Goodbye June

You might recall this past Spring, my wife and I were supposed to make a trip down to North Carolina. Unfortunately, due to some circumstances out of our control, that trip got cancelled. I was really looking forward to it too, because that is one of the states that I have been to when I was little, but so far @mrsbozz and I haven't had the chance to visit it together. I'm guessing as long as our niece keeps going to university in Radford and her softball team plays schools from North Carolina, it will eventually happen.

I remember North Carolina being very very pretty, so I am definitely looking forward to getting back there one day.

Somehow, I can't believe it is already the last day of June. We are halfway through 2026 and that is downright scary to me. I feel like we were just flipping the calendar over, and now here we are. Given this fact, I will be sharing a few photos from past June's in my post today. Which works out really well since I don't have any recent or digital photos of North Carolina.

That's right, in case you haven't figured it out yet, our theme this week is North Carolina. Which if you are an astute observer of the United States, that would mean next week we are heading to North Dakota before we move into the 'O's'. There is actually a band called Goodbye June as the title states, and I was hoping they might have a song with North Carolina in the lyrics or title, but it appears they do not. That would have been so perfect though right? Instead, I had to dig into the archive and get you three other songs that mention North Carolina.

As seems to be the case, it was a little tougher than I thought. There are tons of songs that mention just "carolina", but that could also refer to South Carolina, so I didn't really feel I could use those.

Instead, I had to meticulously pick three songs that specifically say North Carolina. Are you ready?

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This first song was a tough one and a no brainer all at the same time. While the lyric is technically "North Caroline", not "North Carolina", there was absolutely no way I could leave "Wagon Wheel" off this list. What started as a rough work by Bob Dylan was picked up by the bluegrass band Old Crow Medicine Show and turned into a full song. Then Darius Rucker did his cover of it and it became a global sensation. The rest as they say is history. This is one of those songs that I think has transcended its original status and has turned the corner to iconic. "Tennessee Whiskey" covered by Chris Stapleton is another one that fits into that category.

As I said, there is no way I could leave Wagon Wheel off this list and it is the perfect way to get things started today. However, because this song is just so huge, that means the other two songs I am going to share with you for #threetunetuesday sponsored by @ablaze are likely going to be a bit more obscure. There isn't much I can do about that, so you just need to power through it. You might even find something you like!

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There was a live version of the song "Hypnotized" by Fleetwood Mac I was going to use for this next one. However, Bob Welch's lips didn't match up with the words in the video, and it drove me crazy, so I just couldn't bring myself to share it. Instead, you get this boring video with awesome sound. This is a Fleetwood Mac song I am not super familiar with. In fact, I couldn't tell you
if I had ever heard it before today, but now that I know it, it is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The groove is just so laid back and awesome. The lyrics are interesting (did you catch the North Carolina reference about a minute and a half in?), and it just has a good vibe in general. The drum intro at the beginning is also pretty awesome. I am a percussion guy though.

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Finally, it would have been wrong if I didn't share another country song since we are talking about one of those states "down south". "Carolina Moon" is a song by Scotty McCreery that features the amazing Alison Krauss. If you don't know who Krauss is, do yourself a favor and check her out. Her work with Robert Plant has become iconic in it's own right. As for McCreery, I was never much of a fan of his, but I got the chance to see him at the Grand Ole Opry and he actually wasn't that bad. He does have some good songs too, but I feel like there were better contestants on his season of American Idol.

This song has a kind of sad feel to it that just works really well for the state in general. It's slow, and it's thoughtful, but there is a beauty to it that just kind of picks you up and floats you along. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

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