Road Trip Earworms 2023 – Editor’s Pick for Favorite Songs
There’s nothing like an earworm, sounding so good no matter how many times you play it. I’ve been an earworm listener since I was a kid – hitting repeat to keep that feeling going for hours. There were a lot of them this year. I hear a lot of music over the course of a year, and here is my go-to, road trip earworm list for this year. I invite you to follow this list (scroll down here to find the actual playlist) and truly road test it on your next road trip. All of these songs are soooooo great!
Jason Isbell “When We Were Close.” This song for his departed friend, with the searing lines and the refrain “You were bound for glory and grown to die, oh why wasn’t I?” is an instant earworm. So many great lines from a true songwriting master. REVIEW: Jason Isbell Weathervanes
Said Cleaves “Through the Dark.” “When the night comes creeping in / And life has left a mark / I’ll take you by the hand / Together through the dark” is a great chorus. This song is a joy as well as the whole album it came from. REVIEW: Slaid Cleaves Together Through the Dark
Jobi Riccio “Summer.” Rising star Jobi Riccio is rising for a reason. “Where the sun sets like butter running down warm toast.” This song has some unexpected twists in the lyrics and is tremendously thoughtful. One Writer’s Expectations for AmericanaFest 2023
Tanya Tucker “Kindness.” Tanya put out a truly great album this year, and this song really stood out. “So come on, baby, show some kindness to me, when all the wasted years have come and gone, and there’s just the empty sky to look upon.” We all need a little kindness, and Tanya comes right out and speaks this truth directly from her heart to yours. REVIEW: Tanya Tucker Sweet Western Sound
Corrie Lynn Green “Cellar Full of Beets.” Who is this shadowy woman, singing in her nonchalant wry style to disarm you? All while she delivers images that somehow contain heavy gut punches hidden within the mix. Song Premiere: Corrie Lynn Green Bird On A Wire
Jerry Joseph “The Man Who Would Be King.” This cool little cross-pollination with Eric Ambel producing the rock and a bouncy harmonica lick is quite the creation. “Realized this summer, the children really grew…. there’s a rope around the ranch of this big oak tree and you swing out into the ether….come again, come again, come again and hold us… we’re gonna get through this.” Hope so, Jerry. REVIEW: Jerry Joseph “Baby, You’re The Man Who Would Be King”
Ben de la Cour “Appalachian Book of the Dead.” Ben put out another dark, slightly twisted and complicated wonderful album this year. This song is the lead track and is dark and mysterious and in a word, great, and with LUELLA on the track it’s even better. REVIEW: Ben de la Cour “Sweet Anhedonia”
Todd Snider “Mercer’s Folly.” “It seemed like the right thing at the time.” Classic Todd and a story we can all relate “I’ve got to admit it ain’t so much the despair that always get me as it is the hope, god, there’s always hope.” Nailed it. Crank It, We’re Doomed. REVIEW: Todd Snider “Crank It, We’re Doomed”
Terry Klein “A Dollar, Two Quarters and a Dime.” This is a simple tale of digging in the couch cushions for change to buy cheap cigarettes, but somehow carries the weight of an entire lifetime of struggle. REVIEW: Terry Klein “Leave The Light On”
Jeffrey Martin “Red Station Wagon.” This is excellent vocals and a painful story of childhood and remembering through the eyes now of an adult. “That night on the roof of the school when we were talking at stars and you said that you might be afraid of who really are… I can’t believe how I let you down.” Try not to cry. REVIEW: Jeffrey Martin “Thank God We Left the Garden”
Jon Dee Graham “See you by the fire.” What a fantastic image when he repeats “see you by the fire when we arrive.” Just a nice welcoming image for anywhere, including the afterlife. REVIEW: Jon Dee Graham “Only Dead For A Little While”
Malcolm Holcombe “Bits and Pieces.” “Jerk the curtains on down, it’s cold here on the floor.” (Who else writes lines like that?” A song about traveling light in the darkness, poverty and a lifetime forgotten. REVIEW: Malcolm Holcombe “Bits and Pieces”
