Getting in a car and driving anywhere, is an American tradition. It’s something I have done more times than I can, or want to remember. But most of those times I was driving toward an adventure or at least down to the Jersey Shore.
And usually I was driving with my father. We would head down on a Friday night. Late. After midnight late. And I was his cruise control. Literally. In the years before every car had that feature he would tell me to put my foot across the hump and onto the gas pedal as he drove.
Most of those rides to the beach were spent with a cramped foot and listening to a static-laden AM radio signal. It was not my choice. You see my dad bet baseball, well almost all sports, and he needed to listen to whichever baseball game was broadcasting from the furthest locale. Not that I minded listening to a game; but when all you get is one word out of five, it didn’t make for coherent listening. And unlike when he was watching television he wasn’t falling asleep. So you couldn’t stealthily switch channels.
But when I got older and had my own car, I then became the master of the audio road. And music was the wheels on which that Ford Cougar ran. Which brings me to today’s blog entry; because there’s nothing like moving down the highway with the windows down and the music up.
And The Graham Colton Band’s “Drive” is aptly titled. Slide this disc in and take off for an extended tour of the countryside. It’s ringing guitars and tight melodies make it perfect road trip company.
Yes it’s a couple years old, but sometimes you don’t discover an artist on his first pass. And the Oklahoma City rocker’s songs like “Don’t Give Up On Me” and “Since You Broke It” hold up to repeated playing. That might have something to do with the record’s producer, Brendan O’Brien. You should recognize that name. He’s produced Bruce Springsteen’s last 4 albums, including the soon to be released, “Working on a Dream”.
My personal favorite is “Cigarette”. I could make some corny reference to smoking guitars, but I think I will refrain. Graham will have new music coming out soon. But till then, when you’re rotating the music in your multi-cd changer give “Drive” a spin.
Click here to sample some of Colton's music.
As an added bonus I’ve listed a few of my favorite driving songs:
- “Mama Let ‘Em Play” - Jerry Ducette
- “Now More Than Ever" - John Mellencamp
- “High Fidelity” - Elvis Costello
Let’s see some of yours.