Traveling Music
In another hour or so, I’ll be back on the road again, headed home to Nashville in my new-to-me car. So rather than trying to come up with any kind of deep topic, let’s talk about what we like to listen to in the car.
I’ve loaded my MP3 player with music. Anyone who’s read the blog regularly or read Stand-In Groom can probably guess what kind of music and what artists I have loaded on it: Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Steve Tyrell, John Barrrowman, Harry Connick Jr., Vic Damone, Bobby Darrin, James Darren, and so on.
But the music is only a backup. You see, on my way back to Hot Springs from Shreveport Sunday, I started listening to an audiobook—one that I’ve never “read” before, which is the first time I’ve been able to do that in at least six months (because, yay, I’m not having to “write” in the car this time—I finally got Love Remains turned in on Saturday).
Wanting something different, something with which I was completely unfamiliar, I chose Deanna Raybourn’s newest release, The Dead Travel Fast. I’ve tried listening to a Deanna Raybourn book before while traveling (Silent in the Grave), but I gave up after a couple of chapters when I just wasn’t getting into it. This story immediately drew me in. Of course, it helps that from the first description of the “hero” (?), Andrei Dragulescu, I pictured him as Richard Armitage as he looked on the last season of Robin Hood with long hair. After listening to the first three and a half hours of it Sunday, there should be just about enough of that book left to get me all the way back to Nashville (about six hours).
What do you listen to in the car on a road trip? Or what do you wish you could listen to in the car on a road trip (if you can’t because you have kids who must be entertained)?
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KayeDacus.com 
I used to listen to audiobooks but after Frank Muller had his accident and couldn’t work I stopped really listening to them. The man had such a talent for it.
As for driving music I put an eclectic mix from pop to rock to country to Christian on my BlackBerry and let it shuffle. It’s usually rock heavy. 🙂
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Depends on how far I’m travelling, how my throat’s feeling, etc. If I’m in a singing mood, I load up on Selah, because I know all their songs and can belt it out. OR, if we’re working on a musical, I’ll have that one in for learning purposes. If I’m NOT in the mood to sing, I listen to a good romance or mystery audio-book (when I remember to check one out of my own library), or find NPR. I heard the most interesting interview on NPR last time I traveled – they interviewed the creators of “Beatles Rock Band.” Seriously. And then there was the story on bats flying into windmills in windmill farms in the Northern U.S. . . . I think I’ll stick to Selah . . . 🙂
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I always listen to audio books on road trips. We do a lot of overnight driving when we visit family in New York (from Charlotte, NC) and audio books keep me awake like nothing else. My husband is the opposite, he claims they put him to sleep. I put them on my ipod – usually 2 or 3 in case I’m not getting into my first choice.
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My husband and I have taken a couple road trips in the past couple years and our favorite books to listen to are his Narnia books, which are each read by a different famous British actor. We’ve done Prince Caspian, which was read by Lynn Redgrave (not my favorite) and Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which was read by Derek Jacobi, who we both love from the Cadfael series on PBS. I’m not usually a big audio book fan, but the actors for those are so good it’s easy to get into them all over again.
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We have tried listening to books on tape before. I think it was a Janette Oke book, but I am not sure which one. I loved all of her books that I read, but for some reason books on tape just do not work for me. I can’t concentrate enough if I am not reading it myself. I think my husband got more out of it then I did.
Anyway, I am as contemporary christain as they come with music. I love Casting Crowns, Third Day, Chris Tomlin, Toby Mac, and the list goes on and on.. That is what I stick with, however I am a big Kris Allen fan and listen to his CD often. Sorry to disappoint but that is my list.
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Jerry, hubby, never thought he’d enjoy audio books. I won him over, he is an avid fan now. In fact, I think we have exhausted the collection at our Kingston Springs library. Our favorites were Joel Rosenberg’s The Last Jihad, The Last Days, The Ezekiel Option, The Copper Scroll, and Epicenter. We also like Patricia Cornwell’s books about foresnic m.d. Kay Scarpetta.
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Hi everyone! This is my first post, but since I used to take many road trips this topic was of interest. For a long road trip I like anything with a good beat that will keep me awake (and that I can sing and car dance with). My MP3 is loaded with some of everything including Michael Buble, Harry Connick, Jr., Steppenwolf, Brad Paisley, Jace Everett, to Irish travelling music, contemporary Christian music, etc, etc. I tried listening to books on tapes, but found that if it is a good story I get too involved and that’s just not good when I should be paying attention to the highway.
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Kaye- What about Michael Buble? He is very similar to all the guys you listed; I love his music! I would love to see him in concert one day. He will be coming to my city on his current tour, but the tickets are $75-100 for nosebleed seats. I will have to wait for another tour and/or another city. I saw one of his shows on PBS and it looked like it would be a good time.
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I saw him in concert a couple of years ago—definitely worth going if you can get tickets (or afford them—I don’t remember them being much over $60 for second tier in the Arena here). He puts on a really good show and I like some of his music, but not enough to have more than just a few of his songs, which I downloaded from Amazon.
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