What’s Your Summer Jam

This summer we’ve been really obsessed with berries. Shakes, lemonades, you name it: berries have been our soundtrack, our on-replay, our summer anthem. That got us thinking: what if each kind of berry actually had its own soundtrack? Oh, like you don’t have a lot of extra time on your hands right now (#everydayistuesday2020)?

Here’s what we came up with:
Strawberries: Country, country and more country. Dolly Parton. Tammy Wynette. Willie Nelson. Maybe it’s simply because the word “straw” conjures up country living and, is that a banjo we hear? Or maybe it’s Willie’s once-red hair. We do not know.

Blueberries: Classic American rock. Springsteen. Mellencamp. Chrissie Hynde, who BTW is still rocking it with the Pretenders’ just-released Hate For Sale. Blueberries are the All-American of the berry world and what’s more all-American than Born in the USA (which is really a masterclass in use of irony despite a few clueless presidential campaigns.)

Raspberries: Jam band all the way. Raspberries are the hippies of the berry family, their neon magenta juices turning any garment they touch to tie-dye. Grateful Dead, Phish, Dave Matthews,

Marionberries: This one is easy: Yacht Rock. For those of you who aren’t obsessed with 70’s-80’s music, yacht rock is a hybrid genre of soft rock, smooth soul, smooth jazz, R&B, funk and disco bred in LA music studios and notable for its smooth sweet sound. Think Hall & Oates, Michael McDonald, and the Yacht Rock daddy of them all, Christopher Cross.

Now think about marionberries: A hybrid of Chehalis and Ollalie blackberries bred in an OSU lab and notable for their smooth, sweet taste. And like their musical counterpart, they can also be enjoyed on a yacht. Need more proof?Both come to life when the summer heats up. ( a NW winter is not yachting season, friends.) Both are addictive. And both pair well with cocktails and sunsets. Though what doesn’t?

Whatever your summer jam might be, there’s a berry out there for you. So grab a pint of your favorites, your flamingo pool floatie, and hit the water before the summer’s gone. And don’t forget to crank up the tunes.

Here’s a summer playlist for you to get you going.

Got your own berry soundtrack to suggest? We’d love to hear it!  Just send us a note through Facebook or Instagram.