Maybe it鈥檚 nostalgia for family vacations and childhood summers, but August feels like the perfect time for a road trip, and the perfect road trip needs a soundtrack, a mix of new songs and old jams, sing-alongers and sad ones. How to craft the perfect mix? We asked Portland, Oregon鈥揵ased musician , who plays a story-focused brand of folk ( once called him the love child of John Prine and Mitch Hedberg) and spends most of his time on the road, touring with musicians like Donavon Frankenreiter and Jack Johnson. Craigie鈥檚 on tour across the East Coast through September with his new album, . He told us what he鈥檚 listening to now, which albums helped shape him as a performer, and what he does when lyrics hit him when he鈥檚 behind the wheel, which they usually do.
Find Some Good New Material
There鈥檚 a lot of good music out now. I鈥檝e been listening to Nathaniel Rateliff鈥檚 new record, , a lot. Leon Bridges鈥檚 new one, , is real good, too. John Prine鈥檚 new album, , blew me away. My friend , an amazing songwriter, has a new record coming out in October, which everyone should listen to. And I鈥檒l always listen to Todd Snider, Loudon Wainwright, and Hurray for the Riff Raff.
Mix in Some Classics
For me, as far as classic goes, I like live songwriter records. There are two live Greg Brown records, and , that I listen to all the time. And Simon and Garfunkle鈥檚 , which they did right after releasing Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. For me, when I was coming up, listening to musicians have conversations was a big part of learning how to perform for crowds and be a storyteller. It鈥檚 not a normal human interaction.
Tap into Nostalgia
I was at a caf茅 the other day and heard a song by Pearl Jam鈥攁nd I just went down a wormhole on their old stuff. I did the same thing with鈥hat鈥檚 that crappy band called鈥h yeah, the Goo Goo Dolls. When you have Spotify at your fingertips and a bunch of hours in the car, you can go forever.
Keep Your Ears Open
One of the best things about being on tour is that people tell me things. A guy stopped me recently and said, 鈥淚 think you鈥檇 be into .鈥 I鈥檇 heard about him鈥攈e鈥檚 an Austin-based singer-songwriter鈥攂ut I hadn鈥檛 taken the time to listen, so I cued him up, and now I really like him. When you鈥檙e out of your element, you hear different things. I Shazam. I Shazam a lot.
Don鈥檛 Write Music in the Car (Okay, Maybe a Little)
Most of my songwriting happens either while I鈥檓 driving or while I鈥檓 watching someone else play music, which are both the least conducive places to write. I don鈥檛 mean I鈥檓 stealing stuff鈥擨 just write better when I鈥檓 listening to music. Writing is a multilevel process, and the road is an important place for me to work it out. If I do a tour with someone else in the car, I鈥檓 not in the zone as much. I notice that if I don鈥檛 have that time alone, I can鈥檛 write as well. I use Evernote, and I鈥檒l constantly be writing something down while I鈥檓 driving. Which isn鈥檛 particularly safe.