Bonfire of Roadmaps.

In Bonfire, I can't help but think of the Beat writers,Corso, Ginsberg, Burroughs, and mostly, of course, Kerouac. . . . Bonfire of Roadmaps, at its very best, is about where music comes from and how it comes from. It offers us a glimpse into the heart of music. . . . This book is true. ,Terry Allen Since he first hitched a ride out of Lubbock, Texas, at the age of sixteen, singer-songwriter and Flatlanders band member Joe Ely has been a road warrior, traveling highways and back roads across America and Europe, playing music for 2 hours of ecstasy out of 22 hours of misery. To stay sane on the road, Ely keeps a journal, penning verses that sometimes morph into songs, and other times remain snapshots of what was flying by, just out of reach, so to savor at a later date when the wheels stop rolling, and the gears quit grinding, and the engines shut down. In Bonfire of Roadmaps, Ely takes readers on the road with him. Using verse passages from his road journals and his own drawings, Ely authentically re-creates the experience of a musician's life on tour, from the hard goodbyes at home, to the long hours on the road, to the exhilaration of a great live show, to the exhaustion after weeks of touring. Ely's road trips begin as he rides the rails to Manhatta.