Road Music

Music has been a part of my life from my earliest memories.  The radio or record player was usually on and Sunday mornings in particular included listening to gospel music.  So, needless to say, music remains a motivating and mood changing force in my life today.

One of the things I missed most when I climbed back on a motorcycle ten or twelve years ago was not having music to listen to.  I tried the Sony Walkman radios and CD players, but they never seemed to be much good on a bike.  Finally, I settled in on an iPod and it worked great.  I wasn't a big fan of having to stick ear-buds in my head, but at least I had my music back on the road with me.

Trust me.  I need the music because too much quiet time to think and my brain starts coming up with weird ideas that are only going to get me in trouble.

My first Harley was a 2004 Fatboy that I rode for about 5 years and put over 95,000 miles on it.  Most of those miles came without music :(

Now, I've moved up to the penultimate old man's bike, a 2011 Harley-Davidson Road Glide Ultra.  It's the most comfortable bike I've ridden and I love it, but one of the best features is that it has a radio, CD player and I can plug my iPod into the auxiliary port and, PRESTO!, I have my own eclectic play list singing back to me.  It's great!

My Road Glide - I'm usually grinning anyway when I'm riding, but access to my tunes keeps a smile on my face

There's not much in the way of music that I don't like.  I can listen to country, alternate rock, classic rock, classical; heck, I don't care as long as it has a melody and rhythm to it.  So, being able to set up a playlist and have it roll through a variety of artists and genres works perfectly for me.  I have a playlist of road favorites that I know will keep me cruising in harmony.  Here's what it looks like from the random scrambled state it was in when I printed it:

Rebel Soul - Kid Rock
The Highest Pass - Michael Mollura
Imagine - Train
Home - Phillip Phillips
Karn Evil 9 - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Highway Don't Care - Tim McGraw
Save Me, San Francisco - Train
Imagine - John Lennon
Good to Be Me - Uncle Kracker
Take a Back Road - Rodney Atkins
Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Guns N' Roses
Sincerely, Your Gypsy Soul - Sierra Noble
Southern Comfort Zone - Brad Paisley
Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi
Born to Be Wild - Steppenwolf
Ho Hey - The Lumineers
Midnight Ferry - Kid Rock
Turn the Page - Metallica
It's Been Awhile - Staind
She's Got Something - Greg Holden
Bullets In the Gun - Toby Keith
Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
Let's Ride - Kid Rock
Nickel Size Hail - Sunny Ledfurd
Knee Deep - Zac Brown Band
Cowboys Like Us - George Strait
Angel - Sarah McLachlan
Rockstar - Nickelback
Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones

That's right, Imagine is on the list twice.  Once as performed in the incredible manner that only John Lennon could perform it.  But, also in a version recorded by Train that rivals even John's version.  Pat Monahan brings his soothing and soulful voice to make it a very special rendition.  I couldn't choose one over the other, so I put them both on the list.  Plus, it never hurts to spend an extra three minutes imagining what the world could be like if we could figure out a way to live as one.

Train and Kid Rock are all over my iPod.  You can never go wrong with any of their songs.  You only see a couple of Train songs on this list, but I have another list of songs I rated as five stars.  Of the 26 songs on that list, six of them are Train.  I think I have bought one album on iTunes and that was Kid Rock's Rebel Soul.  Needless to say, I'm a fan of both.

There are songs in the list that mellow me out like Knee Deep, She's Got Something and Home.  Then there are others that require me to pay particularly close attention to my speedometer while they're playing, like anything by Guns N' Roses and Turn the Page by Metallica.  They tend to crank my throttle, so to speak.

Anyway, I needed to post something, but the weather's still too cold for a ride.  So I decided to take a virtual ride this morning and listen to my road favorites playlist and, hopefully, entertain you for a few minutes.  If you don't know all of the songs listed above, I encourage you to look them up and give them a listen.  And, remember, Train...Kid Rock...you can't go wrong!

I will be back on the road soon to bring you more adventures but in the meantime, sing like nobody else can hear you.

Pleased to meet you...hope you guessed my name