Dirt roads traveled in the company of bird dogs and dog-eared maps deserve their own soundtrack.
The season is still somewhere ahead, but the road begins to beckon. The first trips are for mountain grouse, so September is for driving. It’s for sunflower seeds and cold beer in the cooler, lunches in Aspen groves and beside tiny trout water that you promise to re-visit with a rod, but never do.
Much of hunting blue grouse and ruffies in the west is an arm-out the window pursuit.
Later in the season, we’ll make the long treks into the backcountry for prairie grouse and chukar, starting early from the spots we know.
The first week of September, we set the cruise at 26 mph and glance at a stack of maps printed off with intentionally cryptic notes (lest they fall into the wrong hands) as we explore old logging roads.
The windows down and the dog whining in anticipation, we’ll stop and look, hunt a spot, then back in the truck.
We’ll spin a disk of old favorites and rejoice in birds and dogs and the roads to get there.
Here’s my disk for day 1
Stay a Little Longer – Willie Nelson
Photograph – Charlie Robison
Broken Bottles – Sons Of Bill
Out here in the middle – Robert Earl Keen
Circle back – John Hiatt
Threadbare Gypsy Soul – Pat Green
Down By the Water – The Decemberists
Guitar Town – Steve Earle
Pearl Snaps – Jason Boland & The Stragglers
Birthday Boy – Drive By Truckers
Lonely All The Time – Reckless Kelly
Horshoe Lounge – Slaid Cleaves
Rusty Cage – Johnny Cash
Wicked Twisted Road – Reckless Kelly
Snake Eyes – Ryan Bingham
Mouthful of Feathers 
I like the way you hunt and I like your taste in music, Greg!
Thanks Scamp. For me road tripping, hunting and good music all go hand in hand.
iPod playlist or home-burned CD?
Mark, I burn them on disk and listen to them until I get tired of them. What usually happens is that I leave them in my truck until they get scratched up and then throw them away. I like using cds and listening to songs in order as opposed to putting the iPod on shuffle.
When CDs first came out I thought it was so lame that I couldn’t make my own mix like I could with a cassette. That day came and went and now my kids have never even seen a cassette and think a disc is for watching movies or playing the Wii. Not too long I guess until they implant music in tattoos and you listen to it through your bones.
Nice post, good set of music.Also good for picking burrs out my spaniels. Might suggest some James McMurtry since you liked his song “Out Here In The MIddle” (Saint Mary of the Woods and Live in Aught-Three). Waiting for disc 2 et al.
Solid list, McLovin. A couple more I’d add if I may:
The White Buffalo – 10 ’till 2 and Carnage
The Devil Makes Three – Gracefully Facedown
Great list – here it is on Spotify if you want to hear the whole thing through – http://open.spotify.com/user/4×6/playlist/0XZDetrlDiixOdbZ0MoGm0
It seems hard to believe that the country you’re driving in would need anything more than it already offers, but the right soundtrack does add a whole lot of meaning. Great list. Looking forward to reading about the season.
(Robert Earl Keen’s “Rollin’ By” might be a good alternate…)
Very nice tunage, and thanks for the Spotify link, Rico.
Thanks for that Rico, cool site.
I sometimes question your taste in hats and college teams, but I can’t fault your taste in music and shotguns…the CD you gave me last summer is still in rotation, and I’m expecting another this fall. Fair warning…
Great list. I’ve got Willie and Waylon II on tape, it gets a lot of revolution time in september. It’s been relegated the official title of ‘that lucky road hunting tape for when we gotta fuckin shoot something’
And no road trip list would be complete without a little Scott H. Biram: