the appalachian trail music (playlist at bottom of page)

alright. I put these in a quite random order, as these songs weren't making a playlist in my head. I walked alot with an actual mp3 player, at least until shenandoah national park. when it broke during a massive heat wave. i sat and cried about it, since it had been a huge source of motivation for me, climbing up mountains and such. (the thought '3 more months without music? what the hell am i gonna do?') but i winded up most of the rest of the trail without it; i had plenty of stuff in my head to sing out loud when i felt lonely, in addition to plenty of company up north and some time to think through some stuff i may have not really wanted to think through.... hence the normal background noise that music had served already up to that point.
so. here goes. all of these songs have a little story behind them on the Appalachian Trail, it's what makes them special enough to put together for my own amusement....this is how I remember.

What a Beautiful Morning....I put this on here because on beautiful mornings, we would sing this. Moccasin and Enoch got me started singing it, (KBomb loved to sing 'Good Morning America How Are Ya' in the AM) and one day, Enoch asked me what the next lyrics were after 'it's a beautiful morning...' (that's as far as we got every morning..we would just keep repeating it)... and I actually remembered 'i think i'll go outside for a while'. after that, i lost it....

Diamonds....hell, i wish i had diamonds on the soles of my shoes. it may make rock hopping that much easier. If i had to pick an overall theme for the vibe of my thru hike, i would choose the album 'Graceland' by Paul Simon. The reason is I heard it a whole lot for some weird reason. And everybody bonded over it; I went to Mike from CT's birthday party and we went from listening to Iron Maiden to this; telling me that, and I quote, "Paul Simon shits gold, man. I have everything he's made." I about fainted. Sprout put on 'Graceland' on the best zero day EVER in Kent (while we were playing in the pool...that's right, hanging out in the pool), she also put it on for me at her house post Katahdin, in NC. Moccasin kept me entertained by having this album on his mp3 player and breaking out my lil speakers, we would chill by the fire at the shelter, listening to Paul Simon. It was awesome. So 'Diamonds' is the one song to pay homage to that vibe. I felt it was appropriate, talking about footwear and all.

Spinning Wheel....'what goes up, must come down....spinning wheel, got to go round'. this became lodged in my head walking up the mountains in Georgia. They were just totally up and down, so as much as it totally sucked to walk up those mountains, I knew I could just run downhill. It became good advice when the rain rolled in, further north. It's gotta get better than this....spinning wheel, you know.....

Work to Do.....This was stuck in my head EVERY MORNING for a LONG TIME on the AT. I kept singing as I would take my tent down that 'i haaaaad woooork to dooooo'. FINALLY, finally, one day in New Hampshire, in Glencliff, the owner (who was a professional stage hand in new england...i should call him..) had this on CD. I listened to it at least 5 times. Circ, Freefall, CC Ryder, Neon, Wookie, Enoch, Moccasin, KBomb....all them folk....all heard me sing this one a few times. Walking through the woods by myself and bored through New Jersey I sang it loud too.

I Know What I Know....this song is always stuck in my head alot too. the 'woop woop's are so great....Mike played this one for me in his car, carting Bonzo and I back to the trail in Massachusetts. (why CT was the party vortex...we actually crossed into Mass and were brought back to Falls Church and Salisbury, home of the first wine party) I remember jumping up and down in the pool in Kent to this one too.

New Speedway Boogie...I love the Grateful Dead. I love Jerry. I prefer the album version of this song, really....but this one takes me baaaaack to my early backpacking career, when Greenwood would pop on 'Workingman's Dead' first thing in the morning on the way to the trailhead. It's the Appalachain album....I think thier finest. So naturally, this would flavor my hike quite a bit. While in Virginia, Greenwood and I came across some section hikers that were HUGE deadheads. the guy had a personalized license plate that said 'ezy wnd', reference to another song on the album. Yup, we got some trail magic'd that night. Also, at the Doyle Hotel in PA, drinking in the only air conditioned room in the building, i checked out the jukebox....(of course...checked out with five bucks) and low and behold, i played this. Cause 'i spent a little time on the mountain, i spent a little time on the hill'. I remember walking in the rain in Maine and singing 'one way or another, something's got to give'.
I even burned this album for Moccasin when I got home from the trail. I hope he digs it.

