MRE13 / OUT HERE ON THIS HIGHWAY

(Steve Earle, 1986, photographer unknown)

Session No.13 for BrooklynRadio.Net
Download: "Out Here On This Highway"
Songs for late nights and open roads. Produced by LEE SANFORD and TOM GEHRING. This is our take on the country music and classic rock radio we heard growing up and like all Midnight Rockers shows this is also a vision for how we wish New York's FM dial would sound today. A station you could tune in to late-night somewhere down the Jersey turnpike at the start of a long road trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. A tank full of biodiesel, a 50 of the sour kind and the MRE playing loud on the box.

Recorded high above Grand Central at Tom's studio on a Friday night. Brought to you by Jameson and Buffalo Trace. This is a rockers ladies and gentlemen.

01. Led Zeppelin - "Tangerine" - Atlantic
From the essential Led Zeppelin III.

02. Carlon - "Cantaloupe" - Ropeadope
One of the best songs I've heard so far in 2009. My Morning Jacket and Fleet Foxes have opened the spaces for them to come in to with this exciting sound. Tommy Rockers with this discovery - the bass player works at his studio. But not for long I hope as this should be their year.
- LEE

03. Steve Earle - "Transcendental Blues" - Artemis
He sang the opening theme to The Wire and fans of the series may recognize him as the drug counselor in the last season but he's a legendary figure in American roots music. He has a career going back twenty years giving us songs that address war and politics and songs that deal with our more personal struggles. But it's not always records to make you think as he's made plenty of country rockers for when it's just time to drink.

Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris "Goodbye" live
Steve Earle and The Pogues recording session
"Copperhead Road" on Late Night With David Letterman

04. The Raconteurs - "It Ain't Easy" (BBC Sessions) - Third Man / XL
A David Bowie cover as a B-side to the 7" single of "Hands". Vinyl, digital, videos, touring, non-stop new bands, exciting ideas, music for the kids and the older heads, balancing creativity and smart business - Jack White kicks the music biz in the ass every year showing how it should be done.

The Raconteurs live

05. The White Stripes - "In The Cold, Cold Night - Third Man / XL
B-side to the "Elephant" 7" single.

06. The War On Drugs - "Taking The Farm" - Secretly Canadian

07. Kings Of Leon - "Knocked Up" (Lykke Li Vs Rodeo) - RCA
Kings Of Leon live at Glastonbury

08. My Morning Jacket - "Golden" - ATO

09. Fleet Foxes - "Blue Ridge Mountain" (La Blogotheque Version) - SupPop
The sound of their voices ricocheting around that empty room produces a beautiful chaos that has the kind of life a part of their album was missing. Blogotheque is proving vital to the new music scene and we're thankful for the stellar work they produce.
.

10. Bruce Springsteen - "Reason To Believe" (Live) - Columbia

11. Led Zeppelin - "How Many More Times" (BBC Sessions) - Atlantic
12. Carlon - "Have A Window" - Ropeadope

13. The Highwaymen - "Highwayman" - Columbia
I was eight years old when Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferon became The Highwaymen. My father was always into country music, particularly The Outlaws, so he was loving it when an album came out with four of his favorites in one group. At that age I didn't have much interest in music and didn't care about what was on when we were driving somewhere. But there was something about "Highwayman" that really struck me as a kid when I heard those iconic voices. Whenever we would be on a long car trip I'd make him play this song on repeat, over and over until I passed out asleep in the back seat of the Ram Charger. God bless him, he did it every time.

As I hit my teens in the early 90's I got deep into hip-hop and heard some of the best music the genre had to offer. Of course at that point I couldn't stand country music and the two of us weren't going to be vibing to Mobb Deep or KRS on road trips at anytime. But now I enjoy recordings by Merle Haggard or Townes Van Zandt as much as Illmatic. I'm looking forward to my next visit to south Georgia, take my dad for a ride in the pickup, put on Midnight Rockers and play him "Highwayman". Full circle, Pop.
- TOM GEHRING



The Outlaws (Waylon and Willie) "Good Hearted Woman"
The Highwaymen "They Killed Him"
Neil Young and Waylon Jennings
Townes Van Zandt documentary trailer
Merle Haggard

14. Tom Petty - "Crawling Back To You" - Warner Bros

15. Steve Miller Band - "Wild Mountain Honey" - Capitol