Key to the Highway: Arlo McKinley

Arlo McKinley photo by Jim Cundiff

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 Arlo McKinley.

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

Arlo McKinley: I start the day off with a chocolate milk and splash of Jot coffee concentrate. I follow that up with an iced cold orange soda.

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

AM: I once stayed at a hotel in DC years ago. First thing in the morning we were awoken by cops storming the room. Turns out they were looking for someone else.

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

AM: Jeremy Pinnell – Goodbye LA because its the best driving music there is!

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

AM: Headphones. They are a great way to block out all the noise from a tour.

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)?

AM: We always try to hit White Castle if it’s available. Most times we are content with gas station food. Anything off the hotdog roller is fair game in our van.

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?

AM: I would definitely choose Iceland. It looks and feels like another planet over there. Can’t wait to go back.

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

AM: “Just enjoy it, because you never know when it’s going to end” – DRA

Find all things Arlo McKinley, here: https://www.arlomckinley.com/about

Find his music here: https://arlomckinley.bandcamp.com/album/die-midwestern

See other Key to the Highway interviews here: https://americanahighways.org/category/interviews/key-to-the-highway-series/ (click here for: Jimmy Smith Ben Nichols Bruce Cockburn Charlie Musselwhite Nicki Bluhm Jim White Danny Barnes Patterson Hood Jerry Joseph BJ Barham 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 Sadler Vaden )