Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
Joining me once again on the show is John Laurie,
drummer for Tantric. John, welcome back to the
show, my friend. Ah, so happy to be back, as
always. You were here all the way back on Episode
9, the ultimate greatest rock drummer's playlist,
as well as... Episode 40, the ultimate underrated
drummer's playlist. But tonight, for your three
-peat on the show, we're pivoting away from a
drum -centric topic, unless you use a steering
wheel as a makeshift drum kit, and I am very
guilty of that. Tonight, our topic is the ultimate
hard rock road trip playlist. So, John, as someone
who spends a lot of time on the road with Tantric,
What were you looking to bring to the musical
mix this evening? Oh, this was hard because number
one, it's not drum centered, as you said. And
that's a little strange. I'm like, I'm going
to have to pick songs that I enjoy listening
to while I drive, but also pick songs that maybe
I was trying to go with the not so on the nose
thing. But then I ended up defaulting to a lot
of songs that had to do with driving because
I'm like, that's a great song and it gets me
amped to drive. And full disclosure. When you're
kind of in a touring rock band, I feel like I
listen to so much rock music that sometimes it's
really the, this would be the driving jazz playlist.
If this was what I actually listened to on the
road, it would be a lot of jazz. But here we
are and we're talking about rock music. And these
were songs that I remember having my first car
and just blasting these songs while I was driving
for the first time with that first feeling of
freedom. That's this. Awesome. And my approach
was very similar to yours. You don't realize
just how many songs there are about road trips
and driving and cars. It's a pretty popular topic,
even when you go all the way back to the 50s
and 60s. There is no shortage of these type of
songs. However, there was an outlier of songs
that I put at the bottom of the list that are
songs I love to rock out to when I'm driving,
but have absolutely nothing to do. with being
behind the wheel of anything. So I'll be interested
to see, because I've got a list of over 40 songs
right now, which ones I pick and choose from.
My list is right around 30, so I'm kind of up
there with you. And I think... You know, there
are songs you get super amped about while you
drive and they kind of force your foot to push
down on the gas just a little bit and you don't
even realize it. So I kind of went with those
as well. And I also picked a lot of songs that
were more modern than towards the 80s realm or
the 90s where we started to see bands get a little
bit more aggressive with their approach. So,
yeah, it's going to be super interesting. Very
excited. Well, let's get down to business tonight.
As I mentioned at the top of the show, John and
I will be curating a hard rock road trip mixtape,
and we'll use the old cassette deck approach.
John, as my special guest, will begin side A
with his first song choice, and then I'll add
a song that I feel best follows up that choice.
We'll then flip -flop choosing songs until we've
mapped out 10 songs for side A. We'll then give
our mixtape a proverbial flip and we'll map outside.
Be only this time, I'll kick things off with
John choosing second. Our overall goal for the
episode is to craft the best hard rock road trip
mixtape possible through only 20 songs. At the
end of the show, you can take our conversation
to the next level by visiting the episode page
at myweeklymixtape .com to give our final mixtape
a listen via the embedded playlist. And if you
like what you're hearing on the show, you can
help me out by either telling a friend, leaving
the show a five -star review wherever you're
tuning in, or becoming a Patreon mixtape or a
patreon .com forward slash my weekly mixtape.
There you can enjoy ad -free episodes of the
show, become a future guest, and so much more.
And a few of the Patreon mixtapers chimed in
with the songs they would use to kick off a hard
rock road trip mixtape. So let's see what songs
have them flirting with 90 in a 55. Mike Daly
chimed in with Rage Against the Machines' Sleep
Now in the Fire to set the tone for the rest
of the trip. David Owens chimed in saying ACDC
deserves some recognition in this mix. And he
went with It's a Long Way to the Top if you want
to rock and roll. David Lee Smith chimed in with
Badlands Hard Driver. Sean Goff chimed in saying
the first time he heard this song and band, he
was on a road trip with his uncle in his Thunderbird
with the T -Tops down. And that track would be
Tesla's Modern Day Cowboy. Philip Bergman chimed
in with Finger Eleven's Paralyzer. Chad LaMassa
chimed in with Dead Sarah's Weatherman saying
Suzy Medley's opening riff is absolutely amazing.
Sticking with that opening riff theme, Tom Hutchinson
said the same about Ted Nugent's Snake Skin Cowboys.
And finally. Seeker chimed in with Iron Maiden's
The Writing on the Wall, saying the opening sounds
almost country or desert rock, and the song as
well as the video have a lot of allusions to
riding, traveling, and questing. Once again,
if you'd like to chime in on a future My Weekly
Mixtape episode, you could join the Patreon mixtaper
family at patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape.
John, I'm officially pressing the record button
on this mixtape and the keys are yours. What
song are you using to get this show on the road?
Oh, man. Well, with that, I'm going to go with
Fuel by Metallica. Number one. I think that's
like hard rock driving song about driving and
cars and muscle. Fire and things. Yeah, I'm fueled
by Metallica. All you have to say is give me
fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire.
