New Fly Fishing Music of a Different Sort

If you have a playlist called “Fly Fishing Music,” what’s on that list? For Texas Fly Casters, I would think it may contain some Ryan Bingham, James McMurtry, Shiny Ribs, Hayes Carll, Willie Nelson, Los Lonely Boys, Stevie Ray, and ZZ Top. All of these are possible, as well as so many “Texas Music” variants. The Texas sound is as big and wide as the State it’s named after, and certainly doesn’t limit itself to Texas.

The same can be said for fly fishing music. The best fly fishing music playlists include their local flavor AND flavors from other parts of the USA.

If you are a Tennessee Valley fly fisher, then your fly fishing playlist probably has Old Crow Medicine Show, and music that leans distinctly toward bluegrass. A Colorado fly fishing playlist (where dope is legal), must have some Widespread Panic, Phish, Moe and String Cheese Incident. Florida is (the original) home to Tom Petty, there’s JJ Grey & Mofro, and you’ve got to have some reggae and Police if you’re on the beach. Georgia? That means Allman Brothers, REM, Black Crowes and the Drive By Truckers. The left coast fly fishing music? If I were still living out there, I bet it would be dominated by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Head north to the Pacific Northwest, and the remnants of grunge and more jam bands would probably be on their playlist.

Some music should be on a national fly fishing playlist. I just picked up the new Eric Clapton, Dawes and a CD from a movie by Dave Grohl. 2013 has a lot of music momentum. Now spinning around here are; Rock Candy Funk Party, Jim James, Dale Watson, Ben Harper & Charley Musselwhite, Son Volt and Wayne Hancock. Feel free to avoid the new Willie Nelson, with all due respect to the octogenarian, like the black plague. It seems that bands (like Black Keys and others) now think it’s cute to release new music unannounced. I don’t know who the marketing genius who thought of that is, but they’re probably the same folks who brought us “New Coke.”

What’s on your fly fishing music playlist?