kids) in America today. Finally, we examined how different age groups are managing their entertainment spending in the current inflationary climate. 

Local TV news is the best-kept secret in advertising. As the media (and news) landscape grows increasingly fragmented, consumers are increasingly turning to local news as a source of trusted content, with the percentage who watch in some form every day climbing to its highest level in five years. When asked which news source they trust the most, respondents cite local TV news as number one, by an ever-growing margin over the second choice (national broadcast news). Perhaps more importantly, these viewers are a marketer’s dream, exhibiting much higher than average spending across travel, restaurant, apparel, and other categories. The challenge local news has in vying for more ad dollars is – quite simply – scale, which will only be solved by more consolidation in the industry. On a unit basis, it’s a gold mine. 

Belated Happy National Chicken Wing Day for all who observed. Wednesday marked the celebration of one of America’s most coveted treasures – chicken wings – which are loved by 79% of U.S. adults. Apparently, 21% of you aren’t to be trusted. One in five Americans eats wings roughly once a week or more (these are my kind of people). Buffalo-flavored wings are the most popular, followed very closely by barbecue (which is lame, because garlic parm – specifically spicy garlic parm – is clearly #2). Far more people get wings by way of takeout or delivery than those who eat them in a restaurant (which is by far the superior way to eat them, with a beer). Anyway, I hope you had a blessed holiday.

More awesomeness from the InsightStore™ this week (and last):

  • 6 in 10 U.S. adults are considering a DIY home improvement project in the next 90 days, and here’s why;
  • In last week’s 3 Things to Know, we looked at changing apparel habits, jewelry buyers, and why people still value physical copies of media;
  • Over half of us plan to purchase one or more new tech devices before November;
  • Our Chief Revenue Officer, Alex DeSanctis, wrote a brilliant article about why marketers need to invest more in brand-building, a subject you can expect to hear a lot more about from us in the coming months.  

The most popular questions this week:

Do you think athleisure wear is generally appropriate or inappropriate for work?

Do you support or oppose the idea of making daylight saving time permanent in the US?

How long could you travel with just a carry-on suitcase?

Have you ever volunteered with a local nonprofit organization?

Do you view shopping as more of a solo or social activity?

Answer Key: Definitely not, unless your job is an athlete or fitness instructor; They should split the difference and move it 30 minutes (hat-tip to Tara for that one); 5 days; Several, yes; 100% solo. 

Hoping you’re well,

JD