Thank you, SOM records and your .99 cent bin. Sometimes I bring home crap, and sometimes I bring home something really special.

Bud & Travis are at their best when they're playing fast, rythmic folk songs. Like a high-powered fan slapping against leather, these two strum guitars and sing "La Bamba" like no other. Read their bios, here.

1. "How Long, How Long Blues" - Bud & Travis

2. "Take Off Your Old Coat" - Bud & Travis 

And something happened. And the clouds, giants plumes of white, welcomed us. The road opened itself to us. We coasted down the highway, as though we'd just been swallowed whole by the sublime promise of the American landscape.

If you do nothing else today, listen to this song.

"Mykonos" - Fleet Foxes (off Sun Giant-EP)

And if you read nothing else this summer, read Blue Highways by William Least-Heat Moon. 

And then, if you're not completely freaked out by the gas prices this summer, hop in your Corolla and discover America.