Michelle Zauner is ready to take some big swings
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After returning from Korea, Zauner has fully plunged back into the world of Japanese Breakfast, but this time, with a more contemplative air. 'For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women),' which came out March 21, sees Zauner grappling with that high-intensity, high-visibility period of her life. The record assumes a forlorn spirit, foregoing a well-deserved victory lap in favor of meditative explorations on the pitfalls of desire and over-gratification. On May 7, the band brings its aptly-named 'Melancholy Tour' to MGM Music Hall.
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Coming right after this quieter period in Zauner's public life, the tour's reception has fueled a boost of confidence.
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'It's really nice to come back and go on tour and sell more tickets than we ever have,' she said. 'It was eye-opening to see that I'm allowed to take that time to myself and people will still be there.'
Musically, the bet on her softer, more artistically complex tendencies has also seemed to pay off, with
' ['For Melancholy Brunettes'] is the first record that I've really had to sit with this discomfort of being compared to my last work. It's the first time that people want my music to be something,' she said, adding that she's loved reading feedback from listeners on how the record resonates with repeated listening. 'I think there's a lot of detail in there that could be missed if you are going into it with preconceptions of what we sound like as a band.'
Revisiting the songs after recording, she's still struck by their complexity and just how much she enjoys performing them.
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' I've definitely never spent so much time having to relearn how to play songs on the guitar and they're really challenging,' she said, 'but so fun as a guitarist to really figure out how to master.'
By this stage of her career, Zauner is also more assured in taking big, theatrical swings onstage — like her
While touring her last album, Zauner made many of these technical decisions while on the road. Now, she said, she has a firmer handle on how to scale up the production value of her live performances.
'As a young indie artist, you just don't really ever think you're going to get to that state where you can think about those things and incorporate it into the live show,' she said. ' We wanted to put together a stage design that was reflective of the album and how it almost has a theater-like quality.'
The ever-upward trajectory of Zauner's profile, in some ways, has been at odds with her mind-set as a musician — to keep tinkering with her image and challenging her listeners. 'For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)' may not have been the cushiest direction for the band to take, but it's one that brings Zauner far more gratification than a rehash of previous sounds.
'It would've been really easy for me to make 'Jubilee: Part Two' or have set my sights on making something popular and more mainstream,' she said. 'But I wanted to make something that felt deeper and more intellectual and interesting and took time to engage with — which I think in this culture is courageous.'
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JAPANESE BREAKFAST
With Ginger Root
MGM Music Hall at Fenway, 2 Lansdowne St., Boston. Wednesday, May 7, 8 p.m.
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New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
How much are the cheapest Mumford and Sons ‘Rushmere' tickets?
Vivid Seats is the New York Post's official ticketing partner. We may receive revenue from this partnership for sharing this content and/or when you make a purchase. Featured pricing is subject to change. Listen up, 'Little Lion Men.' Starting June 5, Mumford and Sons officially launch the North American leg of their international 'Rushmere Tour' in support of their recently-released album. New York-based fans are in luck, too. This 42-concert trek includes four stops in the state. To kick their NY stint off, the 'I Will Wait' group headlines at Saratoga Springs' Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Saturday, June 21. Nearly two months later, the folk rockers drop into Forest Hills' Forest Hills Stadium on Friday, Aug. 8 and Saturday, Aug. 9. They'll close the New York portion of their run with a show at Buffalo's Keybank Center on Thursday, Oct. 16. They won't be going it alone at these shows either. The group has enlisted Nathaniel Rateliff, Japanese Breakfast, Gregory Alan Isakov, Sierra Ferrell, Lucius and more to open for them