i still got the keys to let it ride

It’s early. The birds are chirping. The bags are packed (minus the sweet new camping gear I ordered, which Amazon.com is holding hostage) and the sold-out 38th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival begins tomorrow. Today is a day for cars full of friends driving along the Arkansas River on our way into the mountain haven of Telluride.

The Denver Post’s Reverb music writers and I will be sharing a ride over the hills, and, because I have found my people (who TRULY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS IMPORTANT), we have made a collaborative mix to bring in the car and feature on both our sites. Because that is what music writers do when faced with a daunting task. We work together and make a mix; ten songs each.

These songs are a little rootsy, some about travel, many about summer, and most about love.

And yes, I do fully comprehend the cruel irony of a roadtrip driving mix only being available in a streaming format.

THE ROAD TO TELLURIDE TRACKLIST

Side A: Fuel/Friends
1. “Let It Ride” – Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
2. “Stop The Bus” – Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
3. “July 4, 2004″ – Jason Anderson
4. “Can’t Hardly Wait” – The Replacements
5. “Another Travelin’ Song” (live) – Bright Eyes
6. “Unless It’s Kicks” – Okkervil River
7. “We’re All Stuck Out In The Desert” – Johnathan Rice
8. “Penny On The Train Track” – Ben Kweller
9. “Walt Whitman Bridge” – Marah
10. “You Are The Everything” (R.E.M) – Redbird

Side B: Reverb
1. “The Modern Age” – The Strokes
2. “Louisiana” – The Walkmen
3. “That’s Not The Issue” – Wilco
4. “Poor Man” – Old Crow Medicine Show
5. “Wide Open Road” – Johnny Cash
6. “Arms Like Boulders” – The War On Drugs
7. “Freak Train” – Kurt Vile
8. “Lost Highway” – Hank Williams
9. “The Mountain” – Steve Earle & the Del McCoury Band
10. “Pretty Girl From Cedar Lane” – The Avett Brothers

I’ll be updating my Twitter and other social media-type things from the festival as connectivity allows (I believe you will be able to stream the festival on KOTO.org!), and I will be back next week, sated with all that good music ringing in my ears.

[top image: U.S. Route 285 South, just over Kenosha Pass. Photo by John Hendrickson. Photo illustration by Marc Hobelman, Denver Post]