"An Audio Guide To Cross Country Travel" / Drew Kennedy

In addition to coming up with the best album title of the year, Drew Kennedy has recorded one of my favorite discs of the year. "An Audio Guide To Cross Country Travel" kicks off the journey in "Room #27" and rambles on in an Americana meets "Spoon River Anthology" roadtrip. Kennedy has written eleven short powerful character sketches including: "Headlights" (the mechanic who keeps the cars on the road and wonders what he is missing), "Miles From Anywhere" (the driver fears what he'll miss, like Kerouac and Cassady looking for kicks, if he stops moving) and "Rolling Around In The Bed" (a guitar case and and an ex-lover are... ). Drew's composed a moving homage to the road, the pleasures and the pain and "An Audio Guide To Cross Country Travel" is definitely a trip worth taking. You can listen to and purchase tracks from "An Audio Guide To Cross Country Travel" here.

File Under: Americana / intelligent Country (Drew proves that phrase does not have to be an oxymoron)

It is always a special treat to discover a disc and then catch the artist live. Recently, Drew Kennedy and Austin Collins shared the stage and played two long entertaining acoustic sets at The Oxford in Raleigh, NC. I would have made the thirty mile drive to catch either one of these guys. A double-bill? My lucky day! Two very talented singer-songwriters, the show started at 10PM and no cover. After the show, they both hung around and chatted with fans and converts. You can't ask for more than that. If you're lucky your town is on Drew's tour.

Bonus material: Drew and Austin's video tour of "South of the Border".