Inspired by a solitary trip through the South without a working car radio and only his own thoughts to keep him company, Mark Pickerel's second album for Bloodshot, CODY'S DREAM, is a Steinbeckian odyssey through modern America; a tale of thruways and the characters that occupy them. The result: 13 dusty gems flirting with the static ghosts of Motown, Tin Pan Alley, classic pop and soul; dancing across the radio spectrum like a trail of mileposts in the rearview. With Mark, it's about the voice - a sly baritone equally inviting and troubling but as-cool-as-the-other-side-of-the-pillow: Warm whiskey breath on a cold winter's night. Quite a feat for a guy who made his name as a drummer for seminal bands as Nirvana, Screaming Trees and more recently Neko Case, Brandi Carlile and Mark Lanegan.