Nova Scotia road trip playlist

I tweeted the other day that I was having fun sorting through iTunes to make a Nova Scotia road trip playlist, and Susan asked me if I’d blog my playlist. Sure, why not?

Except, now that I have a second to do it, iTunes is being persnickety and I can’t get it to open. So I’m going from memory here, but this is the gist of it, all pulled from my existing music collection.

It starts with a whole lot of Great Big Sea. Lukey’s Boat, of course (it’s Lucas’s signature song!) and Ordinary Day and Rant & Roar. Simon’s favourite song is Home for a Rest by Spirit of the West, so that’s in there. Then 7/4 by Broken Social Scene, Feist’s 1234 and Life on Mars by Arcade Fire with David Bowie. The boys love K-OS’s Crabbuckit, so that’s on there. I figured it was high time the boys learned about Rush, so we’ve got Tom Sawyer, Limelight and Spirit of Radio on there. Then things folk up a bit with Gordon Lightfoot (Sundown and If You Could Read My Mind) and Jann Arden with Good Mother. Then Clumsy by Our Lady Peace, and then some Barenaked fun with Pollywog in a Bog from their Snacktime album, and Sarah Maclachlan’s take on Rainbow Connection. I’ve got two from one of my fave bands ever, The Pursuit of Happiness (She’s So Young and I’m an Adult Now) and at least one by the Hip, but damn if I can remember which one I chose.

The only thing I’ve got from this, um, decade is the Young Canadians for Haiti cover of Waving Flag. I’ve also got Tristan’s signature song on there, Loggins and Messina’s Danny’s Song (not really Canadian, I know, but Anne Murray did a cover that’s not as good so I figure that counts.) Representing Montreal, we’ve got Corey Hart’s Sunglasses at Night (don’t judge me) and then a really jarring transition (more Montreal, you say?) into Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. It was going to finish there, but Simon MacDonald mentioned I need some Stan Rogers on there and he’s so totally right, so I downloaded Barrett’s Privateers and made that the big finish.

Not so much a Nova Scotia playlist as a really random sort through my music library. I had to keep it at that because I’m burning them to CD for the car, or else I’d’ve added some Burton Cummings, Holly Cole Trio, and a little Bryan Adams. I think I’ve got the CanCon spectrum pretty well represented through the last 30 years though, eh?

I’ve still got $6 left in my iTunes account (after I finally got around to replacing my old Purple Rain CD with digital music — yay!!) What do I need to add to round out my Canadiana road trip mix?

Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

11 thoughts on “Nova Scotia road trip playlist”

  1. ooooh… what are you missing?

    Hmmm… The Boy really likes Great Lake Swimmers, Pulling on a Line and See You on the Moon. From Halifax, a bit of Wintersleep (Weighty Ghost is a good start — the chorus is singable), Hey Rosetta (from St. John’s) my favourite here is Red Song but Sing from Your Lungs is most excellent. A bit of Sarah Slean (Lucky Me is a favourite), and I adore Christine Fellows Spinster’s Almanac.

    And well, you’ll be driving through Quebec: I really love Karkwa’s La Fuite, Tricot Machine’s L’Ours (sick and twisted), and I keep meaning to explore Malajube. There is a band from New Brunswick called 1755, sort of a French Great Big Sea (but older.) It’s a bit political and might lead to a few discussions depending on how good your French is but The Boy loves Dégénération by Mes Aieux.

    Might be too rockin’ but I’m a big fan of Bif Naked’s Love Myself Today. (I do adore F**ked Up’s Son the Father.)

  2. Some other Canadian suggestions:
    Tegan and Sara (try “Hop A Plane” or “The Ocean” for upbeat and singable)
    Luke Doucet (excellent guitarist -he plays for Sarah McLachlan)
    Sarah Harmer (I favour her “You Were Here” album, but others are good too)
    Metric (no specific suggestions here, just another band to check out)

  3. Ooo, great start! Thanks Nat and Allison, I’ve heard of some of these but not all of them. I think I’m gonna need another CD!

  4. defiantely have to have some metric.
    and of course stars
    rufus wainwright?
    if you want to go tiny bopper you might want to try justin bieber, but personally he makes me want to puke.
    muchael buble! how could you forget the beautiful crooner.
    malajube is great
    good ole french canadian rock? kevin parent or eric lapointe. more french canadian music to keep you going through la belle province: la bottine souriante, beau dommage, jean leloup, mitsou, ginette reno
    how about a little paul anka?
    daniel lavoie
    and a little more down memory lane, men without hats and gowan!

  5. You can’t head east without Zachary Richard, he has mostly Cajun-flavoured tunes, but my favourite album is by far Cap Enrage, Au bord du Lac Bijou and several others.

    Sass Jordan is a another good a**-kicker girl singer, Make You a Believer from Racine. Blue Rodeo has tons of awesome stuff. Movin’ On by The Rankins is a good driving song, and I also like their Forty Days and Nights and You Feel The Same Way Too.

    Not Canadian, but you have to have the version of Stand By Me by Playing for Change. It’s awesome.

  6. I’m so glad you’re blogging about this–I’m making lists of artists to try from here, too. Sarah Harmer is wonderful! Moxy Fruvous (no longer recording–but Murray from Great Big Sea used to play with them; also Dave Ford, from Fruvous, is now doing songs about Canadian history so you might like those with the kids). James Keelaghan and Connie Kaldor are two other singers I like. (moving away from the Maritimes there, of course.)

    I used to live in southwestern Ontario and had Stompin’ Tom Collins’ song about Tillsonburg in my head every time we drove up the 401 and passed the Ingersoll/Tillsonburg exit.

  7. Stan Rogers “Watching the Apples Grow” – great for NS and the kids will like it.

    captcha: Hogwarts on Sunday – is one of the Harry Potter movies on CBC again? 🙂

  8. How about “La Bottine Souriante” to have some French-Canadian folklore in your Canadian road trip list? That will get you swinging and taping on the steering wheel for part of your trip! 🙂

  9. Hi Dani,

    Great playlist! If I can make a little suggestion, in honour of the trip, may I suggest a few more Nova Scotian artists?

    Joel Plaskett: True Patriot Love and Can I go no where with you, (I love Radio Fly too). http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/The-Joel-Plaskett-Emergency

    Carmel Mikol: In my bones, Sunny Days http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/Carmel-Mikol

    Gordie Sampson: You, or Somebody Like you, Paris, Sunburn…well I like it all!

    Kim Wempe: Where I need Be http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/Kim-Wempe

    Of course there are always a few classics thrown in for good measures, like the Rankins and Barra McNeils.

    Then there’s Jenn Grant, In-Flight Safety, Matt Mays. I could go on and on. We do have a great music scene from Traditional and Celtic music all the way to alternative and rock!

    Drive safely, sing loudly!

    Cynthia 🙂 (from Nova Scotia Tourism)

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