The smell of microwaved taquitos and diesel. A backstage fridge stocked with hummus and six kinds of LaCroix. A sunrise breakfast at a 24-hour diner after playing to twenty-five people in a college town gymnasium. These are the flavors of the road—and the soul of Taste in Music: Eating on Tour with Indie Musicians, a love letter to the messy, intimate, oddly romantic relationship between music and food.
Written by Alex Bleeker (of Real Estate) and writer Luke Pyenson, the book collects anecdotes, recipes, and roadside memories from a sprawling constellation of indie artists like Weyes Blood, Japanese Breakfast, Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, Frankie Cosmos, and more. Food weaves its way through the pages as a constant companion to the highs and lows of touring life; more than just meals, it’s part of the rhythm.
If that sounds like a dream dinner party lineup, it kind of is. Except everyone’s sitting on a cooler in the back of a van, passing around a Tupperware of leftover curry from last night’s local host. What emerges from these stories is a sense of community—how meals become the pause button on an otherwise relentless schedule, how food is a comfort, a connector, sometimes a creative act of its own.
The book is also filled with oddball nostalgia and lovingly specific details: Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood) reminiscing about hash browns and milkshakes in Midwest diners, or Panda Bear’s passion for Portuguese pastries. There’s a running theme of learning to appreciate the small things—like gas station snacks that hit just right at 3 a.m., or a really good espresso on an off day in Europe.
