What makes a song a good road trip song? This is something Katy has been musing over for several years now.

What better person to ask than a musician who has crossed the country on tour numerous times?

This week, Katy sits down with musician and podcaster John Roderick to talk about the allure of the American road trip, as well as what you should listen to while you are doing it.

John talks about his experience hitchhiking across the US as a recent high school graduate, and even hopping on a freight train, and how it sparked a love for overland travel. Now that his band touring days are over, he has begun taking road trips again, this time with his 90-year-old mother and his 12-year-old daughter.

He also describes how, as a native Alaskan, the continental US often felt like a foreign country growing up and how that was one of the things that encouraged him to begin exploring the country. He also shares his simple strategy for introducing both order and randomness into a road trip, as well as taking you places you wouldn't otherwise go.

John Roderick is the co-host of Roderick on the Line and Omnibus with Ken Jennings. He is the lead singer and songwriter for The Long Winters and has also toured with the band Harvey Danger. You can find him on his website, Instagram, Facebook, and Threads.

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