Ten Favorite # Songs: Highway 40 Blues (#6)

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It's time for another one of the songs on my list of favorite songs that have a number (an actual number) in the title of the song. This idea was conceived by @teamfreak16 -- and we have our second match of the year! Not today, though. Here's my next song. #6: Highway 40 Blues - Ricky Skaggs Yeah, country music!!!! I thought it had died in the "urban cowboy" era, but no, it came roaring back in the 80s thanks to people like George Strait, Keith Whitley, and later, Dwight Yoakam and Lyle Lovett. Amid all of those greats was Kentucky's own Ricky Skaggs. Skaggs grew up deeply steeped in bluegrass and went to country to help spearhead the "new-traditionalist" movement. In that era he made some great albums and blended classic songs ("I Don't Care," "Crying My Heart Out Over You") with newer tunes for a sterling career that's going to land him in the Hall of Fame one day. This song, written by fellow Kentuckian Larry Cordle (best-known in recent years for writing the protest song "Murder on Music Row"), is such a joyous celebration of the blues that you feel it's terribly misnamed. What a fun, energetic, upbeat song dealing with a down-on-his-luck musician ("I've walked holes in both my shoes," "I've played the honky tonks and bars")! And it's a really good song to listen to when you're driving on Interstate 40. This song is on my 100 favorites list. It's the song that I think of when I think of Ricky Skaggs. Highway 40 Blues Written by Larry Cordle Recorded by Ricky Skaggs From Highways and Heartaches, 1982 Shattered dreams, my mind is numb: