I'm so bummed. Later this week I was supposed to be hopping on a jet plane to head down to North Carolina to watch our niece play softball. Unfortunately, the tournament they were playing in got cancelled (it's a long story), so last night I had to spend the evening scrambling to cancel all of the little pieces that make up a trip. Thankfully, we ended up getting pretty much all our money back minus about $50, which in the grand scheme of things isn't too bad.
Likewise, much of the West is also blank. With the exception of our trip out to Colorado a few years ago, we just haven't had much of a chance to explore that area aside from Nevada.
I took the photo above one morning when we were on our way home from Vermont. We had a connecting flight in Atlanta, so I'd like to think maybe this shot was maybe taken somewhere over North Carolina.
This post isn't really about North Carolina though. If you have been following along, you know that I have been taking a musical road trip of the United States for my #threetunetuesday posts sponsored by 
Idaho actually turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it was going to be to find songs that have the name of the state in the title or lyrics of the song. Remember, it has to be the actual name of the state. It can't be a reference to a place in the state like "Boise". That would have been much too easy.
Of course, if you are like me, when I say Idaho, your mind automatically goes to one specific song. In fact, it has been stuck in my head since I realized Idaho was going to be the theme of this week.
Yep, that would be "Private Idaho" by none other than the B-52's. It's pretty clear they weren't the best lyricists in the world. In fact, I would argue they went more for rhymes than anything that made sense, but they were actually a quite talented group. Obviously, the females in the group were talented. Songs like "Love Shack" and "Roam" are proof of that, however, while unconventional, the male singers voice was pretty impressive too. Plus, they just had some great harmonies. I don't really know what the song "Private Idaho" is actually about, but it's a catchy toon with a nice beat and a boppy hook.
Next, we have the song "Idaho" from Train. It was one of their earlier works before the reinvented themselves for the third or fourth time. I actually don't remember this song, but I am pretty sure I had this album because I either ripped it from the Internet or someone burned a copy of it for me. This song is from a time when Train was more of a blues rock band than the pop rock band that we have ended coming to know.
This self titled album is actually before they dropped "Drops of Jupiter", but it does have the hit "Meet Virginia" on it. In fact, you might end up hearing Train again when we finally make it to the "V's"...
Sharing this song actually has me wanting to dig back into the earlier stuff by Train. It was actually pretty good and resonates well with me being a guy who spent his late teen and early adult years in the 90's. Plus, as I said, it's a bit heavier and harder than what we have come to expect from Train. I got the chance to see Train twice (I think) in concert and they always put on a good show.
Finally, I'm going to share another song that I can say without a doubt I have never heard before. Despite the theme of this post, the reason I am sharing this song is more about who is singing it verus what he is actually singing about. I remember a long time ago I was watching something on PBS and there happened to be a barbershop quartet on the show. They were singing a song called Istanbul (Not Constantinople). For obvious reasons, the song got stuck in my head and I happened to be singing it in front of my brother in law who immediately recognized it from a cover he had heard of the song by a band called "They Might Be Giants". He bought me the CD of their album Flood for Christmas one year and I literally wore it out.
The reason that is important, is because John Linnell is one of the singers in They Might Be Giants. This song "Idaho" is from is album called "State Songs". They Might Be Giants are a quirky band with some catchy toons if you can give them a chance. It might take a couple listens through to really appreciate them, but they are pretty cool.
Anyway, there you go. Idaho is now in the rearview. Next week we turn the car (or plane) towards Illinois I think. Wish me luck with that one!
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