Pennsylvania Highway Blues (2020 Version)

Robert James

Another song from The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project. This one originally came from my failed 2010 RPM Challenge. I liked this one at the time, and the riff is fun to play. The lyrics are about a very stressful drive from Massachusetts to Florida, specifically a late night through a drunk trucker paradise in Pennsylvania. I think the real reason I have a soft spot for this one is it was the first song I worked on after my wife and I bought our first house. I recorded guitar parts with an amplifier for the first time in years. It was kind of a life milestone.

The guitars are all Gibson ES-335. The heavy fuzz tracks and the middle eight section used a Fender Bassbreaker 15. The leads and the lighter fuzz parts in the verses used a Vox AC15.

Verse 1
Taking a ride out on stressful highway #1
gotta keep that wheel steady until the morning comes

Verse 2
Stay in my lane and hope that everyone else does too
See them drift and sway tell me what am I gonna do

Chorus
can’t see anything to my front or to my back
They all push it way too fast and I just know we’re gonna crash