on select dates. And, while we can't predict what they'll take to the stage on this sprawling multi-country marathon of a tour, we expect a healthy dose of 'Rushmere' along with the hits you know and love. At their short surprise Stagecoach set, the ensemble performed nine songs according to Set List FM including the biggies like 'Little Lion Man,' 'The Cave' and 'I Will Wait.' If this sounds like the can't-miss show of the summer for you, tickets are available for all North American (and some European) Mumford and Sons 'Rushmere' concerts on Vivid Seats. At the time of publication, the lowest price we could find on tickets was $45.85 including fees. Other North American non-festival shows start anywhere from $53.15 to $298.50 including fees. For more information, our team has everything you need to know and more about Mumford and Sons' 2025 'Rushmere Tour' below. All prices listed above are subject to fluctuation. Mumford and Sons tour schedule 2025 A complete calendar including all North American (and a few European) tour dates, venues and links to buy tickets can be found below. Mumford and Sons tour dates Ticket prices start at June 5 at the Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend, OR $114 (including fees) June 6 at the Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend, OR $129 (including fees) June 9 at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA $71 (including fees) June 10 at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA $45.85 (including fees) June 12 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA $73 (including fees) June 14 at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City, UT $53.15 (including fees) June 17 at the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, IN $67.47 (including fees) June 18 at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, OH $66.06 (including fees) June 20 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA $59 (including fees) June 21 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY $55.32 (including fees) June 22 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD $84 (including fees) June 24 at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto, ON, CA $147 (including fees) July 18-20 at the Under The Big Sky Festival in Whitefish, MT Three-day passes $369 (including fees) July 18 at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, WA $81.20 (including fees) July 19 at the Under The Big Sky Festival in Whitefish, MT Single-day passes $289 (including fees) July 21 at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO $298.50 (including fees) July 22 at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO $285.10 (including fees) July 24 at the Azura Amphitheater in Bonner Springs, KS $68.87 (including fees) July 26 at the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, GA $115 (including fees) July 27 at the Credit One Stadium in Charleston, SC $68 (including fees) July 29 at the Coastal Credit Union Music Park in Raleigh, NC $75.85 (including fees) July 31 at the Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, AL $97 (including fees) Aug. 1 at the Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, AL $82 (including fees) Aug. 3 at the Woldenberg Riverfront Park in New Orleans, LA $168 (including fees) Aug. 4 at the Piedmont Interstate Fair in Spartanburg, SC $141 (including fees) Aug. 5 at the Allianz Amphitheater in Richmond, VA $82.35 (including fees) Aug. 7 at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, VT $145 (including fees) Aug. 8 at Forest Hills Stadium in Forest Hills, NY $135 (including fees) Aug. 9 at Forest Hills Stadium in Forest Hills, NY $115 (including fees) Oct. 8 at the United Center in Chicago, IL $123 (including fees) Oct. 9 at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, MN $80 (including fees) Oct. 11 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI $112 (including fees) Oct. 12 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH $62 (including fees) Oct. 14 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA $123 (including fees) Oct. 16 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY $72 (including fees) Oct. 17 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC, CA $86 (including fees) Oct. 19 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA $72 (including fees) Oct. 20 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI $87 (including fees) Oct. 22 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN $54 (including fees) Oct. 24 at the Moody Center in Austin, TX $136 (including fees) Oct. 25 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK $86 (including fees) Oct. 26 at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, NE $74 (including fees) Nov. 10 at the Uber Arena in Berlin, DE $392 (including fees) Nov. 12 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, DE $181 (including fees) Nov. 23 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, ES $86 (including fees) Nov. 29 at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, GB $153 (including fees) Nov. 30 at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, GB $106 (including fees) Dec. 2 at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, GB $195 (including fees) Dec. 3 at the Co-op Live in Manchester, GB $123 (including fees) Dec. 5 at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield, GB $160 (including fees) Dec. 7 at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, GB $171 (including fees) Dec. 8 at the Utilita Arena in Cardiff, GB $185 (including fees) Dec. 10 at the O2 Arena in London, GB $143 (including fees) Dec. 11 at the O2 Arena in London, GB $155 (including fees) (Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time. All prices are in US dollars, subject to fluctuation and, if it isn't noted, will include additional fees at checkout.) Vivid Seats is a verified secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand. They offer a 100% buyer guarantee that states your transaction will be safe and secure and your tickets will be delivered prior to the event. Still curious about Vivid Seats? You can find an article from their team about why the company is legit here. Under The Big Sky Festival 2025 On top of the tour, Mumford and Sons are also headlining a music festival this year. On July 19, the band will rock out at Whitefish, MT's three-day Under The Big Sky Festival, which goes down at the Big Mountain Ranch. They'll be joined on the bill by country icons Tyler Childers, Wynonna Judd, The Red Clay Strays, Wyatt Flores and Willow Avalon among others over the long weekend in Whitefish. If you'd like to be there, single and multi-day Under The Big Sky passes can be picked up here. Mumford and Sons set list In tandem with the release of the album, Mumford and Sons performed a handful of intimate pre-tour shows this spring. Based on our findings, the final gig went down at New York's Brooklyn Paramount Theater on March 26. For a closer look at what the band played that evening, take a look at what Set List FM reported. 01.) 'Rushmere' 02.) 'Babel' 03.) 'Little Lion Man' 04.) 'Lover of the Light' 05.) 'Caroline' 06.) 'Where It Belongs' 07.) 'Ghosts That We Knew' 08.) 'Awake My Soul' 09.) 'I Will Wait' 10.) 'Delta' 11.) 'The Wolf' Encore 12.) 'Timshel' 13.) 'Ditmas' 14.) 'Malibu' 15.) 'The Boxer' (Simon & Garfunkel cover) 16.) 'The Cave' Mumford and Sons new music On March 28, Mumford and Sons released their fifth studio album 'Rushmere,' which is named after where the band members first met in Wimbledon, U.K. And, for a record by one of the world's biggest bands, it's not long. In fact, the ten-track record is quite lean and mean, clocking in at a surprisingly brief 34 minutes and 22 seconds. This bloat-free offering starts small with the unassuming 'Malibu,' which builds into a longing chorus complete with an anthemic piano accompaniment. From there, Mumford employs his trademark yelp for the upbeat, hard-charging 'Caroline.' The switch from inspirational ballad to friendly jam is proof positive that the band still knows what make them so special- emotional epics and singalongs. They combine those qualities to great effect in the title track 'Rushmere.' The jangling three-minute tune is a ramshackle good time in step with the group's biggest hits. It's intimate, it's epic, it's inviting, it's everything you want a Mumford and Sons song to be complete with an unforgettable refrain — 'light me up I'm wasted in the dark/rush me a restless heart to the end' — that you won't be able to stop wailing in your best Marcus impression. Other standouts here include the funky, minimalistic, hand-clapping 'Truth' (arguably our favorite on the record, for the record), the so delicate it might wither away 'Where It Belongs' and 'Carry On,' which perfectly captures the bittersweet feeling of 'closing up shop.' If you'd like to hear the short yet epic album for yourself, you can find 'Rushmere' here. Mumford and Sons special guests All Mumford and Sons shows will come with a big name — yet down-to-earth — opening act or two. To make sure you're familiar with each artists' sound ahead of the show you attend, here are their most-streamed tracks on Spotify. Nathaniel Rateliff: 'S.O.B.' Trombone Shorty: 'Hold Up, Wait A Minute' Japanese Breakfast: 'Be Sweet' Gregory Alan Isakov: 'Big Black Car' Michael Kiwanuka: 'Cold Little Heart' Sierra Ferrell: 'Holy Roller' Gigi Perez: 'Sailor