This campfire playlist is brought to you by our friends at Aftershokz, the makers of open ear headphones that let you safely listen to campfire music when you’re hiking, biking, kayaking, or camping.
Bon Iver famously wrote For Emma, Forever Ago in a remote hunting cabin in the north woods of Wisconsin. Black Sabbath put down some of its most famous tracks at a castle in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. Johnny Cash converted an old cabin into a recording studio in the 1990s where he recorded the last songs of his career.
There’s no shortage of artists who have turned to quiet, wild spaces for inspiration.
And many have been so inspired by the great outdoors, they’ve dedicated whole records to it, like Jethro Tull when they made Songs From the Wood.
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It’s wonderful to go into nature and soak up what at first seems like silence but later reveals itself to be its own kind of cacophony. The constant ding of cell phone notifications and the low hum of electricity give way to bird song and crickets and the wind in the pines and the murmur of your own pulse.
But sometimes it’s equally nice to answer that eternal thrum with human melodies, and to enjoy your favorite artists in especially moving surroundings.
You don’t have to schlep a whole recording studios worth of equipment to a remote location like your musical heroes. A phone in your pocket will do.
Campfire Music You’ll Want to Take Everywhere
While everyone’s definition of “camping music” is different, it’s equally true that music can make us feel like we’re a part of something, even when we’re enjoying solitude, deep in the backcountry.
That’s why we created this collaborative Spotify playlist full of trail songs picked out by The Dyrt Rangers— songs proven to be perfect for chilling by the campfire and pushing exhausted hamstrings up one more hill. This is a living breathing playlist that anyone can add to and create the ultimate campfire music soundtrack.
Plug into your car stereo system as you drive out to the trailhead, fire up the portable speaker at your yurt, or slip on sport headphones to set a hiking rhythm. Maybe you’ll find an old favorite or discover a new artist whose music feels just right.