And everybody knows what's about to happen. And
there's actually a really funny meme I love out
there that just says, give me fuel, give me fire,
give me dabba jabba zaza. Yeah, I also saw, I
reposted one not too long ago that was, give
me fuel, give me fire, give me Reba McIntyre.
And I'm a big Reba fan. So I was like, that's
perfect. Look, I have no problem with fuel being
on a hard rock. road trip mixtape i know there's
some people out there going but guys metallic
is metal the load and reload albums really are
hard rock centric i'd say they're the band's
closest thing to a black sabbath album that they'll
ever do and i'm actually a big fan of both load
and reload more the load side of things but fuel
is one that they play pretty much every show
it's a staple it's lived long enough in the Metallica
legacy to be just a concert staple. And tonight,
Road Trip Kickstarter, which I'm exactly going
to jump off of that statement and go to 1989.
I know you said you didn't do a lot of 80s stuff,
but coming out of fuel, let's go right on the
nose. 1989's Dr. Feel Good, Motley Crue, Kickstart
My Heart. When I get high, get high on speed.
Top Fuel Funny Car is a drug for me. This is
one of those songs that is not necessarily about
driving. However, it's used in so many driving
instances. NASCAR, you see it in racing commercials.
It's very much associated with driving, even
though anyone that knows what happened in Nikki
Sixx knows this song is more about the heart
part of it. Then racing double entendres that
are going to be through a lot of the songs I've
picked. A lot of the songs I pick could be very
on the nose about driving, but in a lot of instances,
they're about something else. And kickstart my
heart is literally what they had to do to Nikki
six. And while it's kind of autobiographical,
it fits perfectly into this hard rock road trip
mix. I was actually. figuring you would pick
this one so that's why i didn't and so i was
like i think brian's gonna pick kickstart my
heart so i just won't even bother putting it
on my list but great choice if you didn't say
anything about it or if it wasn't implied i probably
would have picked it myself at some point so
great choice uh always you know that riff starting
right out of the gate is like, whoa, all right,
I'm ready to get behind the wheel. So I think
we're going to have a lot of songs like that
on this hard rock road trip mix. Yeah, this episode
already seems like it's going to be renamed to
songs to get speeding tickets to. But with that
said, what do you have to follow up fuel and
kickstart my heart? Yeah. All right. So I can
have something that bridges from the 80s to the
2000s with Ozzy Osbourne's I Don't Want to Stop.
For me, growing up, this was one of those songs
that I heard for the first time and was like,
whoa, this is like. hard rock this is exactly
what i need in my life to get me amped and i
i love ozzy i've always been one of the bigger
ozzy fans and so i just think that this song
is perfect for a hard rock mix easily my favorite
song on 2007's black rain it's a great tune and
I've been a little hard on Ozzy's last two albums.
I do enjoy some of the production that Andrew
Watt has done, specifically speaking, the Rolling
Stones recent album. But there's something about
the two Ozzy albums that he produced that I'm
not fully on board with. I don't want to say
I hate them, but it just seems a little too slick.
For Ozzy. And I feel like Black Rain was the
last album of Ozzy's that truly sounded and felt
like a tried and true Ozzy Osbourne album. I
agree with that. And I think they've been trying
to do at least the Andrew Watt stuff has been
trying to go back to, hey, let's kind of be like
Sabbath here and let's kind of do a throwback.
But it's going to be modern, too. And it's going
to be small on production. And it's not going
to be this big, grandiose, you know, where all
the drums are triggered and such. And I'm sure
they were. But, you know, you don't get the black
rain thing from the previous two. Ozzy albums
that we've gotten so for me same way I think
that this is like Ozzy's last big arena rock
production well I am gonna tap right into that
arena rock production and I'm gonna go with a
band whose drum sound is signature to that arena
rock sound although it's done in the 2000s and
beyond there's something about this band's drum
sound that I really like him back to the big
hair band 80s sound however it's done with modern
rock and not a lot of bands use it but when you're
using it the song has to be big enough to fit
the bombastic explosion that happens in the track
and I know I'm going to hear groans because we're
coming out of Metallica Motley Crue and Ozzy
Osbourne but Batting cleanup on the ultimate
hard rock road trip mixtape is Nickelback in
Animals from 2005's All the Right Reasons. I'm
driving back on black. Just got my license back.
