We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Driving South

by Highway 61

/
  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Stock just arrived from Highway 61 and our mates at Sioux Records, Limited Edition White Vinyl version of 'Driving South'.

    Highway 61 is proud to present the first release of our 2023 debut album Driving South on vinyl.
    Limited edition of 300 hand numbered on white vinyl with silk screen cover!!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Driving South via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    8 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $20 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Driving South via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $11 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    CD double shot bundle includes:
    Highway 61 - Driving South CD
    The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs - One More Drink CD (Deluxe Edition)

    Includes unlimited streaming of Driving South via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    2 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $18 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Swaggering rock n' roll CD triple shot bundle at "the nice price" includes:
    Leather Catsuit (Kim Olin, Steve Conte) - Leather Catsuit CD
    Highway 61 - Driving South CD
    Slamdinistas - Shoot For The Stars CD w/fold out mini poster

    Includes unlimited streaming of Driving South via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    2 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $20 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Get a double shot of the Dirty Blues with this double shot CD & Koozie Bundle cheaper than a swig of "Early Times"!! Bundle includes:
    Highway 61 - Driving South CD
    Hambone Skinny - Come Getcha' Some CD
    Hambone Skinny - Koozie!!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Driving South via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    2 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $13 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 262 Rum Bar Records releases available on Bandcamp and save 80%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Songs From They Came To Rock, The Best of Cruzados, The Dotted Line, Whiskey In The Jar & other tales from the bar... EP, Extra Stout, Comin' Home, Op-Operator, They Came To Rock, and 254 more. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $279.40 USD or more (80% OFF)

     

1.
2.
Bad Day 03:39
3.
4.
Black Magic 04:46
5.
6.
Breath Away 03:27
7.
Stranger 04:43
8.
9.
10.
Breathe 04:25

about

"Driving South sits squarely in the tradition of white rockers turbocharging the blues for their own purposes, but Highway 61 fits alongside the Rolling Stones, the Faces, and the Black Crowes – the cultural appropriation is out of love, not cynicism, and the end result turns into rock & roll anyway. Harder than the bands cited above, but nowhere near the blues metal this could become in the wrong hands, the band gets good ‘n’ greasy on “Midnight Train” and “Walk On Water” (which features some nasty slide from Mirikitani, recorded before he passed), hits brutally on “Bad Day” and “Walk Away,” and just generally bashes away unapologetically in the groove everywhere else. Driving South is what Aerosmith might have sounded like with a better singer, a more faithful musical core, and a lot less cocaine." - Michael "Denim" Toland, Big Takeover Magazine

"I tell you what: there ain’t no such thing as a ‘Bad Day’ when Frank Meyer’s whiskey-infused vocals and soaring harp dance and weave around Andy Medway’s oh sweet slide geetar, producing a sound wrenched from the deepest, darkest gutter of everyone’s sodden rawk ‘n’f’n’ roll heart… I don’t know where Meyer’s baby stayed last night, but tonight I’m staying right here at ÜRHQ, with the stereo turned up loud, the whiskey on tap and this soul-satisfying, angst-relieving collection of quality tunes on constant repeat. Yessir, this album is weaving some pretty wicked ‘Black Magic’, enough to make me want to board that ‘Midnight Train’ (‘though maybe not to Georgia) and have my breath taken away… Elegantly dirty stuff indeed, filled to the brim with cocksure attitude and the sort of irritatingly pleasing earworm riffs and melodies that bury themselves deep in you subconscious for weeks at a time: in fact, nothing less than you would expect from the expert rock ‘n’ roll barkeep down at the Rum Bar…" - Uber Rock

Highway 61 is a Los Angeles-based blues-rock ‘n’ roll band whose debut album was recorded 30 years after the band broke up. And it only took a worldwide pandemic, a near-fatal bout with Leukemia, and the death of their mentor to make it happen…

In summer 2022, the foursome reconvened for the first time in decades at Kitten Robot Studios in Los Angeles with producer Paul Roessler (The Screamers, 45 Grave, Nina Hagen) to make Driving South, which mixes doses of The Rolling Stones and Tom Petty with dashes of The Black Crowes and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The band ripped through the entire album over a few weeks, finally tracking fan favorites like “Baby, Where’s You Stay Last Night” and “Supernatural Monkey Child,” alongside brand new song “Black Magic.”

Driving South also salutes Highway 61 mentor Alan Mirikitani, a.k.a. blues guitar master BB Chung King, who sadly passed away in 2015. “Walk on Water” and “Breath Away” feature unreleased solos Mirikitani recorded with the band in 1992. In an incredibly emotional reunion, “Walk on Water” also features Mirikitani’s daughter Alana Mirikitani on backing vocals joining the two artists on an album for the first time.

credits

released April 7, 2023

Frank Meyer – Lead Vocals, Guitars
Andy Medway - Guitars
Mike Knutson – Drums, Percussion
Russell Loeffler – Bass, Vocals

Special Guests:
Alan Mirikitani – Lead Guitar on “Walk on Water” and “Breath Away”
Alana Mirikitani – Backing Vocals on “Walk on Water”
Kellie Rucker – Harmonica and Backing Vocals on “Bad Day”
Paul Roessler – Keyboards

All songs written by:
Frank M Meyer, Cheetahman Music, BMI / Andrew Medway, BMI
Michael Knutson, BMI / Russell Loeffler, ASCAP

Produced by Paul Roessler
Recorded at Kitten Robot Studios (Los Angeles, CA)
Mastered by John “JJ” Watt
Layout/Design by Glenn Robinson

This album is dedicated to the music and memory of Alan Mirikitani. Big thanks to Alana Mirikitani and Kellie Rucker for helping us carry on his legacy through our music. Extra special thanks to Paul Roessler, JJ Watt and Malibu Lou!

IG @highway61la
FB @highway61la
highway61.bandcamp.com
highway61la@gmail.com

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Rum Bar Records Boston, Massachusetts

"Write this down: Rum Bar Records is turning into one of the absolute best labels for real rock & roll these days."
-- the legendary Bill Kelly, Bill Kelly's Blackhole Bandstand SiriusXm ch21 LSUG

contact / help

Contact Rum Bar Records

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Driving South, you may also like: