Ok, what type of music do you listen to on your way up to Quetico and or favorite songs before heading into the park?

I like to jam out to Gordon Lightfoot "Alberta Bound", "Naughty pine"
and of course "Whispers of the North".

North Country

Once I'm in range I tune into WELY, but prior to that I craft mixes for our 9 hour drive. Only a few songs are MUST haves: Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot, Breakfast in Hell by Slaid Cleeves, Storm Front by Billy Joel, Fish On by Primus, DownEaster Alexa by Billy Joel, John the Fisherman by Primus. Yes its eclectic, but it makes us happy. The rest of the songs added depend on who's going. Me and my buddy? Expect a lot of Alternative Rock. My dad and I? Classic Rock and Oldies. Also, we also include a book on tape. In the past these have included Jack London's Call of the Wild and Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. Another thing we've done is add recordings of favorite comedians. Just short clips to break up the music from time to time and provide some comedic relief.

I try to get a head start on kicking back w/ some mellow music.....Dougie McLean is great for that..Scottish Folk Music. Sometimes a little John Denver.

RCMP Pipes and Drums

butthead

Cool,

I did the Bill Bryson car ride marathon a couple of years ago and laughed my a** off. You have a very eclectic music selection that is so cool. I really set the trip in motion from Miami Fl, so, being in the car for close to a an eternity you pretty much cover all types of music, sounds, recordings, books etc. John Denver, "Gordy", 80's, classic rock, alternative, Peruvian, native american, etc. Lots of time to prepare for nature sounds and silence. By the time I get to the woods, I am fully decompressed and ready for two weeks of north woods whispers, crackling fire, mosquito's whining wings at dusk, loons yodeling, streams flowing, waves leaping, paddles pulling, moose tromping, wolves howling and in between all of this, all you hear is the beauty of calm heart beats and in between the beats you hear the rhythm of the woods.

Sights of the north, sounds of the north, tastes of the north, smells of the north, the touch of the north country, all consumes my soul and makes me remember, how to be.

I have a long drive to the BW - about 1,250 miles to Grand Marais. I'm usually tooling along to my collection of classic rock and blues, like Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, etc., etc. When I get closer I throw in some Jerry Vandiver Canoe Songs, etc. to start to mellow out.

SiriusXM . . . Bluegrass Highway, mostly. Same as around home. --Goose

im all over the map...tool, regina spektor, wilco, cake, incubus, etc. sometimes i get a bad ear worm that will last for a few days, kinda drives me nuts.

"Looking for Lewis and Clark", by Sid Griffin and The Long Ryders!

Humm. I don’t change what I listen to when heading for the woods, or to Quetico, or to the BWCA, or to downtown, or to mom’s house, or to a friend’s house, or to work, or to home, or to a holiday celebration, or to a wedding, or to a funeral. : )

System of a Down. As fine a group of Armenians as you will ever see.

quote bmaines: "System of a Down. As fine a group of Armenians as you will ever see."

lol. good old serj.

Any one of several Windham Hill samplers.

Hans Solo

quote inspector13: "Humm. I don’t change what I listen to when heading for the woods, or to Quetico, or to the BWCA, or to downtown, or to mom’s house, or to a friend’s house, or to work, or to home, or to a holiday celebration, or to a wedding, or to a funeral. : )"

Exactly. (But some folks need something to wonder/ask about while waiting for the ice to melt, etc.) =) --Goose

Doesn't make much sense, but the first/last song I listen to when I leave for/depart from canoe country is China Grove....been that way ever since I saw Costner's Field of Dreams and the scene when he and James Earl Jones took off in their van from New York to Chisholm MN to find Moonlight Graham....

I would never have thought to "ritualize" my drive to the woods -- or anywhere -- with music. Seems kind of anal or something to me. --Goose

We usually camp the day before entry and I usually try to find a quiet place and listen to Brian Eno. I put my pod on random and listen to all of my collection. Puts me in a peaceful state just before entry.

quote Longpaddler: "I try to get a head start on kicking back w/ some mellow music.....Dougie McLean is great for that..Scottish Folk Music. Sometimes a little John Denver."

Dogie McLean and Jim Malcolm.

I have no go to the woods music...nothing in particular anyway.

The Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. Same tunes I listen to every day!

I love road tripping to U2. Particularly the Joshua Tree era. My kids call it "camping music" since we listen to it so much when going to camping trips.

Great thread, good suggestions.

We used to make the drive overnight, so we'd be driving through the deep north woods at dusk, night and dawn. Called for haunting music. One disc we always played was Peter Gabriel's Passion (music from the Last Temptation of Christ). Forget the movie, but the music is perfect for setting the mood.

Ted Nugent - Double Live Gonzo
McCartney - Wings over America
Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic

Yep - still thinking we're back in high school :-)

Allman Brothers, Killers, Mat Nathanson, Ray Lamontagne, Metric, Sugarhill Gang, anything just play it loud and sing along for the road trip.

Sweet!!!!!

Widespread panic, Allman brothers, Black Keys and Broken Bells until I hit Duluth and then I switch to John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Ahmad Jammal

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimmie Back my Bullets album

Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild ( soundtrack from movie )

Into the Wild album a must!!!!!!!!!!!

quote Moosehopper: "Into the Wild album a must!!!!!!!!!!!"

That is a fantastic soundtrack. The Eddie Vedder song alone makes it for me.

Trampled by Turtles, Stan Rogers, Gordon Lightfoot......then the kids outvote me and play their stuff.

Aside from the previously mentioned Windham Hill collections, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Jerry Vandiver's "True and Deep" CD. Jerry's music has now become part of the pre-trip and post-trip tradition since joining bwca.com.

Not so much "heading to the woods music", but back in the 70's when we started traveling to the BWCAW, Quetico, and Isle Royale, there were several bands and albums that became traditional road tunes for one reason or another.

Before leaving for an Isle Royale backpacking trip in 1978, my roommate created an eight-track tape, (yes, an eight-track), of his version of Blue Oyster Cult's Greatest Hits. He titled the tape, "Crank'n Cult". (Yea I know, it sounds lame now, but it was the 70's and we were in our early 20's)

The following summer The Cars released "Candy-O", which was added to the North Highway 61 road tunes tradition. Since that time, other bands and albums have been added to the list. The Cure's "Mixed Up" and "Wish" CD's are now required listening for the drive up Highway 61, as well as selections from Ric Ocasek, The Offspring, and the Foo Fighters.

For more local trips, any one of The Marshall Tucker Band's earlier albums are required listening when driving to the lower Wisconsin River or the Kickapoo River.

Finally, although technically not a music album, if we're crossing the border and heading into Canada, Bob & Doug McKenzie's "The Great White North" CD is a must have for the drive.

So why does any of this matter? Many of these songs are associated with going to the BWCAW, Quetico, Isle Royale, river trips, good friends, and good times. Regardless of where and when I hear many of these songs today, they bring back pleasant memories. I can only assume that may also be the case for those that replied to this thread.

Hans Solo

Hans Solo,

Whoa...your post response about music is bringing back some good memories. I grew up in Connecticut and a favorite back in the 70's was Blue Oyster Cult. They were a band from neighboring Long Island and I saw them in concert many times. Also, I was a fan of the J Geils Band from Massachusetts ... u have to listen to "Wammer Jammer" with Magic Dick on harmonica ....was a 8 track favorite.



Now you got me thinking .... The Allman Brothers, Deep Purple, Procol Harum, ELO, Boston, Creedence (CCR), Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan .... I am ready to get out the old vinyl and crank up my old Bang and Ulfsen turntable, Marantz Reciever and Klipsh speakers and listen to THE WHO ...

Now I am showing my age...heck I turn 60 this year...ouch. Whammer Jammer Live - J Geils Band

Elvin bishop. "Fishin"

I agree totally.

Especially with the idea of singing together, it unites people with melody/rhythm. We all know about that the rhythms of paddling, the rain, taking long casts, and the camp fire crackling is about rhythm and the music can either help inject our souls with some youthful nostalgic rhythms or just be a melody to share,or it maybe great just to see how everyone else approaches their drive up to the north country. Long before we were paddling in Quetico, voyagers, indigenous people, Eskimos etc, created song for celebration, for ritual, for magic, for life,

Here we get to share our rituals and our personal rhythms.

Keep em coming I love all types of music but I can always learn some new stuff that I have never heard of and a few of posts have given me some new songs to enjoy.

quote Moosehopper: "I agree totally.


