Driving to Salt Lake City Soundtrack

By Jack Rafferty

Ever since we moved away, my partner and I have been traveling to Salt Lake City often to visit family and friends. It always takes a certain amount of strength on my end to brave the traffic of the city after getting so used to being in a rural area, but it is something I’m getting better with. We usually take turns on choosing music, but we mostly stuck to 1970s tunes this time around. 

Fleetwood Mac. 

I’ve been back on a Fleetwood kick lately. Fleetwood Mac has always been one of those groups where I have adored a handful of their songs, but then never gone much deeper into their discography beyond Rumours and their self-titled. I would like to give more of their music the time of day, but that will have to wait for another time. There is nothing like “Dreams” coming on at the right moment, with the right landscape passing you by.

Dire Straits. 

“Sultans of Swing” has always been a song that I enjoyed a lot. I hadn’t listened to much Dire Straits beyond that. So, it was nice to take the time during the drive to explore a couple of their albums. I listened to their self-titled and Communique. The melancholy, spacy sound of their bluesy rock was great to just lean back and drive to, without much thought other than the road. There were definitely tracks on both albums that didn’t grab me as much as I would have liked, but overall, I’m glad I gave them a listen, and am looking forward to listening to more of their work. 

Stealers Wheel, “Stuck in the Middle With You.”

I’ve been obsessed with this song ever since seeing Reservoir Dogs. I’m sure that is a common experience for folks around my age. This one is up there in terms of my favorite driving songs. I used to go off roading with friends up around Midway or out in the west desert, and this one was always so much fun to bounce down rocky roads at 2 AM. 

Jefferson Airplane.

There is a quote by Hunter S. Thompson, “on some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.” This always made me think specifically of the song “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane, which is fitting, as I know Thompson enjoyed this band. There are times when certain tracks from Surrealistic Pillow come on while driving, where I cannot help but press down harder on the gas, coasting toward some unknown abandon. 

The Velvet Underground.

I found out during the drive that my partner had never heard of The Velvet Underground, which astounded me, so we took some time and listened to some tracks from Loaded and their debut. I find it remarkable that I still have yet to listen to anything that sounds like Velvet Underground. I suppose it is a testament to their uncompromising avant garde sound and style, along with Lou’s poetic lyrics. 

Rory Gallagher.

I’ve admittedly listened to far too little of Rory Gallagher’s music, and I need to start changing that. We listened to a few of his songs on the way up to Salt Lake City, but it was during a point in the drive where the guitar passages just weren’t doing it for my partner, so we switched it up. I really loved listening to the song “I Fall Apart” while we did listen, though. I am looking forward to diving into his records with more of an attention span soon.