Ben Kweller Shares His Favorite Summer Jams

With summer just around the corner, most music fans have a weighty task at hand -- crafting the perfect summer mixtape. Assembling a summer playlist can be both daunting and exhilarating, with the right mix of songs that make you feel the warmth of the season or nostalgic tunes that take you back to a favorite summer memory -- there are no rules.

We decided to go to the pros and get some input from one of our favorite musicians. Singer, songwriter, and player of many instruments Ben Kweller lent a hand, offering up Diffuser.fm a mix of classic summer tunes and ones that delivered summer to him in a more personal way.

For the classics, Kweller served up a 1976 Steve Miller Band classic. “I think there’s no better summer song than ‘Take the Money and Run,’" he said. The sweeping song is an epic tale of two young outlaws told through the music of the Steve Miller Band and perfect for top-down road trips.

Kweller offered up another must-have: “I would say, ‘Wouldn’t it be Nice’ by the Beach Boys.” The Beach Boys are quintessential summer mixtape contenders so you can’t go wrong there!

That’s where the conventional picks ended, and the Ben Kweller summer songs took over. “One that comes to mind right off the bat that I don’t know if it’s ever been considered a summer song but I’m in the mood to hear it now that summer is upon us is ‘Headache’ by Frank Black,” explained Kweller. Anytime of the year is the right time to listen to the Pixies singer.

“Another song that’s very summery to me, is ‘Blister in the Sun’ by the Violent Femmes, or even ‘Add it Up’ by the Violent Femmes,” tells Kweller. “I remember the summer that that album was out, my older sister and her friends would play it at the pool in our neighborhood, and they would play ‘Add It Up’ really loud and the line ‘Why can’t I get just one f---’ and they would laugh and giggle and hope our parents didn’t hear, so it just reminds me of summertime.”

Ahhh summertime and the places it takes us! Music is the perfect vehicle to get there, so thanks to Ben for helping us start out our summer playlist!  Now it’s your turn: what are your favorite summer songs?

Ben Kweller’s latest disc ‘Go Fly a Kite’ is out now, check out our in-depth interview with him here.