The name Hwy. 61 Productions is a tip of the hat to the classic Bob Dylan album "Highway 61 Revisited", and to the company's origination in Minnesota. The actual highway 61 that Dylan sings about runs along the beautiful shoreline of Lake Superior, north of Duluth (Dylans' birthplace). Farther downstream it follows the Mississippi River through some of the most scenic territory in southern Minnesota, down through the center of the country to the deep south.
Like the mythical East-West Route 66, the broken stretches of highway 61's remnants still provide the most scenic and historic North-South highway of the middle United States. Highway 61 also took southern blues and country music northward, with some of our key artists, to the urban industrial centers of America after World War II.
Hwy 61 founders Al Neff and Kevin Ridley found themselves traveling this highway on two profound occasions. The first was on the beginning of a 38-day odyssey through England, Ireland and Europe via Ridley's hometown of Chicago. That journey brought them in contact with a homeless harmonica player who taught them to "breathe the music". The next was their impoverished pilgrimage in Neff's 1979 Datsun B-210, then with 306,000 miles on the odometer, to the 1995 grand-opening celebration of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
The synchronicities of these adventures brought to them the realization that all highways are ultimately connected to one another, just like music. The purpose of the Into the Music series is to provide listeners with a "radio roadmap" to the evolution of popular music.
Because music always sounds better on the road, the metaphor of the highway provides a universal catalyst and connection-point for this journey of discovery, and... the music drives us.
The Host and Producer
Al Neff is a 25-year radio veteran who has been refining the Into the Music concept for the past decade. He has a Master's degree in Popular Culture Studies and a black belt in Rock Trivia.
Note From The Producer: I was raised mainly on country music. I love Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, but then I heard some brand new beats. The Beatles later bridged the gap between David Cassidy and Jim Morrison, and a whole new universe opened up for me. What I try to do with the Into the Music series is provide bridges between, and ways to get to, the music that mattered most in the larger picture of music. There's still a lot of work to be done, but I hope you enjoy and get into the current selection as we continue to expand, connect and enhance the features of the Into the Music super-highway.
Favorite Quote: You've gotta travel through the Blues to get to Rock & Roll
