The Traver family has jointly and carefully curated one of the most epic road trip playlists known to man. The even bigger accomplishment is that we all love it.
It started last summer when we were in Montana. Brett had his phone plugged into the rental car and connected to Apple Play. After a series of low-energy and somewhat depressing songs, I threatened to jump out of the moving vehicle. It was too much melancholy and in no way vacation music.
Josie quickly stepped up to the challenge and started creating a playlist worthy of a good road trip. Josie has excellent taste in music. She also knows and appreciates the stuff her dad and I like. In 15 minutes, she had something to get us going.
There was plenty of Tom Petty and Chris Stapleton for me, and some Beatles and Foo Fighters for her dad. She also introduced us to several musicians we were not familiar with, but totally appreciated, such as Wolf Alice and Ethel Cane. She loaded it full of Tyler Childers, a family favorite. Her love for the Red Hot Chili Peppers was also apparent and made us proud.
She made the list shareable with us all, and with the gift of the universe that is Apple Music, we all went in and started adding to the list. We warned Brett—no depressing shit!
Brett kicked it old school with Jimi Hendrix, more Beatles, and Led Zeppelin (a favorite for both of us). There were loads of Springsteen (his favorite). He then went deep into our college years with Pearl Jam and lots of other grunge. Well done, Mr. Traver.
I leaned into the 80’s with some Michael Jackson and Tina Turner. I did not stop there. I went current with some Taylor Swift, U2, and more Chris Stapleton. You can never have enough Chris. I also added some White Stripes and Soundgarden because, hello? They rock!
Our playlist has continued to grow over the last nine months. All three of us keep adding tunes and introducing each other to new music. We almost always exclusively listen to this playlist when traveling. I think it is close to 10 hours long at this point.
For the record, I would have been insufferable if I had the world of Apple Music at my fingertips in my youth. I used to sit by my stereo and tape deck for countless hours trying to make the perfect mix tape. I never missed a Sunday morning of The Weekly Top 40 with Rick Dees or Casey Kasem. That is where I got all the current hits for my epic mix tapes. Hours and hours of my life were dedicated to this endeavor.
I’m glad we have it easier today. Hell, we can listen to any damn thing we want at any given moment. That is power!
I look at our road trip playlist as a fun family project—one that I hope never ends. It has been a delight to produce this as a family unit. Enjoying it together in the car has been the icing on the cake. Long live good music and the Traver Road trip playlist!
Angela Traver
What is this blog about? Well, it's a general blog, but it is also a very specific blog. If you get that reference, you get a gold star! I have been a public relations professional and writer of press releases for more than 20 years—primarily in the booze biz. I decided to do some writing for fun and embrace the humor that gets me through most days. Hopefully it will make you chuckle—or at least smile. I’m a certified crazy magnet, and more than a little nutty myself, so buckle up. Also, I have two vices—profanity and red wine/whiskey. You’ve been warned. It should also be noted, that I’m a HUGE Bob & Sheri fan. I’ve been a listener for more than 20 years. This opportunity is a dream come true and it may have made me cry. That being said, I cry at everything. If you are into booze, dogs, food and/or knitting, hit me up on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter (although I’m terrible at Twitter and it scares me) @kyspiritsgal. You can also find all my previous blog posts at www.kyspiritsgal.com.
