Last night, we piled in the Fiat, drove two hours, got BBQ to go from Leetha’s, ate it on a picnic blanket in an abandoned parking lot in Petsl MS, and drove 2 hours home without going inside anywhere. #COVIDRoadTrip

This was crazy even for our standards, but a week of melancholically listening to Justin Townes Earle took us back to other times, and made us long for one of our crazy, music chasing road trips across the American south. This was the best we could muster w/ COVID.

My wife is from NOLA but we met in SC in grad school. We had no money, but a small car & cheap gas. We followed Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show (back when they were still good), & Bob Dylan everywhere. Ashville, Charlotte, Greenville, Columbia, Charleston, Augusta, Savannah

When we moved to NOLA we waited for Dylan to come to us, but we followed GW further & further. A 30 hour trip to Nashville to see GW netted Justin Townes Earle opening for her. Two months later we went to Baton Rouge to see JTE, Caitlin Rose opened for him. Our travel expanded.

Using credit card points for hotels, we got to know the American South & Texas. Austin, Houston, Dallas, Jackson, Hattiesburg, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Biloxi, Nashville, Memphis, Athens, Chattanooga, Knoxville. We'd drive anywhere.

When the kid came along, we added him. Often even the dog. We once did 3,000 miles around Texas and back in 60 hours.

We never had $ to do much, but we HAD to eat. So besides lots of great music, & the rhythm of the road, we developed a lexicon of knowledge about food in most Southern towns. As well as opinions about which Saenger Theaters are the best preserved, most beautiful, & best acoustics

The names of such towns don't seem foreign to us, nor out of a time warp from a Faulkner/Welty story. Birmingham means a great Tex-Mex restaurant. West Texas means Czech Mex (we once helped Willie Watson pick out kolaches between dates of a Dave Rawlings tour). Memphis meant ribs

Gillian hasn't toured much recently. OCMS is done for us. The house has had tons of repair, and we have had to push every spare dollar beyond that to preserve Donostia. Then COVID. We hadn't been on the road as much. And that's ok. We are lucky to still have jobs.

But the death of JTE hit us hard. He was a great songwriter & he was young, but mostly it felt PERSONAL to us. You feel connected when you follow an act on the road, day after day, noticing subtle setlist changes, driving the same roads, eating up the same roadside Americana

Somehow, sobbing over bourbon at 3 in the morning as we played Yuma, The Good Times, and Harlem River Blues on repeat on our upstairs balcony just wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.

So therefore here's the report: Leetha's pork ribs are pretty darn good, the best I've found in a 2-hour radius (not that that is a high bar). Sadly, she was sold out of chicken. Sausage was solid. We skipped on the pulled pork because we knew it couldn't live up to SC standards

The sides were mostly a miss (especially her "famous" cole slaw), though the potato salad was a big hit. But, honestly, SC trained me to know you don't waste time on sides when eating BBQ. It's all filler.

In short, really good BBQ. Maybe not worth a 2 hour drive-but now I know where to go when I'm in Petal MS.

One more town that has a face. One more town that feels like an old friend.

And thanks to Justin Townes Earle we could live The Good Life for 5 hours.

I'll miss you JTE