Song' Lucius: 'Two of Us On the Run' Margo Price: 'Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die' (Live) Madison Cunningham: 'In My Life' Good Neighbours: 'Home' Divorce: 'Antarctica' Celisse: 'Just Across The River' Chris Thile: 'Heart In A Cage' Ketch Secor: 'Send No Angels' Leif Vollbeck: 'Long Blue Light' Huge artists on tour in 2025 Many of the biggest boot-stompin' acts with DIY aesthetics will be out and about this year. Here are just five of our favorites you won't want to miss live these next few months. • The Lumineers • Lord Huron • CAAMP • My Morning Jacket • Mt. Joy Also, old guard vets Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and Neil Young will be on the road as well. Need even more live music in your life? Take a look at our list of all the biggest artists on tour in 2025 to find the show for you. This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change
Boston Globe
27-05-2025
- Boston Globe
Here's what's in store for the Stage at Suffolk Downs this summer
Now, on the precipice of its third season – and its most robust slate of shows to date – the Stage at Suffolk Downs seems like it's off to the races at last. The venue's 2025 calendar feels like an official introduction to its capabilities as an 8,500-capacity open-air space, able to wrangle both multi-day music festivals and large-scale outdoor shows from touring artists like Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'It took us another year to truly get the venue established out there, and we are really excited to launch an exciting and diverse summer of concerts in 2025,' Bhatti says. Advertisement The venue's 2025 programming launches on Friday when This summer's lineup further cements Suffolk Down's place in the Bowery Boston family of venues, but also highlights the advantages of its lush, general admission infield. An appearance from alt-rock sisters Two festivals will also touch down in East Boston this year: a California-born Pride festival called , and the As the venue continues to strengthen its footing in the Boston music community, it also serves as a landing place for artists who are climbing the ladder of Bowery Boston venues, ascending to larger stages every time they return to the area. Bhatti cites Khruangbin as a prime example of this ongoing graduation; since 2016, the group has vaulted from cozier clubs like Great Scott (which has since closed) and The Sinclair to the mid-sized venues Royale and Roadrunner. When the band returns to Boston this summer on their 'A LA SALA' tour, their stop at Suffolk Downs will be the next logical step, both in terms of crowd size and setting. (The trio rocked Boston Calling last year, if that's any indicator of their draw or their feelings about open-air performances). Advertisement 'Having the chance to present them where their music really shines – outdoors – should be an amazing show later in June,' he says. GIG GUIDE A week after on . The Xfinity Center springs back to life on , complete with indie-pop openers Ben Harper performs with the Innocent Criminals at Roadrunner on Sunday. Adam Keely Denver's husband-wife alt-pop duo Advertisement This Friday, Bloc Party celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut album "Silent Alarm" at MGM Music Hall at Fenway. Emily Marcovecchio At MGM Music Hall at Fenway, also zoom in on their new record 'Aperture' at the club on New Jersey emcee Whale Jam, an annual benefit for the Plymouth-based nonprofit Whale and Dolphin Conservation, takes over Lansdowne Street this week. At the House of Blues on Advertisement "Handle With Care," the debut album from Lowell band The Ghouls, arrives this Friday. Kira Emery NOW SPINNING The Ghouls, 'Handle With Care.' The last time I heard a project on par with 'Handle With Care,' the year was 2014 and I was enjoying alt-rock demos from The Rare Occasions, a Rhode Island group who have since moved to L.A. and netted a platinum-certified single. Needless to say, the rough 'n' tumble alternative of The Ghouls's debut record gleams with promise, and I predict the Lowell band's cartwheeling youthfulness will nab them many honors beyond their current title of 2024 Rock and Roll Rumble winners. Garbage's eighth album casts a barbed disposition over its electronic-slanted rock. Joseph Cultice Garbage, Matt Berninger's sophomore solo album "Get Sunk" is a flannel patchwork of folk and alt-rock that grows cozier with every listen. Chantal Anderson Matt Berninger, BONUS TRACK Club Passim will revel in the spirit of its Palmer Street precursor Club 47 on Advertisement Victoria Wasylak can be reached at . Follow her on Bluesky @
New York Times
16-05-2025
- New York Times
The Road Trips That Changed Their Lives
