The Eisenhower Interstate System

There was once a time before the Eisenhower Interstate System. This was the era of US 1 and US 66 - the roads that people wrote songs about. They wrote these songs because, like people, these roads have character. But modern interstates have all the character of Mall of America. No doubt they are convenient, efficient, soothing. But the interstate roadsigns are a glimpse into the interstate soul. You always see logos for Taco Bell, Subway, Wendy's, and various other Pepsico/Marriott/Archer Daniels Midland affiliated franchises. The mom & pops generally don't have the juice to warrant a sign, much less a logo. But the reason people get nostalgic for diners isn't for the coffee. It's for the character, the funk, the oddness poking out from beneath a veneer of picket fence. David Lynch and Flannery O'Connor and Bob Dylan and Roger Miller and Terrence Malick would have a lot to talk about if you could get them all around a lunch counter at once.

It's getting harder to find adventure.

Come hear the Gena Rowlands Band play songs about it. We'll be somewhere in the northern half of the country this August.