#echo canyon

Truck Driver Day

Professional truck drivers are honored and celebrated today with Truck Driver Day. In the United States, a driver is considered to be a truck driver when their vehicle has a gross vehicle weight—the weight of the vehicle loaded—of at least 26,000 pounds. They must obtain a commercial driver's license (CDL) to drive a vehicle of this weight. Employers often require their drivers to take a safety training program, and some also require a high school degree or GED.

Truck drivers carry all kinds of freight—livestock, food, canned goods, liquids, packages, and vehicles—all across the United States and the world. They often have to load and unload their freight and must inspect their trucks before taking to the road. Truck drivers often ship products to stores, and some may have to undertake sales duties. Many truck drivers work long hours. Some may have daily local routes that keep them close to home, while others may have routes and schedules that often change, and many have to be away from home for an extended amount of time.

Some trucks were on the road in the United States prior to World War I. Trucks continued to be used and developed during the war, and by 1920 there were more than a million trucks on the roads of America. Trucking continued to expand over the following decade, on account of advancements such as the introduction of the diesel engine, improved rural roads, the introduction of power brakes and steering, and the standardization of truck and trailer sizes. In the 1930s, a number of trucking regulations were implemented, and the American Trucking Association was created. Trucking activity increased in the 1950s and '60s, in large part because of the creation of the Interstate Highway System. Regulations on the weight of trucks continued to be updated.

The heyday of the truck driver came in the 1960s and '70s. At the time, a wide swath of the public viewed truck drivers as modern-day cowboys or outlaws. The rise of "trucker culture" was signaled with the proliferation of trucker songs and films, the wearing of plaid shirts and trucker hats by the public, and the wide use of CB radios and CB slang. The romanticization of trucker culture subsided by the dawn of the 1980s.

Many truckers went on strike during the energy crises of 1973 and 1979, after the cost of fuel rose. The Motor Carrier Act of 1980 partially deregulated the industry. As a result, many new trucking companies were started. Trucker union membership also drastically declined, leading to lower pay. But the deregulation did reduce consumer costs, and it increased production and competition in the trucking industry. By the twenty-first century, trucking dominated the freight industry. In 2006, there were 26 million trucks on America's roads, which hauled about 70 percent of the country's freight. Truckers continue to play a prominent role in keeping the wheels of the economy turning, and for the hard work they put in to make this happen, they are honored and celebrated today!

How to Observe Truck Driver Day

Some ideas of ways the day could be spent include:

If you are a truck driver, get out there and drive! Or, take the day off. It should be up to you!

Wave to truckers or make a gesture like you are pulling a truck horn in an attempt to get them to honk their horns.

Thank a truck driver. Tell them thanks in person or make a social media post of thanks. Include the hashtag #TruckDriverDay.

Become a truck driver.

Listen to some truck driving songs such as "Convoy" and "Truck Drivin' Man."

Watch some truck driving films such as Smokey and the Bandit, Convoy, and Big Rig.

Talk on a CB radio.

Eat at a truck stop.

Attend or take part in the National Truck Driving Championships, which are held around the time as Truck Driver Day.

Read a book about trucking or truckers such as Trucking Country: The road to America's Wal-Mart Economy or The Long Haul: A Trucker's Tales of Life on the Road.

Discrètement, avec autant d’amour que d’assiduité, mon pote Julien Paget, via son label Echo Canyon, construit une oeuvre discographique aussi passionnante que cohérente en enchaînant des sorties se voulant le reflet de ses goûts en constante évolution, d’un émo hurlé habité à un rock plus mature et posé. 

KINDLING regroupe en son sein un ex-FOREIGN OBJECTS (Andrew Farr) ainsi que deux boulimiques de la scène skramz (Andy Kelly et Stephen Pierce, ex-AMPERE / THE LAST FORTY SECONDS / RITUAL MESS / WOLVES / MONTCALM / AEROSOLS... Ca va, les mecs ?), rassemblés autour d’une douce chanteuse appelée Gretchen (à l’image de cette jeune Allemande blonde comme les blés dont j’étais tombé amoureux lors de mes vacances en Crète, il y a 27 ans de ça). Le quatuor ainsi formé balance six nouveaux titres sur ce joli maxi rose, faisant suite à un album assez solide (et bleu) sorti l’année dernière chez No Idea. Aucun surprise pour qui y aura déjà jeté une oreille, c’est toujours de l’excellente pop sonique et planante, shoegaze dans la production, indie dans la composition. La galette tournant en 45 tours, ça file excessivement droit au but. Même pas le temps de te remettre de ces émotions vocales que le disque est déjà terminé. Du coup, tu le repasses. En boucle. Tout le contraire de ceux des PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART, si tu vois ce que je veux dire.

MONPLAISIR, en revanche, y’a quelque chose de moins immédiat. Moins pop. Mais ça m’accroche carrément plus l’oreille sur le long terme. Je comprends que Julien ait eu envie de presser cette démo dans un format plus approprié en la découvrant. On y retrouve Pierre, guitariste-chanteur-pieuvre chez ONZE et ONE OPTION OCTOPUS, ainsi que des membres de SPORT et STONEFISH. Si je ne connais pas ces derniers, l’évocation des trois noms précédents devrait suffire à te mettre l’eau à la bouche. Tirant son patronyme d’un quartier branché pour jeunes dynamiques lyonnais, le groupe va pêcher les bulles de sa musique à la source de la triangulaire noisy-rock new-yorkaise, ie le SONIC YOUTH de Daydream Nation, Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star et Rather Ripped (Restless, Crystal Palace). On retrouve également de discrètes influences 90′s à la CHOKEBORE dans la mélancolie de certains passages, des riffs que n’auraient pas reniés les math-rockers déviants de ROCKETS RED GLARE et ROADSIDE MONUMENT ainsi que des ambiances proches de la musique prog-post-rock moderne (au hasard, le Mélasse de KITTY EMPIRE, mais bon faut vraiment que j’arrête avec ce disque). Au final, MONPLAISIR me procure ce même sentiment de plénitude et d’extase que lorsque j’écoute ce putain de groupe dont je n’arrive plus à me rappeler du nom, bien que j’ai présentement toutes ses chansons qui se bousculent clairement dans ma tête (je sais pas si ça t’arrive souvent... Moi ça me le fait tout le temps et ça me rend fou).