As part of our summer Travel issue, dedicated to driving across America — that enduring rite of passage for so many impassioned travelers — we collected snapshots of U.S. road trips undertaken by 13 creative people. We asked each of them to tell us about their most meaningful journeys and what made them so indelible. The destination? Certain detours and pit stops? Who sat beside them in the car, or who they met along the way? Their answers were as varied as their routes, but the underlying reason for each boiled down to one simple fact: Few other types of vacations fuel the imagination as effectively as a long, meandering drive. Michelle Zauner, a.k.a. Japanese Breakfast, 36, musician Philadelphia to Nashville, 2013 When my husband, Peter [Bradley], and I were in that vague, wild time when we were transitioning from being friends to lovers, we decided to go to Nashville on a whim. We were working at this Mexican fusion restaurant in Philadelphia and, after getting off an unexpectedly busy Sunday shift, we drove all night. We were young, and that seemed like a good idea. A friend had made us a mixtape with a country song for every year from the '50s to the 2000s. One of them, 'Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town' by Kenny Rogers, inspired a song on my new album called 'Men in Bars,' which is similarly about a guy pleading with his girl not to go out. We took a picture in front of the Nashville sign, we ordered meat and threes and we went to Robert's Western World. We'd never been to a honky-tonk bar before. One guy had this trick where he'd lift himself up off the body of his upright bass. It was inspiring to see people work that circuit, and it showed me what country music could be. We slept at a gross hotel for a couple of nights and, on the way back home, I broke out in full-body hives at an Olive Garden, so we swung by a hospital. They gave me Benadryl, and poor Peter had to drive for the next seven hours. I think all of the songs I've written about him have that trip in their subconscious. Antoni Porowski, 41, chef and TV personality Austin to New York City, 2021 I'd finished filming 'Queer Eye' in Austin and wanted to get back to New York but ended up lingering in Texas. I was with my newly adopted pit bull mix, Neon, and Ben Levine, an agent and friend. On our way out of town, we stopped by my favorite bakery, ThoroughBread. They have a peanut butter and jelly cookie they serve warm, and they make kolaches where the egg is somehow a very soft scramble. Then we headed to Waco, where I learned about the empire of Chip and Joanna Gaines [of the show 'Fixer Upper']. Outside their Magnolia complex in town, people were lined up like ants. I tried their famous chicken salad croissant sandwich, which was objectively delicious — it had wonderful lamination. In Dallas, the streets were wider than anything and dead empty because it was June and just so painfully hot. At one point on this trip, the road looked like it was rippling like in that scene from [the 1991 film] 'My Own Private Idaho.' We went to this sushi restaurant that had jalapeño-ranch-aioli-drizzled-over-a-rainbow roll-type vibes. Everyone was so dressed up, while I was in shorts and a ripped-up tee. In between stops, there were a lot of heart-to-hearts and a lot of laughs. It takes a specific kind of person, someone who can banter and go deep, and the trip eased my nerves about what was next for me. Ben also showed me how to put air in the tires. This was after a snafu where I'd pretended to know. Stephen Shore, 77, photographer New York to California, 1973 In 1972, having grown up in Manhattan and just learned to drive at 24, I went from New York to Arizona, taking pictures with 35-mm film. A year later, I decided to make another trip using a 4x5, which is an old-fashioned large-format camera mounted on a tripod that you go under a dark cloth to shoot. As I was going to explore the country, I thought I'd dress the part, so I got a belted safari jacket and matching khaki pants. I stuck to the old U.S. highway system, which went through the center of each town. I'd see something of interest and stop and work. I did that seven days a week for two months, keeping my film cool with ice packs I'd refreeze at motel restaurants. There was also a postcard distribution element. Previously, thinking they were what the New York art world wanted more than anything, I'd printed 56,000 postcards of spots I'd photographed in Amarillo, Texas — the county courthouse, the Army-Navy store where you'd get your Levi's — and hadn't sold any. As I drove around the country, I found postcard racks and stuffed them with my cards. In the past, when I'd taken pictures of people's homes, they'd sometimes call the