JD Clayton “American Millionaire.” JD Clayton offered up a fantastic album this year. Somber, direct, and with exceptional songwriting. “Up all night, probably be late, I’m workin’ my way to be one of the goats.” REVIEW: JD Clayton “Long Way From Home”
JD Graham “2 Days South of December.” A sincere and candid song about the struggle to get sober, forgiveness and promises, plus JD has a really nice crooning singing voice amid the seriousness. REVIEW: JD Graham “A Pound of Rust”
Dolly Parton, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr “Let It Be.” It’s lovely when Dolly and Paul’s wise and mature voices mingle on quite possibly the prettiest song of all time. Ringo’s subtle drumming is always right on point too. “Let it be.” Sweet. https://dollyparton.com
Pony Bradshaw “Foxfire Wine.” This is spine tingly ear candy and Americana goodness – both the music and the song. “Foxfire wine will heal my mind … they’re backing us into margins with a knife to our throats.” REVIEW: Pony Bradshaw picks up where he left off with North Georgia Rounder
John R Miller. “Nobody Has to Know Your Mind.” “Called in sick so I could get to work. Laid underneath the sky, watched the airplanes go by, nobody has to know your mind.” If nobody is dogging you and watching what you do, you can follow your muse and nobody has to know. Excellent songwriting. REVIEW: John R. Miller “Heat Comes Down”
Turnpike Troubadours “Mean Old Sun.” This band is strong and excellent, and this song is blazingly powerful and irresistible all the way down deep in your gut. “Headlong for the wall now honey / Still coming up like a rose / Dead still in the garden / waiting for the reveille.” REVIEW: Turnpike Troubadours “A Cat in the Rain”
Rachael Sage “Whistle Blow.” “You look me up and down and tell me like it is…. but in the middle of the night I can hear your voice saying don’t look back, you have a choice.” This song is reflective and drwan down on the emotional side while being nimble and complex all at once. REVIEW: Rachael Sage “The Other Side”
Bella White, “The Way I Oughta Go.” “I woke again …to a big old empty bed and that feeling I could scream at the top of my voice and I would not be heard / And I know in the morning where you’ll find me / Staring at the ceiling on my own.” Bella has made a turn into powerhouse Americana territory on this and the result is red hot. REVIEW: Bella White “Among Other Things”
Gabe Lee “Merigold.” A song about grieving, loss and cancer, this is about as moving as they come, this is pretty and honest in its sorrow. “The geese cry in the wind as I wade into the delta, shotgun in my hands knowing I’ll never see you again.” Whew. REVIEW: Gabe Lee “Drink the River”
Margo Cilker “Lowland Trail.” “Cattle pushing high up a canyon-side, looking for a lowland trail. Got miles before me, miles behind, looking for my lowland trail.” Optimistic, upbeat, with the sense of renewal running through it. REVIEW: Margo Cilker “Valley of Heart’s Delight”
Tyler Childers “Rustin’ in the Rain” “I am yours to use and I sure wish you would use me, Do not let my heart just fall apart, rustin’ in the rain.” Tyler’s song and familiar wailing truthful vocals are as cool as ever. REVIEW: Tyler Childers “Rustin’ in the Rain”
Lori McKenna (with Hillary Lindsey) “Would It Kill You?” This song is just catchy as hell and applies to more than one situation in your life, most likely. “Would it kill you to be happy? ’cause tryin to make you happy is killing me.” Uh huh. REVIEW: Lori McKenna “1988”
Jason Eady “Burn It Down.” This one is bluesy swagger and it has a great groove. “Every time things start to go my way, I burn it down like a temple on judgment day.” Jason speaks some truth, that’s for sure. REVIEW: Jason Eady “Mississippi”
Jeff Plankenhorn “Juggling Sand.” “Holding on might as well be juggling sand.” It’s a joyride in the midst of a cold world, great songwriting by Jeff. REVIEW: Jeff Plankenhorn “Alone At Sea”
Jana Pochop “Pretty Please.” This song is ripe with longing and images of a hot summer day in the city. “Pretty please, oh please you’re so pretty, and you move in these O’Keefian lines.” Pretty song. Song Premiere: Jana Pochop Pretty Please
Check out last year’s list: Editor’s Pick: Road Trip Earworms 2022