THE MUSIC THAT MOVES US (PART 2 OF 4)

In our continuing article about the role of music in travel, for this post, I’d like all my readers out there in cyberspace to meet Richard Skaggs. Richard is an independent owner/operator doing business as Renegade Trucking of Sarasota, FL. Initially I met Richard through posting a full load on a load board. He has since covered several full loads for me with extreme precision and care, in other words, the guy does a great job. So, I posed the question that is the focus of this series to him.
His response, was simple, succinct, and made me smile, and it was this, and I quote,”Skynyrd, Skynyrd, Skynyrd, Skynyrd, and Skynyrd.” You see, Richard, there is only one band that matters, and that is the legendary classic rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The man is as rabid a fan boy as any Star Trek geek I have ever met. In fact, when I met him last weekend at the Flying J truck stop just north of Tampa, FL, he was wearing his favorite Skynyrd t-shirt, which also parodied his (and mine favorite after work drink, Jack Daniels).
Richard explained to me that ever since he first heard the southern rock sound that LS pioneered, it was all he wanted to listen to. Particularly on the road, he told me. As a driver/roadie for the short lived 80’s hair metal band Axe, LS was all the band heard between gigs. “They used to always [whine] and moan about it, “he laughed,” ‘At least they don’t wear makeup and spandex like little girls,’ I’d tell them.”
Then, later in life, when he became an owner/operator thinking that he could now “listen to them as much as [he] wants without [his] wife complaining.’’
Plus, there is a lot of sentimentality attached to this music. First kisses, and family gatherings, falling in love, and getting laid off. Richard could name a song by the epic group that summed up how he felt at the time; there was something for every memory.
That is the power of the music we listen to on the road. That is something that is truly amazing, knowing that everything in every store, in every home, or warehouse has not only traveled miles and miles, but that it has a soundtrack to get it there. That,I think is something amazing. Until next time…happy shipping.