Americana Highways’ Key to the Highway series Photo by John Hancock photography
Fans always clamor to learn more about their favorite, most beloved musicians and those who travel with them. There’s such an allure to the road, with its serendipity, inevitable surprises, and sometimes unexpected discomforts. This interview series is a set of questions we are asking some of our favorite roots rock Americana artists to get to know more about them and what they’ve learned and experienced on the road. We are sure they have key insights to share and stories to tell. Here’s one from Ryan Bingham.
How do you like your coffee or other morning wake-up beverage?
I like to make it as strong as I can, then add a splash of milk and or whiskey depending on the circumstances of the day.
What’s the most interesting or strangest motel/hotel or place you have stayed (while on the road?)
One time I checked into this motel in Asbury Park and upon entering the room I found it to look more like someone’s apartment. There were old vinyl records and books on the shelves along with clothes and other personal items. I decided to leave before they got home.
If one CD is stuck in the player in the van for the entire tour, what do you hope it is? And why?
Terry Allen “Juarez”. It’s literally been stuck in the player for an entire tour and I never tired of listening to it. I learn something new every time I hear it.
What’s one personal item you must have with you on your road trip?
A toothbrush.
What is your relationship with food? How do you handle this on the road, and what’s your favorite dish on the road, (or restaurant, and what do you order there)?
It’s always a challenge depending on where you are in the world. I always try to plan ahead and do little research before we get to where we’re going. Local advice usually goes a long way. If all else fails, it’s Peanut butter and Jelly time.
If you could pause your life for a few weeks and spend some time living in a place you only have passed through, which would you choose, and why?
Sometimes I feel like Home is a place I’m passing through. Working on pausing there for while!
What quote or piece of advice have you gotten from someone on the road that has really stuck with you?
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain
Find all things Ryan Bingham, here: https://www.ryanbingham.com
See other Key to the Highway interviews here: https://americanahighways.org/category/interviews/key-to-the-highway-series/ (click here for: Elizabeth Cook Tommy Womack Eric Ambel, Dan Baird, Robbie Fulks, Malcolm Holcombe Jon Langford Steve Poltz, Lilly Hyatt Sarah Shook & the Disarmers ) Sign up for our weekly newsletter here for your Friday reminder for this series and more:
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