Dawg Sports Wants To Know: Your Ultimate Tailgate Mix

there are a lot of elements that go into making the perfect football tailgate. Good friends are critical. Delicious food is a must. But underlying all of it, always there in the background, is the perfect tailgate soundtrack. The right songs serve as the perfect aural backdrop for good times with good friends. The wrong music marks you out as a weirdo, maybe even a closet Gator fan.

And the answer to the question ““What is the right soundtrack?” is probably a resounding “it depends.” The late 30s alums listening to Olivia Tremor Control and the late 70s alums listening to Sam and Dave are both right in their own way, and

1. Orange Crush/Finest Worksong, R.E.M. My tailgate music is and always has been Athens-centric, and it doesn’t get more Athens than R.E.M. Plus, these songs are both anthemic in their own way. When I hear them I’m back in sophomore year tailgating at the fraternity house. As Eric Church put it, it’s funny how a melody sounds like a memory.
2. Driving Song, Widespread Panic. Athens-born? Check. Worthy of bobbing along to? Check. Awesome fiddle part that your drunken buddy can get down to? Checkity check check. An all-time classic from the band that shut down Athens and threw a party.
3. Right Hand On My Heart, The Whigs. An absolute banger from one of the quintessential Athens bands. I once advocated for this song, with its powerful opening drum line, to be played pregame in Sanford Stadium. I wasn’t successful in making that happen, but I also wasn’t wrong.
4. Jessica, The Allman Brothers Band. Not strictly Athens based, but certainly a Peach State Classic. The unbridled joy of the Allman Brothers instrumental opus sounds like a crisp fall in the Classic City feels.
5. Love Shack, the B-52s. If you’ve never shouted ““Tin roof!….Rusted.” I think you may have to turn in your Bulldog card.
6. Where the Devil Don’t Stay, Drive-By Truckers. It wouldn’t be an Athens tailgate without the Truckers. While I could go with any of a dozen songs in this spot, I’m landing on the blistering opening track from The Dirty South, no lower than my third favorite DbTs album. Other kickass rock n’ roll songs are available, and your mileage may vary, as they say.

So what’s playing over the speakers at your Bulldog tailgate?

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

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