Being an athlete growing up you learn many lessons. You learn even more when you are an athlete that regularly travels far for games. One of the simplest lessons that I have learned that has also been one of the most important to me away from the field, is to take care of your headphones. Yes that’s right, take care of whatever you use to listen to music on the way to competition. There have been many times that I have lost or forgotten my earbuds on the way to a game and I paid for it. It sucks to have to go on a long journey without being able to listen to the music that pumps you up and gets you game ready.

Everyone has their own favorite genre. Some choose to listen to the constantly upbeat sounds of rap music or its calmer cousin R&B, while others like to listen to the various subgenres of rock. My personal taste in music is a close relative to country music. I enjoy folk music.

Folk has the same twang of the banjo as country but can be more gentle or earthy feeling depending on what subgenre you are listening to.

All that being said, what is my preferential travel playlist?

My favorite band is an independent Irish group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The John Byrne Band travels all over the United States and even invites fans on a tour of Ireland every year. The band’s frontman and namesake, John Byrne, has music rooted deep in his genes. His songwriting ability has been compared to that of Bob Dylan and the band itself can easily be said to have been influenced by bands like the Chieftains and the Pogues.

So yes, my playlist contains many of their original songs.

To complement the works of The John Byrne Band, I have some music from their influencer, The Pogues. My favorites from them are probably the same as everyone elses, but I am still going to list and link them at the bottom of this article.

One of the other two bands I listen to also hail from Philadelphia. Jamison Celtic Rock is a cover band that put a celtic spin on many of today’s popular songs and regularly play oldies favorites like Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley.

The fourth band are the runners up from the 2009 All Ireland Talent Show. They currently have three CD’s out and released their original album in the summer of 2015. Their hit single Toora Loora Lay is one of my all time favorite songs.

So below you will find my typical playlist. It’s very unique, and that is one of the reasons I wanted to share it with you all. Take a listen, enjoy, and let me know what songs you liked most in the comments! Thanks!!

• Na Fianna
  • The Rocky Road To Dublin
  • Toora Loora Lay
• The John Byrne Band
  • To Patsy
  • Already Gone
  • In Your Savior’s Place
  • Its A Gas That Makes You Laugh
  • The Parting Glass
  • The Immigrant and The Orphan
• The Pogues
  • Thousands Are Sailing
  • Fiesta
  • Mountain Dew
  • If I Should Fall From Grace With God
• Jamison Celtic Rock
  • Devil Went Down To Georgia / Shippin’ Up To Boston
  • Can’t Help Falling In Love / Star Of The County Down