Soon, I'll bid Chattanooga a temporary adieu in favor of sandier climes. While a chance to get out of the office will undoubtedly be fantastic, I'm faced with a bit of a conundrum in deciding what to listen to during the eight-hour trip to the coast.
The issue isn't lack of music. My library contains enough for a month of nonstop driving. What stumps me is determining the best road mix.
Any music lover who has undertaken a drive of any significant length can attest that this is an art form. There's a lot to consider, from what will keep you awake to what will soothe your traffic-snarled soul.
Here are some approaches I'm mulling over:
n Greatest hits - a collection of my favorite songs. This expedites the process tremendously, since you can just cherry-pick your way through your library, but it cheapens the exercise since there's little to no thought put into the selections. I used this approach when I drove to New Mexico a few years ago and wanted a change of pace before I was through Memphis. Never again.
n Best driving songs - songs made to be driven to, either because they're about cars or driving or because they inspire my internal lead foot.
This requires more mental acrobatics since you're sticking to a theme, but it's tremendously cliché. With hardly any effort, you can come up with the first couple of hours (AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," Deep Purple's "Highway Star," The Eagles' "Life in the Fast Lane," etc.). If I've got time, I'd prefer to put more thought into it.
n Match the setting - choose songs based on my anticipated mood, where I think I'll be or the time of day at various points along the way.
This one is more complicated but potentially vastly more rewarding. My cousin used this approach to great effect for a road trip to Bonnaroo from New Jersey by filling CDs with songs to fit the mood as dawn broke or when he was in various noteworthy locations. I've wanted to try this one out ever since, but the time commitment is bound to be significant.
Those are just a handful of possibilities. I also have tons of music I want to catch up on, and there are a number of concept albums like The Who's "Tommy" or Janelle Monae's fantastic "ArchAndroid" that could hold my interest by relating a story arc.
I'm at a loss, so if you have any suggestions, make them quick, I leave tomorrow.
E-mail Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com.