The mountains are a great place to get a fresh breath of air or get lost in the woods. Like any vacation you need the right songs to fully immerse yourself in the experience and to always remember your adventure by. These songs will instantly take you somewhere breathtaking.
Down in the Valley - The Head and The Heart
One of my favorite songs of all time, this song creates this feeling of wandering and longing. "All of the places I ain't ever been to but down in the valley with whiskey rivers these are the places you will find me hidin'; these are the places I will always go." The Head and The Heart always create a sense of home in their songs whether it's in a distant place or with the people you love and I think that's what adventures are all about finding a sense of home in new places with your close friends and family beside you.
2. Ends of the Earth - Lord Huron
I really do love this song, because it waits for nobody. I consider myself very impulsive and always ready for something new and Lord Huron captures this feeling perfect. Ends of the Earth is all about taking the jump and going to far away places and trying new things and not really waiting for anybody. The song does hope that the one person in their life they can count on will follow them along this adventure, but is willing to continue without them. My favorite lyric from this one is, "What good is livin' a life you've been given if all you do is stand in one place."
3. Cleopatra - The Lumineers
A well-known classic by the popular, folk-pop band The Lumineers - if this band knows how to do anything, it's how to tell a beautiful story in only a few minutes. What I love about the story-telling in a Lumineers song is that the story isn't really relatable in any personal terms, but it still strikes you in your soul and you can feel the emotion from each song. The Lumineers are my favorite for any road trip as it keeps my mind occupied with different tales and makes the drive seem much shorter.
4. Sloom - Of Monsters and Men
I think anyone can agree that Of Monsters and Men is a fantastical band. Their albums create worlds and their songs create tales. I chose Sloom, because I feel like it's an underrated song of theirs and it's such a relaxing, yet very meaningful song. This song will only make your time in the mountains magical and epic.
5. Iffy - Caamp
Iffy is a song with pull, the second this song comes on I'm immediately submerged into this song and can't help but to sing along. I really wanted to put one of their songs from their new album By & By, which you guys should still check out anyways, but Iffy will always be one of my favorites from them. The flow of this song is like a river that's taking you a long for the ride, and creates a beautiful story about a heart-broken man with mistakes made along the way, and I think we can all relate to at times.
6. Underneath a Mountain - The Strumbellas
I know I said that the first song was one of my favorite songs of all time, but hear me out, The Strumbella's Underneath a Mountain is another all-time favorite for me. If you want a true adventure in a song, a song literally made for being deep in the mountains, this is the song for you. What I love about this song is that it goes beyond a physical adventure, but more introspective of your own thoughts and experiences. The Strumbellas honestly feel like they have the mindset of an old pioneer traveling out west with nothing but a horse and only a bag of their belongings and I just love how immersive to the adventure their music is.
7. Sleep on the Floor - The Lumineers
There's really no song that's going to tell you to leave your house and go see the world like Sleep on the Floor. The Lumineers is back on this playlist with the perfect song for traveling."'Cause if we don't leave this town
We might never make it out." Sleep on the Floor is the first song I always play when I'm driving to a new place. I feel like it really preps me for the trip and allows me to feel more in the moment when I arrive. I, personally, think it's so important to get out of your hometown and see and explore new things/places, especially once you get to an age where you can start to do things on your own and find your ground through new experiences.
8. The Stable Song - Gregory Alan Isakov
Gregory Alan Isakov's songs are like a breath of fresh air. Even though this song is meant to be a collection of songs for a mountain adventure, to me, this song is very reminiscent of the midwest. When I listen to this song I think of a cool spring day, fields that stretch for miles, and drives down back country roads.
Carolina Low - The Decemberists
When I look at Ansel Adam's photos of Yosemite with white peaks contrasting with dark trees or photos of lawless Wild West towns that are now left abandoned, I hear Carolina Low playing in the background. The Decemberist's created a song that literally transports you to an old ghost town that's settled somewhere in the mountains. This band captured that old-time folk sound that is executed so beautifully and makes any vacation feel like a Wild West movie.
10. Shovels & Dirt - The Strumbellas
Yes, I'm putting another Strumbellas song on here. Shovels & Dirt, much like the song before it carries that old-western folk sound. Not a complicated tune, but one that's enveloped in emotion and dread. This particular song, much like other Strumbellas songs, carries a contemplative theme of internal darkness and a grim outlook on life. What I love about this band is their ability to create the right kind of folk music for road trips while creating songs that are self-reflective about mental struggles and challenges we often feel in life. The struggles of hardships and pain we have to often go through to continue and live our lives.
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