On the cusp of another summer vacation road trip. Last year was out west. This year is due east, to the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia, and then on to Washington, DC. I love having a terrific musical playlist to keep me awake on long drives. This year, things are less bleak than past years (more on that in the days ahead). I was going to label this year’s theme as Mountains, or The Sequel. Then I stumbled upon the gorgeous new album from Chicago musician Andrew Bird, and I found my title.
Those of you who’ve read my past roadtrip missives know that it’s a mixed-media approach. Images, blog posts, podcasts, some video/hybrid/mashup thing. I kind of make it up as I go. The past few years were about Covid, escaping lockdowns, and escaping the decade+ long period of unemployment that accompanied fatherhood. This year I finally climbed that mountain and pivoted back into a full-time job that will hopefully be more permanent than temporary.
We depart in a little more than 12 hours, and I still haven’t put together a decent playlist, other than the above Andrew Bird record. Give me some suggestions, or it’ll be a repeat of the Hamilton original cast soundtrack the marked one of our very first drives out east many years ago.
Speaking of mountains, gonna add this gem to the playlist too.