The stories behind Midnight Call on Highway 61

• Liner Notes: The Driving Outlaw Rhythm of Highway 61 — Take B leans into uptempo Americana rhythms, pairing gravelly baritone narratives with sharp blues guitar riffs.
• Ice Storms, Telemetry Racks, and the Rural Road Atlas — Midnight Call on Highway 61 captures the gritty, solitary reality of field service technicians driving through blizzards to save rural hospital monitors.

Lyrics

The The

Wind howling out of the north

Seventy miles of ice

And a telemetry rack

Down in Pine Bluff

State Patrol said, boy, you better stay inside

There ain't a creature living that can take this ride

Black eyes shining on the two -lane road

Old three -quarter -ton truck hauling a heavy load

Four -loader modules riding on the passenger floor

Pelican case chained to the tailgate door

Dispatcher phone said the storm knocked the power dead I see you running

on an old diesel thread

Ain't no corporate jet flying through this sleet

Ain't no regional director on his frosted feet

Just a cup of black coffee from a truck stop

Piding an old bowman giving all his guy

Midnight, call on Highway 61

Rolling through the dark till the job gets done

Tires throwing slush, diesel engine growl

Answering the wind and the coyote howl

They might not know my name when the sun comes high

But I won't let a small town monitor die

Outlaw runner in the freezing rain

Driving through the storm in a midnight pain

Hit the county line about 3 a .m.

Swapped out the power supply and patch the stem so I ordered up the blow lid

on the back plane slide got the whole bank running right on the spot

nurse

coffee in a styrofoam cup, said,

Mr., you're an angel that just showed up. I tipped my old hat and I shook

my head, just a tired old wrench in a truck, I said.

Midnight, call on Highway 61,

rolling through the dark till the job gets done.

Ties throwing slush diesel engine growl, answering the wind and the

coyote howl. They might not know my name when the sun comes high

But I won't let a small town mother die

Outlaw runner in the freezing rain

Driving through the storm in the midnight pain

No metal on my

chest No plaque upon the wall

Just 30 years of driving

Whenever they call

Midnight call on Highway 61

Rollin' through the dark till the job gets done

Tires throwin' slush, diesel engine growl

Answerin' the wind and the coyote howl

They might not know my name when the sun comes high

But I won't let a small town monitor die

Outlaw runner in the freezing rain

Drivin' through the storm in the midnight pain

Heading back south,

heat a -barely blowing, highway

61