Blues rock
Three chords and the truth about mile 6
By Rob Gordon
The moment I stopped thinking and just ran - that's when I finally understood why blues rock works. Not indie rock with its cleverness. Not punk with its fury. Blues rock, with its beautiful, stupid simplicity.
Here's the thing about running that nobody talks about: the enemy isn't your legs. It's your brain. That voice at mile six telling you this hurts, you should stop, what's the point anyway. Blues rock shuts that voice down because blues rock doesn't think. It just *is*. Three chords, a groove that could go on forever, and Dan Auerbach's guitar doing that thing where it sounds like it's simultaneously falling apart and holding everything together.
I was doing an eight-miler last month, hitting that wall where easy pace stops feeling easy, and "PSYCHRUN" came on shuffle. The Heavy Eyes, some band I'd barely heard of, just locked into this hypnotic, sludgy groove. My cadence matched it without me trying. That's what blues rock does - it creates a pocket you can fall into. It's not pushing you to sprint. It's not carefully engineered at 180 BPM by some algorithm. It's just there, insistent and relentless, like the Lakefront Trail itself.
The blues has always been about moving through something - pain, heartbreak, Monday morning. Running is the same. You're not trying to outrun anything. You're moving *through* it. The best blues rock - the heavy, psychedelic stuff that bleeds into space-rock territory - it doesn't resolve. It cycles. Which is exactly what your legs are doing, mile after mile.
Dick would say this is too slow for running. Barry would argue it's too repetitive. They're both wrong. Blues rock works because it doesn't demand your attention - it earns your trust. Put on any of these seven playlists and just go. Stop thinking. Start running.
Top 10 Blues rock Running Songs
These tracks appear across multiple curated blues rock running playlists.
- 1. Heartbroken, In Disrepair — Dan Auerbach
- 2. 'Bout To Lose It — Dinosaur Pile-Up
- 3. 1940 - AmpLive Remix — Amp Live
- 4. American Nightmare - New Found Sounds Studios 1981 — Misfits
- 5. At Night In Dreams — White Denim
- 6. Blast Off — Psychlona
- 7. Bluebird — Blu Rum 13
- 8. Borrowed Time — Parquet Courts
- 9. Chrome Hammer — High Reeper
- 10. Counting — Heavens
Frequently Asked Questions
What pace does blues rock work for?
Easy to moderate runs, that zone where you're working but you can still breathe. Look, if you're hammering intervals, you want something meaner. But for those 10K steady runs or long weekend miles where you need to settle in and not blow up? Blues rock is perfect. The tempo is insistent without being frantic. Dan Auerbach doesn't rush, and neither should you on a Tuesday morning eight-miler.
What's the typical BPM range for blues rock running music?
You're looking at 120-140 BPM, mostly hanging in the low-to-mid 130s. It's not lockstep marching tempo - it's got swing and groove. That actually works better for distance running than you'd think, because your cadence naturally fluctuates anyway. The Heavy Eyes, for example, sit in this hypnotic pocket around 130 that just locks you in without forcing it. If you want metronomic precision, go listen to house music.
Which artists should I start with in blues rock for running?
Dan Auerbach is your entry point - he shows up in multiple playlists here for a reason. The guy knows how to build a groove that sustains. Then dive into The Heavy Eyes if you want it heavier and more psychedelic. From there, explore the related categories: modern-blues if you want cleaner production, psychedelic-rock if you want it weirder, sludge-metal if you want it meaner. Start with 'BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS' or 'PSYCHRUN' and see which direction pulls you.
Is blues rock too slow for tempo runs?
Depends on what you call a tempo run. If you're racing at threshold trying to hold 10K pace, yeah, probably. But if you're doing old-school tempo - that comfortably hard pace you can hold for 20-40 minutes - then no, blues rock absolutely works. It's about feel, not BPM tyranny. The groove keeps you honest without redlining you. I've run plenty of solid tempo efforts to this stuff. It won't lie to you about pace like EDM does.
Why does blues rock sound better on outdoor runs?
Because blues rock has space in it, and treadmills have none. This music was made for highways and long empty stretches - it needs room to breathe. On the Lakefront Trail with the wind and the lake and actual weather, that heavy, hypnotic sound makes sense. On a treadmill staring at a wall? It exposes how long these songs are. Blues rock rewards forward motion through actual space. It's pilgrimage music, not hamster wheel music.