Key to the Highway: Eddie Perez

Americana Highways’ Key to the Highway series

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 the Mavericks’ Eddie Perez.

AH: How do you like your coffee or other morning wake-up beverage?

EP: I enjoy my early morning coffee with a little cream and agave sweetener. Tan and sweet.

AH: What’s the most interesting or strangest motel/hotel or place you have stayed (while on the road?)

EP: I remember being on the road in the late 90’s and having to pull over at a gas station to wait out some heavy rain… This gas station also had mobile trailers that they turned into a motel… I paid $20 for a trailer and I’ll just say, it was the kind of place where you don’t want to touch anything without a Hazmat suit!

AH: If one CD is stuck in the player in the van for the entire tour, what do you hope it is? And why?

EP: For me it would be Frank Sinatra’s 1959 Come Dance With Me concept album. No explanation needed!

AH: What’s one personal item you must have with you on your road trip?

EP: My personal item would be a pair of great sunglasses.

AH: 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)?

EP: My relationship with food is definitely a love affair! I love restaurants and fine dining. A ribeye steak accompanied by lobster tail and a glass of red wine… cabernet or pinot noir.

AH: 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?

EP: I’d love to live in Hawaii for a bit. I’ve always felt at ease there and the scenery alone is enough reason.

AH: What quote or piece of advice have you gotten from someone on the road that has really stuck with you?

EP: The best piece of advice I’ve heard pertaining to the road was “Spend your money on good food, stay healthy physically and emotionally, and above all enjoy the adventure”… My father was right on all counts!

Find all things Mavericks, here: https://www.themavericksband.com

See other Key to the Highway interviews here: https://americanahighways.org/category/interviews/key-to-the-highway-series/ (click here for: Rodney Crowell Todd Snider Elizabeth Cook Tommy Womack Eric Ambel, Dan Baird, Robbie Fulks, Malcolm Holcombe Jon Langford Steve Poltz, Lilly Hiatt Sarah Shook & the Disarmers )