The Highway and I
Tales From My 40-Year Romance With The Road
By James Gordon
©2022
Pipe Street Publishing
Many of these stories appeared in a ‘Book-on-CD’ that I released a number of years ago. I have had many more adventures since, and I’ve become a real proponent of keeping the old-school book format alive, so I’ve got a new and improved, updated and expanded version for you here.
There is an album of ‘road songs’ to accompany this work. It’s free elsewhere on this bandcamp site.
Here’s the deal:
I’ve been a professional wandering minstrel for more than 40 years. Name a place. Yup. I’ve played there. All in all I’m pleased to say that the money’s been terrible, the driving has been endless, the food mediocre, the motels overpriced, and the glamorous lifestyle extremely overrated. I’ve loved every minute of it.
I still can’t sleep at night because I’m impatient to see what the next
day brings, and because there’s often a snoring bandmate in the next bed. There’s always a story. An adventure. Not a big rip-roaring adventure. A nice quirky little one (which is how I’m described in most of my reviews). Modest, understated, Canadian adventures. Always some moment, an interaction, a smile, a stop along the way: something that suddenly makes it all seem worthwhile; just like Mary Tyler Moore driving into Minneapolis .
I’ve fashioned some sort of career by sprinkling song dust on these
moments and singing them every night to complete strangers. The magic part of my job, the thing that keeps me doing this, is that sharing these
stories transforms those strangers into friends within minutes. I’ve written down some of my favourite tales for you here. I hope you enjoy them.
See you along the road somewhere.
James
Here's me reading a couple of them! youtu.be/JthdxVoHBC8