I got this feeling in my veins. This train is
coming off the track. This song has nothing to
do with driving except that line. However. The
song, the drums and the guitar riff, it just
makes me drive faster. And it's one of those
songs that has allusions to driving, but is about
something completely different. One of the first
of many examples, but nickel and I know you're
a Nickelback fan here, so I know you're going
to be on board with me at least. Yeah, I had
like at least six Nickelback songs on this playlist
as far as what I was thinking for ideas. Of course,
animals being one of them. And I always feel
like it is on the nose in a sense. And that's
fine because it yeah, it's not about driving,
but it is about driving. And I think that if
you're. Riding down the road in your fast car,
this is like the perfect song for it. You get
that sort of thunderous engine rumbling vibe
from Animals. Of course, I'm a huge Daniel Adair
fan, so all those fills at the very beginning
of the track are phenomenal fills. And I feel
like it's one of the songs that changed the modern
landscape of... rock music it's one of those
that it became such a big hit and guys were kind
of like wait we can write about that now can
we take one gates open that can we yeah can we
push that envelope a little bit more and nickelback
was always at the forefront of that so i'm i'm
with you on that i like it that's a great choice
all right so we're up to the fifth spot what
are you following up nickelback's animals with
um fifth spot In the same vein, though, another
great band known for their more arena rock bombastic
2000s style approach to rock music. I'm going
to go with Adrenaline by Shinedown. Yes! Yeah.
And I saw Shinedown. Jeez. This is probably going
back 15 years now. Maybe. Yeah. Close to it.
And they opened with Adrenaline and nothing gets.
Yeah, this was back. I guess this record had
just come out and then Threat to Survival was
the one after it. I saw them on whatever tour
that was, which is going back a ways now. But
Adrenaline is such a great track and it's a great
opener to this record to probably my favorite
Shinedown record, Amaryllis. And it doesn't have
anything to do with driving, but it gets you
amped. I guess no needles in the red needles
in the red. They do say that. Yeah. Like the
only line that really would lend itself to being
in a car would be give me the wheel so we can
move a little faster. I'll make it real. I'm
not a glorious disaster. I mean, the way you
think steering wheel. Yeah. I'll be honest. 100%.
This was on my list. The same band song and album
complete scoop on it. This song had to make.
the episode tonight. And if you didn't pick it,
I was going to, I think it is one of their most
adrenaline fueled songs. It just has this ridiculous
tempo and pacing to it that a lot of shine down
music, especially their more modern stuff is
a little slower and a little more driving. Like
the sound of madness, cut the cord. Planet Zero.
It's more of that driving riff. Adrenaline is
just literally pedal to the metal. And I love
this song so much. And yeah, I'd have to say
Amaryllis is my favorite album of theirs as well.
They still play a lot from it live. I'll Follow
You is always a staple. The title track, Amaryllis,
is a staple. But they could play pretty much
anything off that. Bully. They haven't played
Adrenaline much in recent years, and I think
that's a shame. Obviously, they have more and
more albums with each cycle. And they've been
moving through the times a whole heck of a lot,
too. And another band that's at the forefront
of the change of landscape with rock music. So
a lot of their stuff has developed a bigger production
value. And so Adrenaline, though, to me, just
sounds like four guys just riffing. And that's
one of my favorite parts about that song. Not
a whole lot of production in the quote unquote
sense. And it's just a rock tune that opens such
a great record. So I'm going to lean into the
atmosphere that we have going musically, but
I'm going to go with a song that has a little
bit more production as this gentleman's music
always was very heavy on a specific sound. and
uniqueness to his music. And I'm going to go
off of 1998's Hellbilly Deluxe, his first ever
solo single. This track was named after Grandpa
Munster's car. We're going with Rob Zombie and
Dragula. Shockingly, another hard rock song that's
using driving as a metaphor for sex. Dig through
the ditches and burn through the witches. I slam
in the back of my Dragula. Regardless. The video,
you think the car, it's synonymous for me because
Dragula was the Munster's car. And you know Rob
Zombie brought that metal touch to it. So regardless
of the metaphors, this song is all about putting
the pedal to the metal. And it just fits with
the vibe we've got going on Side A so far. Nice.
I love it. That is a great choice. Dragula, of
course. I'm a huge Monsters fan. And then when
you find out, like, you know, oh, this guy Rob
Zombie wrote a song about Dragula. It's like,
yeah, that is awesome. And it's a great driving
song I have on my list as well. So good scoop
on that one. Just trying to think of what to
do next. Where do we go? I don't even... How
many more songs do we have on side? You have
two and I have two. Oh, boy. Okay. All right.
I got it. I got it. I'm going to go with same.
We're in the same vein. Something that gets me
amped to drive but has nothing to do with driving
is Black Label Society's Fire It Up. I love Black
Label Society. They're more of that mid -tempo
style band. But this song is about getting you
pumped. And the very beginning of it, when it
does kick into the main riff, is the perfect
thing when you're driving down the highway. And
in what would only be considered a happy coincidence,
Zach Weil was the lead guitarist on Ozzy's I
Don't Wanna Stop. Oh, that is right. Yeah. So
he's making a second appearance on tonight's
episode on Side A. He has such a unique sound.
He is legendary. I had the chance back in 2000,
my hard rock band at the time, opened for Black
Label Society at the Stone Pony on the summer
stage. And it was one of the most insane gigs.
We got to play in front of his wall of amps and
everything else. I'll never forget that day.
Real good dude. The band was incredible. This
song is awesome. So, yeah, you know, I mean,
you could say you're firing up the car. I mean,
really. Yeah, that's what I was going with. Yeah,
there you go. And I'm going to go with another
guitarist who I think is a household name like
a Zach Wild and go with a song that is really
on the nose. I can't see the road through the
driving rain, but I won't stop now. Her love
is calling me home. Seems to guide the way, so
I won't. Stop now from 2018 is living the dream.
