I promised some of you gentle readers that I would not even attempt to describe our Podunk to West Coast road trip without setting the musical stage. Our family members have what could generously be described as a broad range of eclectic tastes in music, none of which are completely compatible. Some of which are offensive.

Road trips — especially 13 hour road trips — beat you down. And this is the only explanation I offer for promoting Iron Chef’s playlist first. But I have to say, his decision to put a playlist together that was the musical equivalent of peeing on all 4 tires, had a certain appeal to me.

  I’ll spare you the reaction to each and every song, but if you travel around with kids and get a chance to spin Janis Joplin’s Mercedes Benz, do it. It’s fun.

1. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)                     The Jimi Hendrix Experience
2. Lover You Should’ve Come Over      Natalie Maines
3. Fever (Live)     Bob Weir & Rob Wasserman
4. Fire    Langhorne Slim & The Law
5. Black Is the Color              The Dry Spells
6. Sao Paulo         Deadstring Brothers
7. Tip of My Tongue (Live)     The Civil Wars
8. Golden State (Live)               Eddie Vedder & Natalie Maines
9. Walkin’        I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House
10. Down In the Flood        The Derek Trucks Band
11. I Had Me a Girl               The Civil Wars
12. Supersoaker      Kings of Leon
13. Slow It Down (Live)       The Lumineers
14. Twenty Miles      Deer Tick
15. Mercedes Benz         Janis Joplin
16. Never Had Nobody Like You      M. Ward (feat. Zooey Deschanel)
17. Foxey Lady        The Jimi Hendrix Experience
18. Raining in Paris           The Maine
19. River Water (Live & Unplugged)        Moon Taxi
20. Beer    HighFive

Next stop: Oregon Coast Here We Come — the Unofficial Soundtrack Take 2 w/ Liner Notes