Especially with the idea of singing together, it unites people with melody/rhythm. We all know about that the rhythms of paddling, the rain, taking long casts, and the camp fire crackling is about rhythm and the music can either help inject our souls with some youthful nostalgic rhythms or just be a melody to share,or it maybe great just to see how everyone else approaches their drive up to the north country. Long before we were paddling in Quetico, voyagers, indigenous people, Eskimos etc, created song for celebration, for ritual, for magic, for life,


Here we get to share our rituals and our personal rhythms.


Keep em coming I love all types of music but I can always learn some new stuff that I have never heard of and a few of posts have given me some new songs to enjoy."

Sorry this was a rsponse to Hans solo remarks.

Paul Westerberg, Bob Mould, Gear Daddies, The Widgets etc.
I like the home town stuff!

quote yogi59weedr: "Elvin bishop. "Fishin""

Oh my dear Lord yogi59weedr, I didn't think there were many people outside of my circle of friends that were familiar with some of Elvin Bishop's earlier work, especially the song "Fish'n".

On our drive to Atikokan last July for our Quetico family canoe trip, I introduced my seventeen year old son Anthony to Elvin Bishop's "Let it Flow" album, which includes the aforementioned song.

Several times throughout our trip, while Anthony was fishing the shoreline from our campsites, I'd walk down to the shoreline and sing him several versus from "Fish'n". Needless to say, Anthony didn't really appreciate my song selection or my vocals. :-)

As a side note, in September of 1974, I saw Elvin Bishop open for the original Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Milwaukee Performing Arts Center. (Probably one of the most memorable concerts I have ever attended!)

A few years later, Elvin Bishop opened for the original Marchall Tucker Band at the Milwaukee Auditorium. Both times Elvin Bishop performed numerous songs from the "Let it Flow" album, including "Fish'n". This was a few years before the Mickey Thomas "Fool Around and Fell in Love" period.

Too cool yogi59weedr!

Hans Solo

Bill Staines' recording of " The Black Fly Song" . . .

'Twas early in the spring when I decide to go
For to work up in the woods of North Ontario.
The unemployment office said they'd send me through
To the Little Abitibi with the survey crew

And the black flies, the little black flies
Always the black fly no matter where you go
I'll die with the black fly a Pickin' my bones
In North Ontar-i-o-i-o, In North Ontar-i-o

The man Black Tobey was the captain of the crew
He said, I'm gonna tell you boys, what we're gonna do
They want to build a power dam; we must find a way
For to make the Little Ab flow around the other way

So we survey the east, survey to the west.
We couldn't make our minds up how to do it best
Little Ab, Little Ab, what shall I do?
I'm all but goin' crazy on the survey crew.

'Twas blackfly, blackfly, everywhere
A-crawlin' in your whiskers, a-crawlin' in your hair
A-swimmin' in the soup and a-swimmin' in the tea
The devil take the blackfly and let me be.

Black Tobey fell to swearin'; the work went slow
The state of our morale was a-gettin' pretty low
The flies swarmed heavy; it was hard to catch a breath
As you staggered up and down the trail talkin' to yourself

The bull cook's name was Blind River Joe
If it hadn't been for him we'd 've never pulled through
He bound up our bruises and he kidded us for fun
And he lathered us with bacon grease and balsam gum

At last the job was over, Black Tobey said, we're through
With the Little Abitibi and the survey crew!
'Twas a wonderful experience and this I know;
I'll never go again to North Ontar-i-o

--Goose

May I add my two cents;

Sitting on the dock - Ottis Redding
Somewhere over the rainbow - Israel kamakowiwo
To name for the altimeter must hear;
Last Mornin, - Dr. Hook and the medicine show

The last song we usually listen to is "Break on Through to the Other Side" By The Doors

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they could have made Whitefish Bay
If they put fifteen more miles behind her

Me favorite song by me favorite singer and can't imagine driving up north without it blaring on the radio.

cathartic for the soul.....

I'am in the Mood.

For a solo trip -- to me at least this song speaks theological deals --- I love it as the last song I hear (and running in my head) before I hit Gods country... It pushes me to be the best-- "something" pulls a string...



