If You Miss the Open Road, Listen to This New Track From Maita: “Road Song.”

“I always felt the ‘road song’ was an overplayed songwriter cliché.”

Maita Maria Maita-Keppeler (Ingrid Renan) (Ingrid Renan)

The life of a touring musician is exalted. But ask most people who’ve actually experienced it and they’ll probably describe the monotony: long stretches of road, losing radio and phone signal, trying to live off gas station sandwiches etc..

Yesterday Maita—one of WW’s Best New Bands of 2020—released a supremely catchy new track, “Road Song” that sums up both the exhaustion of the road and a nostalgia for those beautiful, weary hours.

In 2020, Maita released a debut full-length on Kill Rock Stars, Best Wishes, then suddenly found themselves unable to go on their planned European tour to support it. Rather than playing a record release show at Polaris Hall, they performed their album on a Facebook livestream.

About the single, Maria Maita-Keppeler writes:

“I always felt the ‘road song’ was an overplayed songwriter cliché and wanted to poke fun at the tradition while attempting to capture how unromantic touring can be at times. It is with a gleeful irony that we release this now, at a time when we yearn so deeply to return to what felt so monotonous before.”

Listen to “Road Song” below:

The good news is that Maita will be back on the road very soon. They’re playing Mississippi Studios on Saturday, September 11. Then they’ll be the musical guest on an in-person Livewire! Radio, with Sarah Marshall, Dino Archie, Omar El Akkad on Thursday September 16.

If you’re on you way to the Treefort Music Fest in Boise, Idaho, you’ll be able to catch a Maita set there too.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.