police thinking I was casing their house. But this time, when I had my big view camera and my tripod, [people were less suspicious and] I found I could do more with it. One of the few times someone approached me was in Ashland, Wis. It turned out he'd grown up with my friend John Szarkowski, who was the head of photography at MoMA. This guy was a lawyer and invited me to his and his wife's home to have dinner and watch the Watergate hearings. Valerie June, 43, singer-songwriter Santa Barbara to Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., 2024 I was touring along the Pacific Coast Highway, which I periodically feel called back to. I was first there when I was 22 and homeless, but I'd learned I could depend on music. I'd busk and make enough tips to get to the next town. This time, I was marveling at how I now perform in theaters and people come to see me. I also had time to commune with the nature of the place, which I find rejuvenating. Traveling via minivan, my two crew members and I started in Santa Barbara, Calif., and made our way to Pismo Beach because I wanted to stay at this roadside motel perched on a cliff above the ocean. Then I played two shows in San Francisco. I rented a convertible and drove out to meet [fans and friends] at Bohemian Flowers, their farm in Sebastopol. The last show was down in Big Sur, outside the Henry Miller Memorial Library. It's nestled among redwoods. That's where I sang my song 'Endless Tree' in front of other people for the first time. It was beautiful to hear the sound bouncing off that living wood. Afterward, we drove to the Carmel Mission Inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea, getting in quite late. We sat by the fire drinking wine, but I still got up at 6 the next morning, and I happened upon a hiking trail. Have you ever seen a California poppy? Sally Breer, 37, interior designer Boston to coastal Maine, 2022 Starting in July, my family did a two-month road trip. It was the end of Covid and we were blending back into the world. Also, a friend of mine had passed away, and I felt an urgency to be present with my kids. We flew from L.A. to Boston and, from there, would drive in our rented red Jeep for a couple of days before spending a week somewhere, largely making it up as we went. I remember looking out the kitchen window of this farmhouse set on rolling hills in Ghent, N.Y., and starting to cry. I thought, 'I didn't even know I needed this.' That summer, I had visceral reactions to greenery. Then we went to Providence, which — what a scene. People were day drinking in the street, and we ate sardines and ricotta on toast. We pit stopped in Portland, Me., and continued on to the Bar Harbor area, where we met up with friends. One of them took us in his tiny putt-putt boat in deep fog. I was certain we were going to sink, but we arrived safely on Little Cranberry Island, where a sizable percentage of the population are lobstermen. Then we traveled around Maine for a month. There were no billboards, so it was like being in a nature preserve, and we ate about a hundred lobster rolls. Every morning we weren't in transit, we spent at the water. My husband and kids would swim and I would draw. That whole trip was a reminder to slow down. Edvin Thompson, 32, fashion designer Atlanta to New York City, 2013 A year or so after college, my friend Sakinah [Bashir], and I heard that Wintter [Alex] and Mia [Moto], who owned the Atlanta vintage shop Poor Little Rich Girl and were mentors to us, were driving from Atlanta to New York for the Afropunk Festival, and we asked if we could tag along. We piled into this Ford Explorer, which was packed to the brim with our luggage, and Wintter and Mia took turns driving. Sakinah and I didn't know how to drive and, fun fact, we still don't. We listened to Kendrick Lamar's 'Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City' album, which had dropped the year before, and I spent a lot of time staring out the window and daydreaming, just like I had when I was growing up in Jamaica and would take the bus from the country to visit my grandparents in Kingston. Except that I had no idea what to expect from this trip, which ended up being a different kind of experience of the U.S. for me. It was my first time in North Carolina, going to diners and gas stations, eating hot dogs and frozen yogurt on the road. We stopped in D.C. and saw the monuments, which, because of their bigness and what they symbolize, felt heavy. When we got to New York, I was on a natural high. I got my septum pierced on St. Marks Place, I saw SZA and that high kick that she does when she performs and I connected with a lot of Black and brown individuals, a lot of individuals in