I'm going with slash featuring miles Kennedy
and the conspirators driving rain. This riff
is dare. I say it the best slash riff since something
off of appetite for destruction. This riff is
a down and dirty blues rock riff. And I'll also
say this is my favorite ever miles Kennedy vocal
performance over. Ghosts of Days Gone By from
Alter Bridge. There's something about the harmonies
in this chorus. They're so simple yet effective.
I love the way Miles Kennedy's dropping down
in the chorus to let. Todd Kearns, the bass guitarist
and backing vocalist for Miles Kennedy and the
Conspirators, take the higher end of the spectrum.
Their voices work so well against each other,
it just adds a vocal dynamic to the song that
I really gravitated to. This song just rips,
and yeah, it's on the nose with Driving 2, and
hell, it's in the title, Driving Ring. That's
a great choice. And I've always loved the Slash
and Miles Kennedy duo. I think that they work
super well together. And it's everything that
you could have wanted Guns N' Roses to become
if things were different. And that's what I like
about them. Slash still rips and he still creates
some of the best guitar intros, this being one
of them for sure. And yeah, on the nose, it works.
It's awesome. That's perfect. All right, well,
what are you going to follow up Driving Rain
with? At the very, this is the last one on side
A, right? For you, yes. For me, yeah. Oh, man,
this is tough. Okay, I'm going to do it. The
Pretender by the Foo Fighters. Yes. I, again,
it's. I'm picking stuff that's out there, but
I think if we're talking about up -tempo songs
that get you pumped to drive, this is definitely
one of them. That snare in the very beginning,
once the vocals fade out, that bop, bop, bop,
bop. It gets you pumped. It's a very aggressive
song. And we've talked about the Foo Fighters
on this show multiple times, especially Taylor
Hawkins and Dave Grohl. So yeah, I feel like
there had to have been a Foo Fighters song on
this. Could not agree more. You may have picked
my all -time favorite Foo Fighters song. That
might be number one. Sometimes I pivot between
a couple of songs, but that one is really, really
up there. I actually had No Way Back. from 2005's
in your honor on my list thinking please to meet
you take my hand there is no way back from here
it's like i guess you could say that's like get
in the car where you had that riff that's that
very breezy riff in that song but the pretender
has that really bluesy riff and it feels like
that old school 70s rock bravado yes brought
to a modern era And also, I feel like it's a
freedom thing, too. You know, what if I say I'm
not like the others and then you're behind the
wheel? It's like, yeah, I'm not like everybody
else out here. And when I talked at the beginning
of the episode about playing the wheel drum,
so to speak, whenever this song comes on. I almost
feel myself like closed fist, like, because it's
just one of those songs that really gets you
going. It gets you pumped up and, you know, probably
gets you a speeding ticket, which a lot of the
songs on Side A would do. Yeah, I definitely
agree with that. We have weaved in and out of
older bands and newer bands throughout the side.
And there's been a lot of classic names on this
side. Because I only get to close out one side,
I'm going to go with an anthem to close out side
A with a band name that's as big as Metallica,
as far as I'm concerned. Metallica might be the
biggest metal band of all time, but ACDC's got
to be the biggest hard rock band of all time.
They got to be in the top three for most people,
I would think. No stop signs, speed limits. Nobody's
going to slow me down like a wheel going to spin
it. Nobody's going to mess me around. Let's go
really on the nose. The title track from 1979's
Highway to Hell. I could have went with Rock
and Roll Train from 2008's Black Ice. And yes,
that's you're traveling, but you're on the tracks.
And I don't know, like, I love that song for
driving, but Highway to Hell is the true driving
anthem. for ac dc and i do want to again give
a shout out to david owens who chimed in with
it's a long way to the top if you want to rock
and roll absolutely love cranking that up especially
if you're in a convertible there's something
about going down the highway in a convertible
with a rock song with bagpipes it's just a vibe
i love it that's so good and yeah i felt like
this at some point had to make the list regardless,
too, because I mean, think about all of the lyricism
in this song having to do with driving and, you
know, that sort of more aggressive side of driving
even into hell. So, yeah, it's definitely top
driving hard rock song for sure. Well, there
you have it. Side A of our ultimate hard rock
road trip mixtape, which kicked off with Metallica's
Fuel. Motley Crue, Kickstart My Heart, Ozzy Osbourne,
I Don't Wanna Stop, Nickelback, Animals, Shinedown,
Adrenaline, Rob Zombie, Dragula, Black Label
Society, Fire It Up, Slash, featuring Miles Kennedy
and the Conspirators, Driving Rain, Foo Fighters,
The Pretender, and ACDC's Highway to Hell. Head
over to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all the
songs we've discussed in this mix. through the
playlist embedded on the episode page. So, John,
it looks like Tantric's touring schedule is starting
to ramp up now in 2024, as you have dates coming
up with Josie Scott's Saliva, Power Man 5000,
and Sponge, among others. Want to fill people
in on what's been going on with the band? Yeah,
we've got a lot going on. This year is no breaks
as usual, not to also make a driving reference
there. But we've been hitting it hard and we've
actually, we've had a couple of months off to
get some much needed time with family and friends
and home and so on. Yeah, as far as May goes,
we go out with Josie Scott's version of Saliva
and Trapped and Adema, who we've toured with
before. So we do that basically all of May, all
across the country. Then we have most of June
off, a couple of pockets of dates here and there,
and then we go out with Power Man 5000 and Sponge.
