CARLOS CALVO’s 650-Mile Road Show (Camino de Santiago en España)

June 15, 2016 by 1888media

“What if someone offered you an experience that was guaranteed to be completely transformative? That upon having this experience, you would find yourself to be different than when you began. Still the same person, of course, but perhaps a different version. The trouble with such a transformation is that there is no way to know what form this transformation will take. Would you be willing to take that leap?

I am about to embark on such a journey. I am going to be traveling from Bayonne, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain on foot, a distance of about 650 miles, accompanied by my incredible wife, Kirsten, and my trusty Martin LX1 travel guitar. I am walking the ancient and famed Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James. Specifically the Camino del Norte, the path that hugs the north coast of Spain, on the Cantabric Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

I invite you to come with me, you don’t have to do any walking. Together we can see what transpires. And for me, as a musician, also what inspires.” Carlos Calvo

From June 5 – August 5, musician Carlos Calvo, armed with his trusty Martin LX1 travel guitar, will be a strolling minstrel for 650 miles along Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain. As he wanders the long and winding road, travel site ConciergeQ will be his online depot.

So with all these miles to go to along Camino de Calvo, what travel song leads him furthest down the road…

“I think we can all agree that the most common subject matter in songs is romantic love. But what topic is the second most popular? I would have to say that the travel song is. Songs about movement, both figurative and literal. Robert Johnson and Woody Guthrie road the rails. John Denver left on a jet plane. There is Bob Dylan’s mythical Highway 61. Elton John is a master at the theme, he sang about a Rocket Man, bidding goodbye to the Yellow Brick Road, as well as his friend Daniel traveling to Spain. Though perhaps that credit should given to Bernie Taupin, who actually wrote the lyrics. David Bowie spent a lot of time in space. The Eagles took it easy. The Allman Brothers rambled. As did Led Zeppelin and the Stones. And countless others. So many great songs, it’s nearly impossible to pick a favorite. At least for me.”

“But one travel song stays with me. I first heard it covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd on their seminal live album One More From The Road. It’s J.J. Cale’s ‘Call Me The Breeze.’ So many artists have covered it, most recently Eric Clapton. Cale’s own version is excellent and effortless. The song is nearly Buddhist in the narrator’s detachment from possession, both in having one and being one. He might go down to California or maybe Georgia, he’s not sure. How could one not admire that level of personal freedom? But there is also a flirtatious side, he ‘digs those Georgia peaches’. It’s a true standout in the genre of travel songs, and it’s definitely one that I will be bringing along with me as I travel on down the road.” Carlos Calvo