general, especially in creative industries. The energy was amazing, and that trip spurred my move to New York the following year. Lucy Dacus, 30, singer-songwriter Nashville to Memphis, 2017 My Boygenius bandmate and partner, Julien Baker, and I had been friends for about a year, and she wanted me to see her hometown. She drove from Memphis, picked me up in Nashville, where I was recording, and later drove me back to Memphis. I was touched that someone would go so out of their way. She'd made a playlist the length of the drive that was all Memphis people: Big Star, Three 6 Mafia. Julien's what she'd call a controversial driver, so I was keeping us on the road with the power of my mind while she sang and danced along. There's a lot of blasted rock on either side of I-40 that's very cool. When it rains, tiny waterfalls come off the rock. In Memphis, I got the tour de Julien. She drove me to her high school and where she'd worked and the skate park her band played at. We also stopped to see her dad at his work. He makes prosthetic limbs. We ate at Central BBQ, even though Julien was vegan at the time, because, she explained, it was important. And we went to Overton Park, where I wrote most of my song 'Kissing Lessons.' We'd been talking so much about our pasts and early queer experiences, and it had been cooking on the back burner in the car. I tend to write a lot on road trips. There's something meditative about keeping your eyes on the horizon and everything moving around you while you're sitting still. Ignacio Mattos, 45, chef Dallas to Tucson, Ariz., 2018 I went on a tour to promote the Estela cookbook [named for one of Mattos's New York City restaurants] and it took me to places I never imagined I'd be. For one of the legs, my friend Sebastian and I went from Dallas to Tucson, Ariz. On that drive, we had some of the best conversations of my life — personal stuff about relationships and growth — and we listened to Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty and Neil Young, which felt fitting. I hadn't done much homework — on trips, I prefer to surrender to the experience. In Texas, though, we'd pull off the road and find really good barbecue every time. When we got to Tucson, we strolled around the town, and the saguaro cactuses outside people's front doors were mesmerizing to me. I'd seen pictures of them but never stood next to one or even been to the desert, and it was one of those powerful, spiritual moments with nature. I wanted to hug the cactuses, even though I clearly couldn't, and I thought, 'I need to know more.' The next day we went to Saguaro National Park, and I was struck again by the scale and shape and density of them, how they collect water and provide shade, their flowers. I wished we could stay for sunset, when the sky there looks as though it's on fire, but we had to be on our way for a book event. Even then, I couldn't get the saguaros out of my mind. I still think about them all the time. Larissa FastHorse, 54, playwright Sioux Falls to Eagle Butte, S.D., 2023 I was in Sioux Falls, S.D., touring a show that Michael John Garcés and I created called 'Wicoun' but took a detour to meet up with my family in Pierre to bury my father, who'd died the previous winter. I chose the route for my dad. He was a parole officer and his territory included five reservations. I'm adopted but, because I'm Lakota, he shared a lot about his time in those spaces, and I went through three of them on this trip: Crow Creek, Lower Brule and Cheyenne River. I took 265th Street, a rural road that cuts through all these little towns. What I like to do is drive around at lunchtime and go wherever there are parked cars. Usually it isn't a restaurant but a dinner club, the V.F.W. or the American Legion, and you chitchat and eat whatever they give you. At one place, it was $7 for a meat sandwich, three sides and a huge piece of homemade cake. When I got to the Missouri River, I headed north. There's a famous rest stop that houses a museum that used to be only about Lewis and Clark, but now includes the Lakota people and has a gigantic statue of a native woman with a star quilt whom I paid my respects to. The experience of being there, blended with my memories of my father, was really meaningful. I was alone but not, and there's something magical about prairie. You go up what seems like a slight hill, and suddenly you have this vista of valleys and tributaries and it feels like you can see forever. Amanda Williams, 50, artist Chicago to Ithaca, N.Y., 1992 I'd graduated high school in Chicago and gotten into architecture school at Cornell. Both my parents went to college, but in a different time and in the South, so their stories were more 'I had one trunk and had