That'll be all of July. And yeah, going into
next year, a bunch of more headlining dates are
coming in. We do Louder Than Life in Louisville,
which is huge. And yeah, just hopefully hoping
on a new record coming next year, early next
year, hopefully. You got me with my follow up
because I was going to say I saw some pictures
of you guys in the studios working on some stuff.
Is there any chance that some of those songs
might get, quote unquote, road tested this summer?
I hope so. I think that we've got a good batch
of tunes that. We sat in a room in Massachusetts
for like a whole weekend and just jammed. And
it was like the first authentic feeling version
of tantric where it was four guys in a room with
two little tiny condenser microphones and just
jamming and seeing what came out. And then we
took some of those to be full on demos where
we. track drums and then track guitar and so
on so we've had those moments of writing and
hoping for some good tunes to come going into
next year awesome well we are going to start
off side b and this time i get to kick things
off And I am going to go back a little bit. I
love my 80s hard rock. And this is one of those
bands that I have said for decades wrongly got
lumped in. To the hair band movement, just because
on their first album, yes, they did incorporate
a little bit of the look. But musically, this
was a band that was much more rooted in the Rolling
Stones and bluesy hard rock than they were, quote
unquote, hair bands. However, when you have a
few hit power ballads that will kind of make
you that way guilty by. default or whatever you
want to call it. However, on 1988's Long Cold
Winter, Cinderella released a song that even
when I was growing up, sitting in the backseat
of my parents' car, going down to North Carolina
for vacation, I would blast this song and just
look out the window and feel like I was on the
road with this tune. Some fast talking jerk for
a dollar wiped the smile off my face. I'm driving
all night just to keep the rat in a race. Gypsy
Road from Cinderella's Long Cold Winter. This
riff is so dirty and so bluesy and so not a hair
band song. But for some reason, Cinderella just
got lumped in. They're like, well, you've got
hair. You've got guitars. You're now hair metal.
They were so much more than that. And I hope
people get to go out and see Tom Kiefer when
he comes around with his solo band because they
still play the entire Cinderella catalog. And
to that, he still is able to bring the heft vocally
that he did back in his days with Cinderella.
So it's kind of a win -win. Unfortunately, Cinderella
is no longer going out on the road. And to me,
that truly sucks because they were one of my
favorites from that era. But yeah, I got to go
with... gypsy road for my first pick on side
b there are um so if you didn't know my old guitar
player sebastian labar is jeff's son so yes um
you know sebastian and i always we would jam
a lot of those 80s bands that had some more bluesy
influence and it was always talked about that
Unfortunately, they were lumped into that 80s
hair metal thing because they were definitely
a blues band. They had a lot of that bluesy influence
and Tom Kiefer's high voice being that, nobody's
fool. It didn't necessarily lend itself to be
in the vein of like a Stevie Ray Vaughan when
we think about the blues, but yet they had so
much of that swag that a blues band would and
a phenomenal, phenomenal choice to kick off the
second side. So what are you going to follow
up Gypsy Road with? Oh, that's tough. That's
tough. I'm going to go with, it's not classic
rock. Well, I guess 20 years old does mean something.
Does a classic rock song make? Yeah, exactly.
And so now I'm going to go with a band that does
get thrown into the hard rock realm, but they
are so much more and they're phenomenal writers
and good people. Three Doors Down, It's Not My
Time. I love this tune and I was trying to go
off of what you were saying where you can picture
yourself looking out the window as you're driving
down the road with your family going like, oh,
I feel like I'm in it. This song by Three Doors
Down, I always loved growing up. And it has this
feeling of you're not backing down and you're
ready to take on whatever's coming your way.
And I've always connected with tropes like that
while I was driving. So that's what I'm going
with. I completely see where you're coming from,
where a song that I'd say has a very positive
message and it makes you feel good lyrically.
When you put that when you're behind the wheel
of a car, it almost heightens the feeling and
message of the song. one that comes to mind for
me would be probably something that I, I was
going to use a song here, but I, maybe it would
work on this episode. So I'm going to put a pin
in my thought there. Yeah. Right. Dance around
that. Cause now I just got an idea for something
for the end of this episode for my last pick.
