I wasn’t able to hit any shows this past weekend, as I was visiting a friend out of town. We caught up over a few drinks and a good time was had by all, but I must say that the drive to Windsor is pretty damn boring. Thankfully my girlfriend and I crammed our rental car full of CDs, so at least we had some good tunes to give the 4 hour drive some pizazz.

Speaking of which, I threw in a couple of old mixes I made years ago and was instantly reminded of some great songs I’d forgotten about. Not only did it give me the chance to renew a past fondness for all things Lemon Jelly and Solomon Burke, but there was some excellent Canadian stuff tossed in there as well. Case in point, the Jimmy Swift tune “Now They Will Know We Were Here” proved to be an excellent traveling ditty and Royal City’s “I Am a Raw Youth” is always a great sing along anthem.

That said, if I had to choose I’d say that Entire Cities‘ new album, Deep River, won the coveted status of “official soundtrack to our road-trip” hands down. There’s just so much to like on this album. Personally, I got a kick out of blaring the fantastic (and profane) chorus to “Dancing With My Brother” (previously featured here) in a crowded service centre parking lot. Of course, the entire album is more than worth cranking—I know we played “Coffee” over and over throughout the trip.

As for Windsor itself, there’s really not much to say. Downtown was packed for an air race over the river facing Detroit, but we didn’t really stay long enough to get a true feel for the atmosphere—just turned around and popped in a few more CDs.

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Entire Cities - Coffee

Jimmy Swift Band - Now They Will Know We Were Here

Royal City - I Am a Raw Youth

Catch Entire Cities at the Cadillac Lounge on June 14 as part of NXNE. In the meantime, grab a digital copy of Deep River here.