Love Invincible....aw man. the first time I heard this song was at yoga class in Boone, with Miss Kelly. (I don't think I ever told her this, but her mix was incredible to do yoga to)...and Michael Franti sized dominoes fell after that. Total fan. Great shows in A-ville and Denver. We--elllll, sad that this happened two days before she left us, but Sprout and I bonded over music at Upper Goose Pond shelter wine party. I had my lil speakers, she had a lil mp3 player, and BOOM, instant party was made. Add wine and 25 thru hikers on a saturday night. Great night in trail memory. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my entire life. Seriously. SO FUN. anyhoo, the day before she left, she entrusted her lil mp3 player to me, so as to keep that beautiful Sprout energy fortifying us for our journey to the Big K. i listened to it for a while....I listened to this one when I climbed Stratton Mtn., which the view in the tower furreal took my breath away (prettiest spot I had seen since VA). Then...I broke this one too. I don't even know what happened, but the powers that be said a collective 'nope'.

Funky Space Reincarnation...I downloaded this album of Marvin Gaye's right before I left for the trail, so I hadn't really listened to it that much until I was actually OUT there. I listened to this on ALOT from the climb out of NOC to about Bland, VA. I would throw it on repeat when I felt like I wanted to dance a little. Which, if you know me, is all of the time.

Superstrut....a quick note on this playlist service...i get what i get. there isn't that much Deodato floating around out there for free. But in my record collection, he's my favorite. I bought a vinyl of his in Boone at Green Eggs and Jam for 3 dollars. HOLY GROOVE. it was awesome, so I went back and bought more. he got me up that climb from Dragon's Tooth to McAfee's Knob and Tinker Cliffs, but not this song in particular...'September 12' is the name of the serious jam that was. But I played this song in particular in Monson, at the bar with the upstairs hostel, while we were playing Parchesi, putting a puzzle together....that crappy rainy night.

Hot Fun....again, I really wanted 'You Can Make It If You Try', which was always in my head when I felt totally like I was an idiot for hiking the AT. But Hot Fun I used to sing real loud in CT...I know Team Phenom with Chops and Sprout caught me a few times belting this one out.

Runnin'...I love Earth Wind and Fire. This is quite possibly one of my favorite all purpose songs, for cleaning, driving, singing, running, and of course, hiking. I listened to this one all of the time before the demise of the mp3 player.....it got me up Testnatee Gap in Georgia. The one that looked like a V on the elevation profile.

Another Day...Jamie. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Jamie. My future husband. I think, honestly, now....that if he ever met me, he would LOVE me. We harmonize so well in my car. Anyhoo. After Shenandoah National, it was so friggin HOT we zeroed for 2 days in Front Royal, at the swank Comfort Inn. (where Catfish showed me the ropes of Facebook)...anyways, I had been a Jamie Lidell fan for a WHILE....but alas, the brits NEVER come to america, so I had not seen him play before. Just heard a few interviews and his albums. And I fell head over heels for him. So reading the USA Today (complementary, you know) I saw he was going to be on Conan O'Brien that night on tv-coincidence-and stayed up all night to watch him sing. And he sang this. And after that, so did I. Greenwood gets props....he kept waking me up so I could watch it. A few times I was so tired I was like 'fuck you', but he kept annoying me. it was at 1am, i usually got up at 6 to beat the heat....i definitely wasn't used to staying up until 1.


more in part two.....the good stuff is coming up...you have to allow me to explain why I have Yonder Mountain and Les Mis soundtrack in there....;)