So I'm going to hold onto that for now. And right
back to three doors down. It's not my time. Has
this. chord progression that is dare i use the
word breezy but when you think about the guitar
work in gypsy road it's not chugging along it's
not a heavy tune it's more the open chords kind
of just rocking out and this when the song actually
kicks in after the opening guitar riff it's that
breezy chord progression that kind of guides
you through the song and it has a similar vibe
To Gypsy Road. Three Doors Down is a band that
aren't necessarily hard rock, meaning heavy,
heavy, heavy. They have their heavier moments,
like in Loser, and even to some extent, Kryptonite
has a heavier side to it. But It's Not My Time
really brings in this... pop element to the rock
music they're playing and it works so so well
and these guys are truly a hell of a band to
see live they really sound just as good if not
better than on the albums No, I love this band.
And the first time I saw them was at the Balloon
Festival in 2015. I was at that show. When me
and my brothers in our school of rock had opened
for them. And they were very cool guys. And that
automatically for me is a big check mark. So
then going through the rest of my teen years.
Getting finally behind the wheel by myself, Three
Doors Down was definitely one of those bands
that I spend a bunch. To me, it's very synonymous
with driving, and I think it just has to do with
growing up and hearing this band in my generation.
While following that up, I actually had an artist
in mind, but I'm going to pivot and use the same
artist, but in a different way. Because thankfully,
this artist has sang about cars across the spectrum
of his entire career. And the original song I
was thinking about would be Sammy Hagar's I Can't
Drive 55. But that has a little bit more of the
80s rock feel to it. So being you went with something
a little newer, I'm going to go with something
newer, or at least on the newer end of the spectrum
from Sammy. It's 13 years old. So is it considered
a classic rock yet? Who knows? But I'm going
to go off of 2011's Chicken Foot 3. The band
featuring Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael
Anthony, and Chad Smith. And I am going with
Bigfoot. Don't you worry. It's going to be all
right. I'm in a hurry. I'm going to drive all
night. Be there in the morning. You can bet your
ass. I got both hands on the wheel and my Bigfoot
on the gas. Literally the most on the nose driving
lyrics we've had tonight. That is not a double
entendre. No innuendo here. He's literally singing
about driving a car to get to his girl. And it's
true Sammy fashion. I'm so excited because this
summer is going to mark the first time I am catching
Sammy Hagar live. And he's doing it with Joe
Satriani, Michael Anthony. But instead of having.
Chad Smith on drums. It's Jason Bonham. And they're
doing a night of Van Halen as well as stuff throughout
Sammy's career. So hopefully Chickenfoot gets
a little bit of representation there, maybe Bigfoot.
They are such a super group. And I was just talking
to somebody about them the other day saying they
should do more. Like, why don't they? I wish
they would. And I'm sure it's scheduling and
things not lining up and so on. Chickenfoot's
a fantastic supergroup of a band, and that's
an on -the -nose song, but it totally works.
And what are you going to follow up Gypsy Road,
It's Not My Time, and Bigfoot with? Yeah, if
we're talking about... I feel like we have a
vibe here. I feel like there's something going
on. And more modern bands that had 80s and 90s
tropes in what they were doing. This is actually
a cover of a song, and it's off their first album,
Extreme Behavior. It's Hinder's version of Born
to be Wild. Okay, okay. Now, if you haven't heard
this, it is a more, in quotes, blistering version
of it, and I always wanted to hear Born to be
Wild with a little bit more... Gusto? Is that
the word? I don't know. But I wanted to always
have a hard rock version of Born to be Wild.
And we all know the song, so it's easy to sing
along to, but it's a great driving track. And
Cody Hanson's one of my favorite drummers ever.
And this track just absolutely, it has to go
on some driving playlist somewhere. I love the
fact that you went with that. The same deluxe
version of Extreme Behavior has their cover of
Take Me Home Tonight as well, which is really
good. Hard to find on streaming, but Hinder is
great when it comes to covers. Austin does the
vocals on this version extremely well and with
a lot more gravel than the original, which is
what he did when he brought the heavier side
to Hinder at the time. And their version felt
faithful, but modern. And what I think I'm going
to do is pivot off of that mindset. And I'm going
to go with a newer band, but I'm going to stick
with the cover song theme here. They released
this digital single in 2022. Now, I'm running
out of time because I could see the sun light
up the sky. So I hit the road in overdrive. Baby,
the song is the weekend's blinding lights, but
I am going with St. Sonia's hard rock version
that they put out in 2022. I love the original
blinding lights. I'm the first to admit that
the first time I heard that, I'm like, this song
is frigging awesome. And I use that on my road
trip mixes all the time. When I heard St. Sonia
came out with a hard rock version. I was like,
oh, now we're talking. And they knock it out
of the park. It is so good that I could listen
to the original by The Weeknd, followed up by
Saint Esonia. And there's enough of a vibe difference
that you can listen to them back to back and
still enjoy them equally. We just saw them. Me
and my brother just saw them with Blackstone
Cherry and they played it and it was so good.
It was like. better than what they had recorded.
