A quick search of this web site has reminded me I have just about completed two years of covering this show. Let me tell ya it feels more like three years, but I'm not complaining. You may think this is a glamorous job... fancy radiophonic equipment, famous people and pre-release CD's out the ass, but no it ain't so.

Each Sunday I gather up my gear and head down Highway 93 to the Republic of Boulder. At first glance it seems to be a cool place. Lot's of hipsters and alienated youth wandering concrete strips... lost I think. But that's cool, I am no different. I'm searching for something too. My mind shifts to the fun zone about 4:55 pm as I begin setting up for the show which mostly entails wires, setting output volumes and queuing my recorder... I don't really know what that means, but I heard Jeff say technical stuff like that so I just go with it. Then the action commences... CD cases are flying and we pretend we can hear each other over the tunes blasting on the studio monitors.

My self appointed mission is to record the show's playlist. I am constantly asking for a CD so I can get the artist, song, label, and format. I wonder why I don't have them memorized by now. No good reason, I just don't.

Loki and Jeff are constantly strategizing...

"Hey, you know what would go great after this one? That Hank III tune we played last October right before his show at Blah blah da do Theater. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah! Lovesick, Broke & Driftin' is what I think."

"Let me see if I got that one... dam, it's laying on the end table next to the banana peel by the reel
to reel."

"Do you have it on your laptop?"

"Come on let's get something... we got 14 seconds to decide."

Between that they take a few phone calls just to relax!

Anyway, that goes on quite a bit, just to keep the show moving. Then breaks come and a mind explosion happens. The amount of music info crammed inside these two guys' minds is thrilling to witness. Artist names, years, this guy played with these guys, then started his own band in 19... da do. What was I doing when I should of been memorizing all this music stuff? I'm slowly catching up.

Here lately... and it took two years, I been paying more attention and redeveloping my own musical taste. Once per show you probably hear Loki comment, "Webmaster Jay is shaking in the corner... he needs a fix of FAST music." Well, it's true and I can say I've learned more about Rock n' Roll through Route 78 West than anywhere else and I appreciate more styles of music because it's all related... cross-pollinated. I've listened and wondered where all those riffs and lyrics come from? Lot's of times it develops very fast... and the artist dies young! Dylan and Neil Young go on, it seems, forever and there's new talent/style emerging each day. It's great to be involved in this show... helps me though
the weirdness.

So, enough blah do de da. The hot traks tonight included, "Truck Drivers Night Run Blues" by Joe Cannonball Lewis, "Diesel Smoke (Dangerous Curves)" by Doyle O Dell and "Jumping At Shadows" by Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.

My Mp3 player is at capacity with Drive By Truckers, Roy (the band), Jesse Sykes, Lucero's "That Much Further West," and "A Ghost Is Born," by Wilco. I managed to squeeze a few PRE-1970 Fleetwood Mac traks into the cracks between the cracks. Technology is great. Analog is a memory
to cherish.

Post show on Tom's patio people gazing and sippin' wholesome shakes.

Check out Camper Van Beethoven with Local 33 on Aug 5th at the Lions Lair.