July Playlist: Swing Me Way Down South

As we’ve written before, music has a special ability to transport us to a time or a place. Turn on a specific song and we’re suddenly post-Homecoming Dance twirling around Scout’s kitchen or in Zelda’s old Volvo driving to one of many quick recall matches in the cold midwinter. The South in particular has a long musical tradition, from spirituals to blues to jazz to Dixieland and the modern Americana Renaissance. We asked some good Southern folks living in NYC to tell us which songs remind them of home. This is what they said.

Cowboy Take Me Away: Dixie Chicks – Jennifer Harlan, from Louisville, Kentucky

Carolina in My Mind: James Taylor – Sarah Sheppard, from Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Deep in the Heart of Texas: Perry Como – Stephanie Walker, from Austin, Texas and Courtney Towner, from Amarillo, Texas.

Let’s Stay Together: Al Green – Candace Bryan, from Memphis, Tennessee

The Temptation of Adam: Josh Ritter – Katie Beth White, from Louisville, Kentucky

Clair de Lune: Claude Debussy – Kendra Ralston, from Louisville, Kentucky

Moonshine Lullaby:  Irving Berlin – Kelsey Goldman, from Louisville, Kentucky

Wagon Wheel: Old Crow Medicine Show – Patrick Cox, from Lebanon, Kentucky

Maybe It Was Memphis: Pam Tillis – Mary Lane Haskell, from Oxford, Mississippi

Neon Moon: George Strait – John Corrales, from Odessa, Texas

Stay A Little Longer: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys – from Amy Charnock, Webster, Texas

Boat Drinks: Jimmy Buffett – Katie Warden, from Deland, Florida

3rd Planet: Modest Mouse – Katie Levy, from Louisville, Kentucky

Bury Me With My Car: Ben Sollee – Luke, from Sevierville, Tennessee

Georgia on My Mind: Ray Charles – Joanna Futral, from Atlanta, Georgia

They All Ask’d for You: The Meters – Caroline Bologna, from New Orleans, Louisiana

Chicken Fried:  Zac Brown Band – Anita Badejo, from Mountain Home, Arkansas

As always, you can listen along here, or we’re on YouTube and Spotify.