And that's just a live thing, but I love their
cover of it because it's not, uh, they have enough
feel change in it to be them and to be their
own version. But yet when that chorus comes in
and it's more of a halftime style groove, it's
fantastic. So yeah, great, great choice. Love
it. So what are you going to follow up our pair
of cover songs with? I don't know if I can do
another cover. I don't know. I don't know if
I have it in me to go to another cover, but I
feel like we did a good thing there. I really
do. What I think I want to go with. Oh, geez.
Because this could be, we are, we are now blurring
the line between hard rock and metal, but I'm
going to do it anyway. So I'm going to go with.
Ah, OK. All right. I'm just going to do it. I'm
going to do it and I'm not going to have any
regrets. So I'm going to go with off of City
of Evil Avenged Sevenfold back. country i think
i knew as soon as you said blur the lines i'm
like it's gonna be back country i don't want
to but in the same like in the same vein our
genres are always switching in a song like back
country you hear on modern rock radio because
now it is it was deemed as metal and now it's
kind of transitioned to where our metal nowadays
is even way more aggressive than this and our
hard rock is right in line with a song like bat
country so when i think about this i think about
the music video and them driving and all the
bats are around them and you know i think that
this is just a great song to drive to um and
it's it's just aggressive i love it based on
hunter thompson's 1971 novel fear and loathing
in las vegas the video you hear the revving at
the beginning of the song like yes it's not about
driving but yes it kind of is yeah yeah and you
hear that initial line he who makes a beast out
of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man
And the way that Matt shadows says it, it's like,
Oh yeah, I want to be that guy. So yeah, I, when
that's that song that when your foot hits the
gas, it starts to go a little bit heavier on
that. Couldn't agree more. And Oh my God, I am
trying to, okay. Avenged seven fold has a hard
rock metal vibe. But they also bring some punk
into their sound. So I'm going to lean into that
punk side of Avenged Sevenfold and literally
pivot us just a bit where we dip our toe into
pure punk rock and bring it into the road trip
mix. Because there is one song that I have consistently
said for 30 years that every time it comes on,
I don't want to be behind the wheel because I
always find myself. speeding and the song is
not about driving per se but it's about road
rage so in no way shape or form am i or anybody
at my weekly mixtape promoting road rage but
damn it if i don't drive a little bit faster
when the offspring's bad habit kicks on from
1994 smash when i'm in my car don't give me no
crap because the slightest thing i just might
snap and when that riff kicks in it's almost
metal -esque where i feel like coming out of
avenge sevenfold's backcountry musically it actually
complements it and this song is just a million
miles an hour it's so much fun and yeah i know
i'm kind of dipping in my toe in punk rock in
a hard rock mixtape which on paper might seem
odd, but when you listen to Backcountry and it
goes into bad habit, it does make sense. I promise
you that. I can get behind that for sure. And
there are a lot of these bands on this playlist.
already that like the offspring are what you
would deem as like a punk band or we would put
these labels on it but yet they all in a sense
have had a song or two that branches somewhere
else so just like that i could definitely see
this working on on this playlist that's a great
choice i i believe in it i stand behind it so
you have my vote well if it's john lori approved
then it is good enough for me john what are you
gonna follow up this kind of punk metal mix of
bad country and bad habit with now this actually
opens this opens a door which is kind of nice
because there were a couple on my list that had
to do with driving that were more in the vein
of punk and in a way this band has kind of transitioned
into metal. And they are also my girlfriend's
favorite band of all time. So I'm gonna go with
Bayside, Already Gone. And for those that don't
know, they're very cult. Celtic band. Their fan
base is called The Cult. So if you don't know
Bayside, I highly, highly recommend it. But Already
Gone in the title, no, it's not a cover. It has
nothing to do with the Eagles, Already Gone.
But this version or this actual song of Already
Gone, it's a phenomenal driving tune. It's talking
about leaving a girl and you're already gone.
You're already out of the house and you've moved
on. I think that that's just a great song to
drive to. It's also aggressive, and it's also
touching the vein of punk just enough. From 2011's
Killing Time, great song. I definitely catch
where you're going with the fact that, yes, they're
a punk band, but they're also incorporating elements
of hard rock and metal into that punk rock sound,
similar to what Avenged Sevenfold does from the
hard rock side, where they kind of veer a little
bit into punk, but it's still considered hard
rock slash metal. Bayside's kind of the flip
of that, where they're a punk band that dabbles.
in hard rock and at times metal, in their sound.
This is where they kind of turned into more of
a radio -centric band, even though they were
never a radio band. They were always an underground,
New York -based... punk -ish band um but they
always had this different sound and this different
approach to it and nowadays they've just gone
like full -blown metal for the most part hiring
i forget his name but the guy that did the last
mega death record getting him in to do their
stuff so they've kind of turned metal but this
song while you're driving already gotten that's
a nice one oh god okay i'm gonna pull the pin
out of what i was talking about before but i
don't know if it's gonna work Oh, no. It's not
a hard rock song. It's a rock song that has a
hard rock drive to it. And to me, it's probably
my favorite road trip song of all time. I love
when this comes on and I'm driving. I put my
pedal down to this song just as hard as I would
kickstart my heart. So you know what? Screw it.