Love comes walking in,,,,,

Double post

Several, all of which bring me back to unrehearsed moments from my past that occurred usually just prior or as I'm preparing to leave the world and enter wilderness. One year this particular song kind of "grabbed" me and is a mainstay as I prep my fishing gear and think about all of the big ones waiting for me to arrive.

Fishing Song

I like that Fishing song. Never heard that one. When I'm going up for a solo I will always include some Ronnie Lane and his band Slim Chance from the mid 70's. The vibe is really cool on these four albums.

After leaving the group "The Faces" at their peak, Ronnie bought a farm in rural Wales England and became a sheep farmer for a bit. He outfitted an Air Stream trailer into a mobil studio and for this song ran cables and microphones from the barn to the back yard where the band sat in the grass and played it live.

Anymore For Anymore

Documentary on youtube about Ronnie Lane

A lot of old folk music. And Todd Snider

quote TomT: "Ronnie Lane and his band Slim Chance from the mid 70's. The vibe is really cool on these four albums. "

Agree, great vibe there. Being a bass player myself, I can't believe I hadn't heard of him before. Very interesting documentary and quite sad at the end.

I have about a 2000 mile drive each way to Atikokan so... Everything from the Black Keys to Mozart with a heavier load of late 60's and early 70's rock, intermixed with all kinds of folk music like Dar Williams and Mary Chapin Carpenter. This year I plan to end the drive with Paul Winter Consort's "Prayer for the Wild Things"

I love this one, Very Canoe Country... But I can't figure out how to make this a link... Sighs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snxfg8__o64

the 1,500 mile drive means a long playlist is always in order. I usually like to spend my share of the drive (12+ hours) in the saddle listening to podcasts but we have our traditions

Damn it feels Good to be a Gangster when we first see Duluth, and then Im on a Boat by the Lonely Island right before we lose cell service.

......neither are family friendly songs.

If we can get reception, we listen to WTIP (mostly).

One album that makes an appearance on just about every trip: Jerry Garcia/David Grisman - Not for kids only. An album composed of songs my grandmother heard as a child. Love it.

Hex

Without a doubt, Tubilar Bells. Yes, the theme from the Exorcist...it's just great long distance(for me, 950-1000 miles) listening music. Frankly, since it is 17 hours, we watch movies or listen to books a good part of the time.

Last morning by Dr Hook
Sitting on the dock by Ottis Redding

quote hexnymph: "If we can get reception, we listen to WTIP (mostly).


One album that makes an appearance on just about every trip: Jerry Garcia/David Grisman - Not for kids only. An album composed of songs my grandmother heard as a child. Love it.


Hex"

I LOVE that album... Great choice!!

quote Wally13: "Hans Solo,


Whoa...your post response about music is bringing back some good memories. I grew up in Connecticut and a favorite back in the 70's was Blue Oyster Cult. They were a band from neighboring Long Island and I saw them in concert many times. Also, I was a fan of the J Geils Band from Massachusetts ... u have to listen to "Wammer Jammer" with Magic Dick on harmonica ....was a 8 track favorite.



Now you got me thinking .... The Allman Brothers, Deep Purple, Procol Harum, ELO, Boston, Creedence (CCR), Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan .... I am ready to get out the old vinyl and crank up my old Bang and Ulfsen turntable, Marantz Reciever and Klipsh speakers and listen to THE WHO ...


Now I am showing my age...heck I turn 60 this year...ouch. Whammer Jammer Live - J Geils Band "

I remember seeing J Geils at Staples High School (Westport) in the early 70's... Very cool!!

quote DancesWithTrees: "Great thread, good suggestions.
(music from the Last Temptation of Christ). Forget the movie, but the music is perfect for setting the mood.
"

Forget the movie? Au contraire' ..............The only movie I have ever walked out of after it was over and was so stunned as to be speechless. Neither my wife nor I spoke a word for at least 1/2 hour.

As per driving up music I'm all over the map........But if push came to shove the last hour I would probably have the Gypsy Kings on.

Gipsy Kings

I know 2 cd's that I will play on my way this year. CD1 and CD2 from The Byrds Box Set. I've been on a huge Byrds jag lately. I knew about them but didn't own any of their stuff until I found this box set at the library. This band brings me back to simpler times. What a great sound they had on those early records.


The World Turns All Around Her

Add this to Goose's reply

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjLBXb1kgMo