to drag it myself.' This was fun and a milestone for our family because it marked the end of us doing all sorts of things as a foursome. My dad rented a dark blue minivan. We had a new cooler filled with sandwiches — this trip was different because we'd bought the sandwiches from the store. It had all the elements of our usual road trips to visit family, but supersize and special. We also had a Rand McNally book of maps, in which we'd drawn our route in red pen. My brother and I chose the music, though our mom didn't approve of cursing, so that limited us to things like A Tribe Called Quest, LL Cool J, New Edition. We stopped at a Wendy's in Erie, Penn., where there was this sweet guy whose job was to welcome people. My parents had explicit memories of it not being safe for Black people to travel so, even though it was the '90s, there was relief in that. Another time we stopped for gas, and my friend Nicole happened to be at the next pump. She was also on her way to college, but she was going to Virginia, and that's when we realized we'd missed a turn. Years later, my mom told me that after we'd made it to my dorm and said goodbye, she got back in the car and sobbed. Still, the overall tenor of that trip was joy. Rachel Kushner, 56, writer Albuquerque to San Cristobal, N.M., 2019 The Lannan Foundation, which is in Santa Fe, had invited me to moderate a talk with the scholar and activist Ruth Wilson Gilmore. Ruth's an old friend of my aunt DeeDee Halleck, a media activist, so she came along, and so did my son, Remy, who was 11. Before the event, I couldn't find DeeDee anywhere. At the last minute, she showed up with this mysterious man with a black cowboy hat who turned out to be Lee Lew-Lee, a former Black Panther. That seemed like a great beginning. We stayed at a rural property near El Rito amid pink box canyons in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. At one point on a long hike, Remy very calmly said, 'We are directly over a cliff face, and I'm going to get us out of here safely.' We made three art pilgrimages: We rode horses past Georgia O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch house on the floor of a mesa. We visited [the artist] Wendy Clarke, the daughter of [the filmmaker] Shirley Clarke, in San Cristobal, and she showed us her exquisite fiber art and her llama, alpaca and donkeys. And we drove to Galisteo to see [the sculptor] Nancy Holt's house, which, five years after her death, was about to be sold. Nancy and DeeDee were close, and it was the last time we could go inside and see what Nancy saw from her windows. Her work is very much about a relationship to cosmology, and it relates to the desert with a kind of Zen emptiness. I've always felt like Nancy left directions and I'm supposed to pay attention to whatever they are. Jody Williams, 62, and Rita Sodi, 63, chefs San Francisco to Healdsburg, Calif., 2023 Jody Williams: We usually need a catalyst to get out. This time, it was [the chef] Chris Kostow asking us to do an event at one of his restaurants, the Charter Oak in St. Helena [in Napa County, Calif.]. We landed in San Francisco and, whenever I'm there, I have to do two things: get lunch at Zuni Café and see the counter at the Swan Oyster Depot. Then we beelined it up to Chris's. Rita drove. Rita Sodi: I love cars, though I'm not in love with white cars and I think we ended up with something white. On the way, there was a lot of evidence of wildfires, which was sad, but it was good to see that trees were still standing. Williams: We're always nervous when we do events, but we got to cook with some really cool chefs, and there was a lot of camaraderie. Afterward we went to Gott's, a roadside hamburger and milkshake place. I'm always trying to show Rita more of America, though she's never going to be the sort of person to have a milkshake for dinner. Sodi: I take what I like and leave the things that aren't for me. Williams: From there we just meandered: Healdsburg, Yountville, Sonoma, Marshall. In Calistoga, we saw what our friends at Schramsberg [Vineyards] had in their cellar, and in Tomales Bay, we had barbecued oysters at Nick's Cove. It was stop and eat, stop and eat, look, shop, go. 'What's this?' Make a right turn. Park at the beach. Fog rolls in. Fog rolls out. Sodi: We went to the most beautiful beach, what was it? Williams: We went to five, and the driftwood we brought back to New York is my prized possession, but I think you mean Bodega Bay. I like to sit and ooh and aah at things, the sea lions and starfish. Just make sure you bring a wedge of cheese, a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine and keep a corkscrew in your pocket. These interviews have been edited and condensed.