I'm just coming out of Bayside with Tom Petty
and I'm going with Running Down a Dream from
1989's Full Moon Fever. I rolled on. The sky
grew dark. I put the pedal down to make some
time. There's something good waiting down this
road. I'm picking up whatever's mine. Yes, it's
not quote unquote hard rock, but hard rock bands.
Love Tom Petty. Punk rock bands love Tom Petty.
Metal artists love Tom Petty. Country artists
love Tom Petty. I love Tom Petty. I'm going to
blur the lines. This is a very hard rock and
Tom Petty song. Yes, in no way, shape or form.
Is it the heft of Metallica or Motley Crue or
even Cinderella or Hinder? But Tom Petty, he
deserves. to be in this conversation for road
trip songs. Damn it. Even if it's a little bit
of a stretch on my part, I'm fine with it. You
know, even at a certain point, ACDC is a little
pedestrian for the average metal aficionado,
you know, but at the time that was really aggressive
stuff. And even with something like Tom Petty's
riff, that's a great riff. There is an essence
to hard rock that. came out of something like
Tom Petty. Had it have not been for what he was
creating and the whole culture and the vibe of
that song, that's a great riff. And like you
said, it touched a lot of different facets of
music. An artist like Tom Petty, you're going
to find in country and you're going to find it
in metal and hard rock. So I'm down. That's fine.
Yeah. And I can also throw in the fact that on
Wildflowers, you had Honeybee, which he performed
on Saturday Night Live with another drummer we
talked about tonight, Dave Grohl, when he sat
in with Tom Petty for that live version. And
the Foo Fighters and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
had a great relationship through the years. Yeah,
I feel like he's woven enough through the fabric
of these bands we've talked about that it still
makes sense. But John, 19 songs down. You get
to put the cherry on top of this hard rock road
trip mixtape. And I threw a little bit of a curveball
here for you at the end. What are you closing
up the night with? You actually picked the perfect
song to then lead into what I wanted to close
with. It was either going to open this list or
it was going to close this list. or at some point
make it into this list. And you and I both know
that we are both big fans of this band, and I
absolutely love them, and I think that they're
just one of the most underrated hard rock bands
that's out there, because they can get super
heavy, but in this case, they can bring it down
to its grassroots, pseudo -country hard rock
vibe, and I'm going to go with, off Between the
Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Blackstone Cherries,
Like I Roll. This is a driving song. This is
100%. This made the top of my list and the first
song that I ever thought about when we were going
into this hard rock mixtape, even though it has
its sort of roots in a country vibe. This song
is the perfect driving song with the windows
down. The rest of the record's heavy as well,
so you can... listen to the rest of it and get
your heavy hard rock out. But this song is the
perfect, perfect driving song. And coming out
of Tom Petty, it's the chef's kiss. I love the
fact that you went with this one. I had blind
man on my list under the bottom where it was
a little less on the nose songs. Cause when that
blind man riff kicks in, I could literally feel
the car like picking up pace. And like I roll
definitely has that top down. Wind in your hair
vibe, similar to running down a dream to close
it out. So bravo on that. And that was a good
team effort, I feel, because you did Tom Petty,
which was, like you said, it's a perfect segue
to get us. to a more mellow hard rock that then
closes out this playlist. There you have it,
folks. Side B of our ultimate hard rock road
trip mixtape, which kicked off with Cinderella's
Gypsy Road, Three Doors Down, It's Not My Time,
Chicken Foot, Bigfoot, Hinder, Born to be Wild,
The Steppenwolf Cover, Saint Esonia's Blinding
Lights, The Weekend Cover, Avenged Sevenfold,
Bat Country, The Offspring, Bad Habit, Bayside,
Already Gone, Not a Cover, Tom Petty, Running
Down a Dream, and Blackstone Cherry, Like I Roll.
Head over to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all
the songs we've discussed in this mix through
the playlist embedded on the episode page. Now,
John, if people want to connect with you on social
media and keep in touch with what you've got
going on, as well as what you're up to with Tantric,
how can they find you? You can find me at John's
drum studio, J O N S drum studio, um, on Instagram,
uh, John Laurie on Facebook. Those are like the
two platforms that I use the most. Also my website,
John's drum studio .com. If you want to connect
with me about anything related to drums, but
I'm always posting ridiculous content all the
time. So if you like funny things and you like
drumming, then. Come check out what I've got
going on and drop me a line. One of my personal
favorite Instagram channels to follow hysterical
content, especially if you're a musician, trust
me, it's for you. Make sure to follow John on
there and check out some of his content and as
well as to check out him this summer when he's
on the road with tantric John, always an absolute
pleasure having you on. Looking forward to having
you back very soon, hopefully, when you have
some news of new tantric music. I would love
to come back, and you know that. Remember, Mixtapers,
you can find My Weekly Mixtape on almost all
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You can also head to MyWeeklyMixtape .com to
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again for listening. And until next time, enjoy
the tunes.