I don’t know the exact date, but this summer (if we get summer…if it ever stops raining), it’ll make ten years that I’ve  been writing songs. I only know this because the second song I wrote was fairly date-stamped to events surrounding 9-11-2001. My *first* song was written a couple of months before that. It was a Dylan-like rant about “Highway 17”, 18 scenic miles of goregous mountain highway that connects Santa Cruz to San Jose.

The kicker with the road (that anyone locally reading this knows all too well) is that when you cram it with thousands of commuters during the week, things get really interesting. Here’s a recent solo take on the song, recorded at Mission City Coffee Roasting in Santa Clara, CA:

Coincidentally (honestly), my next “Songs and Stories” podcast is with the lovely and talented singer/songwriter Annie Moscow. During the interview Annie and I talk about “playing our old songs”, then NOT playing them, and what we do to keep them interesting. Sometimes you change tempos or keys. In the case of “Highway 17”, since it’s such an “inspiring” piece of road, I tend to write new verses every six months or so and then tag the song with a bunch of new lyrics. It’s like learning a new song twice a year.

The original version of “Highway 17” is on my CD “Spotted Mule and Other Tales”. You can also download the track from iTunes.

Note: Look for Annie’s interview here on the web site in about a week. 😉