Inside Lauren Watkins’s Perfectly Imperfect World

Photo by Luke Rodgers.

Lauren Watkins’s idea of a perfect life doesn’t include a pristine mansion with a Frontgate mailbox, a closet full of designer labels, or having a plastic surgeon on speed dial.

Rather, it’s being covered in dirt after a long morning of helping her husband build the front yard of their first home, jotting down her Trader Joe’s list while dreaming about the steak she’s going to cook for dinner, applying her favorite lip gloss while sitting next to her husband in a deer stand, and taking the edge off of a long week with a wholesome date at the local bowling alley.

Glorifying the simple life is what Watkins, 26, does best, and it’s the theme that lies at the heart of her sophomore album, In A Perfect World, which she released earlier today.

The ten-track record is simultaneously an ode to the trad wife lifestyle and a witty, heartfelt exploration of small-town rivalries, romantic longing, and the highs and lows of young adulthood.

The In A Perfect World album cover.

Songs like the title track, “Average Joe & Plain Jane,” “Marlboro Man,” and “Lose My Cool” form the emotional backbone of the project and center around the once-in-a-lifetime love that Watkins shares with her husband, Will Bundy.

“Marlboro Man,” written by Watkins before she and Bundy met in 2020, almost feels prophetic now. In the song, Watkins finds herself longing for a steady and real love with a truly masculine man who is reminiscent of Marlboro’s iconic cowboy, a figure with a quiet confidence that suggests he can handle anything life throws his way.

Watkins then met Bundy, and the once-imagined ideal of the Marlboro Man became a living reality.

“He’s such a real man,” Watkins says, reflecting on how Bundy embodies the rugged, steadfast figure she imagined in song.

“He can build anything, he can fix anything, and he’s a man of faith,” she shares. “I remember it took nothing for him to just come up to me and introduce himself, and so he was so confident. Then, I got to know his heart. He’s such a sweet person, and he was so rooted in Scripture, and that was like such a turning point for me,” she recalls of the early days of their relationship.

The record’s “Lose My Cool” picks up where “Marlboro Man” left off. The song chronicles Watkins’s decision to ditch the “cool girl” façade she would always put on in relationships once she met Bundy.

“When we started dating…he’s such a cool guy, but he didn’t play it cool,” Watkins recalls. “He didn’t play games, he didn’t hide what his intentions were, and so I was like, ‘Screw it, I’m not gonna do that either,’” she says, laughing. “Like I’m not gonna mess this up just to try to be tough and whatever.”

Watkins shares that it’s Bundy’s kindness that makes her lose her cool.

“It’s so funny like whether it’s business or whatever, he’ll be like needing to tell somebody like, ‘Hey, I need you to get this thing done,’ and I’ll know he’s frustrated about it, and then I’ll hear him get on the phone with them, and he is so kind, and he’s like, ‘Hey man, I really need blah blah blah,’” Watkins says in a deep, Southern accent and laughs. “And I’m like, ‘You are so nice.’ But then he gets the job done every time. It always gets done, and that inspires me a lot,” she gushes.

The album’s title track invites listeners into Watkins’s and Bundy’s life as a married couple.

“Our life is very abnormal,” Watkins says, laughing. “We don’t live a conventional life, and that’s what makes it so beautiful. There’s just ups and downs, and we love it. That’s what I really wanted to shine through in all of these songs – to just really highlight the good, bad, and the ugly of life and show that all of that together makes it what it is,” she shares of the inspiration behind the record.

“In a perfect world, we would have all this money, and we’d have a perfect rigid schedule, and we’d have this and that and whatever, but the world is not perfect, and thank God because then we wouldn’t have all the amazing things that come with reality and imperfections.”

Watkins and Bundy on their wedding day. Photo by Lily Nelson.

Watkins, who is reminiscent of a real-life Hannah Montana, seemingly lives the perfect double life. When she’s not busy touring the country opening for acts like Morgan Wallen, Zach Top, or Lainey Wilson, she’s back home in Tennessee finding inspiration for her music in the rhythm of everyday life.

Like scores of other crafty women, Watkins loves to derive inspiration from a perfectly-curated Pinterest board. But, in reality, she finds the most magic in the ordinary. Take “Average Joe & Plain Jane,” for example – a song that sprang from a seemingly mundane yet unforgettable day at Home Depot.

“I was Pinteresting mailboxes for inspiration because we’re building a house right now,” Watkins shares of her and Bundy’s latest project. “I was like, ‘We’re gonna have this beautiful mailbox, it’s gonna be perfect, it’s gonna be white and elaborate and blah blah blah,’” she recalls.

“We get to Home Depot, and all they had was like actually the most boring mailboxes you could ever imagine – like they were all black with a wood post,” she says, laughing. “And we were like, ‘Okay, who cares? Like literally who cares about what our mailbox looks like? We live in the country anyway, so no one’s even gonna see it.’ So we just got one, and we bought these little numbers for it, and we put it up together, and we were just like, ‘This is so special! Our first address together, and our first mailbox that we’re probably going to have for years and years and years!’”

That moment – seemingly ordinary to outsiders, but monumental to Watkins and Bundy – ultimately inspired “Average Joe and Plain Jane,” a song that Watkins aptly named after her and Bundy’s own personal monikers.

Photo by Luke Rogers.

Yet, Watkins’s record doesn’t sugarcoat the small-town picture. With “Britches,” it dives headfirst into the messy, hilarious, and sometimes petty side of life. Inspired by the universal experience of dealing with mean girls, or, really, anyone who’s too big for their britches, the song is equal parts funny and unapologetically relatable.

“Walked in in high waist denim/Just like you own the place/But that Cover Girl can’t cover up/The stuck up on your face/That 1942, highest bottle on the shelf/Ain’t half as high as that opinion you have of yourself,” Watkins sings on “Britches.”

“There’s always gonna be mean girls or guys or bullies or whatever it may be, no matter how old you are,” Watkins says. “I think you just have to change how you deal with it and how you live with that, you know? My way of doing that was writing ‘Britches.’”

Building on that playfulness, Watkins’s record also explores the thrill and pitfalls of romantic temptation with the duet “Slippery Slope.” Rising country music star John Morgan, who has penned hits for Jason Aldean, lends his smooth vocals to the track, creating a back-and-forth that captures the dichotomy of wanting to get back with an ex and knowing that you probably shouldn’t.

“He’s so talented,” Watkins says of Morgan. “I’m just such a fan, and the more I listened to the song, I was like, ‘This is John, like this has got to be John,’” she shares of trying to figure out who was meant to be the male lead. “He just fits that like cool, laid back kind of vibe that it has. It’s kind of a hard song to sing for the guy part, like it’s not a part that everybody can sing, and I just knew John could. I had no doubt in my mind,” she says, laughing.

“One backslide turns into tellin’ our friends that we’re/Back in love/They’ll roll their eyes/We’ll say they’re wrong/But prove ‘em right/Wind up heartbroken all over again/We’ve been down this road/We both know it’s a slippery slope,” the pair sings.

At its core, In A Perfect World is a love letter to authenticity. Watkins captures the magic of ordinary moments – whether it’s putting up a mailbox, laughing at petty rivalries, or learning to let your guard down in love – with a voice that is as heartfelt as it is playful.

Watkins proves that the real beauty of life is found in the spaces between grand gestures: the quiet acts of love, the honesty in relationships, and the joy of embracing reality exactly as it is.

The record is a reminder that perfection isn’t measured by the size of your house or how perfectly curated your Instagram is, but rather by the love-filled, messy, and deeply human moments that make life worth singing about.