Road Tunes

Tragically Hip

Posted July 31, 2010 - 5:01pm

Canada's Glory Child

I got into the Tragically Hip in the 1990s when I drove from Missoula to Seattle on spring break and my buddy, Torrey, and I must have listed to Blowing High Dough about a hundred times.

Sweet Oblivion

Posted May 5, 2010 - 8:27am

Screaming Trees

While Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice and Chains placed a stranglehold on the 1990s Seattle rock scene, another band, the Screaming Trees, was quietly jostling for position and pumping out some awesome tunes under the radar.The boys from Ellensburg. Right on brothers.The boys from Ellensburg. Right on brothers.

Some of my music-minded friends think the Trees had the more popular bands beat, meaning if they were shipped off to a tropical island for the rest of their lives they would take the Trees with them and forgo the rest. It would be pretty hard for me to pick  Mr. Marc Lanegan over Layne Thomas Staley, Chris Cornell and Kurt Cobaine, but it wouldn’t be too painful.

The Trees formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985, turned out a few albums and then hit it pretty big in 1992 with the release of Sweet Oblivion.

Ironically, it was about that time that a friend put a cassette in the stereo as I steered my new truck over Snoqualmie Pass to Ellensburg. That cassette was Sweet Oblivion and we listened to it over and over, before we hit the Yakima for winter midging, and after our fishing when we cruised to a bar, got in some trouble, and raced away with our lives at stake. The scene that stays with me is my buddy hanging out the passenger window, shouting something about a cat to a cow-poke who was trying to jump into the bed of my pickup. Every time he got close I punched the gas and we shot 10 yards outside his reach. His girl was screaming unprintables at us, too, so I leaned out the driver side window and shouted some thing about swine... Ah, well, you get the point.

Meat Puppets

Posted March 23, 2010 - 7:27am

Creative band that heavily influenced Nirvana

I probably became interested in the Meat Puppets when I heard Kurt Cobaine say something about how that band influenced his music and I liked his music, a lot, so why not find out about the Puppets?

I bought the album Too High to Die and it included the Meat Puppets' one hit that I know of, Backwater. Seattle's The End was playing the hell out of it at the time and like most songs that get played the hell out of on the radio, I grew to resent it because it was a climb aboard, bandwagon song for the rest of the Seattle hooligans to enjoy.A last minute rush to Denver's Bluebird Theater and very well worth it.A last minute rush to Denver's Bluebird Theater and very well worth it.

Once I got over Backwater I started listing to the Puppets' other songs and appreciating the band for its originality and talent.

The Pups are from Phoenix and they built their base from the punkers at Arizona State University. Their music is a mix of punk, country and psychedelic. Some of it I could play in front of my grandmother and other songs are as honest and painful to be classified as major intensity.

OK, Nirvana made the song Lake of Fire what it is on their Unplugged MTV appearance, in which the Meat Puppets' Kirkwood brothers served as guest musicians, but the Puppets, in my opinion do it better. Don't go for the refined version, hit up the version on Meat Puppets II. The lyrics are killer.

End of the Trip

Posted October 30, 2009 - 9:19am

Neil Young Greatest Hits

I have to be honest here. I can hardly look at Neil Young without getting sick. There’s something about that greasy hair and the emaciated body. I just don’t think the dude looks right. A life of heroin, I guess, although I can’t say that with certainty. But, those looks I’m sure about. If my sister had decided to date him I’d have said, “What are you thinking!” Until I heard his music.

The Essential Johnny Cash

Posted September 23, 2009 - 7:23am

The Man Comes Around

“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.”

Those words echo familiar to every warm-blooded American and with his choppy, melodic guitar riffs and massive faithful following, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more beloved artist than the late Johnny Cash.

I’m a hard-core Cash fan. When I’m headed to the fishing grounds, he’s my go-to guy. Somehow a drive to the water doesn’t seem quite right without Cash cranking and me leaning out the window hollering, “On a Sunday morning

What Happens in Helsinki...

Posted September 4, 2009 - 1:40pm

Rock Hard Power Spray Trigger Nation Ok, so they’re not a household name in the States. Not even in Helsinki, Finland where I bumped into them while staking out nightclubs on my way to Russia to fish the world’s most prolific Atlantic salmon stream. What else are you supposed to do with a 20-hour layover? Certainly not what my recently divorced friend did.

Flogging Molly

Posted August 30, 2009 - 6:38pm
If you’re looking for some Irish punk to get you down the long, straight road, or if you just want to piss-off your campground neighbors—as in, no sleep for anyone tonight!—Flogging Molly’s Swagger is a great buy.

CAKE Pressure Chief

Posted August 30, 2009 - 6:29pm
Sometimes I get mired in the negativity and I need a release. Cake’s Pressure Chief offers that. This nor-Cal band provides flippant tunes in a funky way—an appealing mix of guitar, brass, and lead vocals delivered by the baritones of John McCrea.