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Along the Highway (10th Anniversary Remix)

from City Lights: 10th Anniversary Remixes by Jasper's Cast

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Oh man, this song. It was actually the first song we started recording for the album. We were on tour, coming back to San Antonio when we stopped at my parent's place in Schulenburg, TX. I had my uncle's dulcimer, much older and prettier than mine, and we set up a few mics in the woods and tried recording my part.

We scrapped most of those takes eventually, and it would become the last song we finished recording for the album.

That fits in with "Along the Highway." It has had a long and torturous history, starting at some of our earliest shows when we'd play this long, untitled slow song that ended with me wailing "that's my favorite song" over and over... I'm so sorry! to everyone who endured that!

Eventually we got a few verses set in place and cut a few long instrumental breaks out of it, and we felt like it could go on the album.

Wilco's album "A Ghost is Born" was a big influence on Jackson and me while recording "City Lights," and you can clearly hear us trying to emulate the beautiful, spacey moments and noise elements they create in songs like "At Least That's What You Said" or "Less Than You Think" on this song.

Then, as we're finishing up recording for the album, Jackson and I start talking about this song and we know it needs something. Jackson pulls out a MicroKorg synthesizer and puts a wall of sound down on the very last few seconds of it and suddenly it has everything it needs. Zach's technical, furious drumming right at the end felt perfectly matched and decisive.

I am so grateful to each of my bandmates for their tireless patience, talent and understanding while working on this album. This song, more than most, embodies the long, overly-ambitious process these songs went through, with a multitude of changes and edits and experiments shaping them. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of work, and I greatly appreciate the loving support everyone who was involved put towards making it happen.


I guess "Along the Highway" was this breath of acoustic quiet the album needed after "House." Within the concept of the album, our main character had just stormed out of the house, and this was a moment of loss, regret perhaps, and reflection along a highway somewhere. It bridges the gap between a rebellious cowboy song and my most honest attempt at a love song in "21 Lines," and I still think it does so pretty darn well.

As for what that "favorite song" was/is, I couldn't honestly tell you. What I would call my favorite song changes pretty much constantly, and I suppose that's probably the point.

--Eric

lyrics

You always overwhelm me
With things that go unsaid
This mind need rewinding
And you're always a step ahead
I know that if I leave you
I'll need you once again

I filled myself with nothing
Thought I'd find the truth somewhere
But the answers they were running
My fingers through your hair
The lights along the highway
Would slowly guide us there

But I can't live without you
You know how hard I've tried
I'm ready for the city
Now can't we make it right
please

Cause you know that's my favorite song

credits

from City Lights: 10th Anniversary Remixes, released April 15, 2021

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Jasper's Cast San Antonio, Texas

Combine electric amplification with acoustic bluegrass instruments and you get Jasper's Cast. But don't forget to add some catchy melodies, rich harmonies, and untamed live shows, and then you've got what Jasper's Cast is all about. Give them a listen and come see them sometime. They might just keep you dancing all night. ... more

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