Why release a holiday song over the winter when you can drop a macabre rockabilly tune about a tow truck driver in Vermont? What better way to observe the longest nights of the year than with a peppy, minor tune about driving through the eerie darkness?

Are there better ways? Almost certainly. But the Motor Inns weren’t interested.

So here you have our latest track–the first official rockabilly recording by Pete Berris & the Motor Inns, with plenty of surfy weirdness thrown in. The Night Wrecker was inspired by two very memorable real-life experiences. It’s a musical tribute to the tow truck drivers who rescued me from (1) the side of I-91 near White River Junction, Vermont for what turned out to be an hours-long multi-state ride; and (2) the mountains of Western Maryland right before a major blizzard. What is it that the Car Talk guys used to say? “Life is too short to drive boring cars”?

Substantively, The Night Wrecker is in the tradition of truck driving songs like Red Simpson’s “Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves” and Dick Curless’ “Tombstone Every Mile.” Musically, it’s an homage to some of the weirder rockabilly classics like Gene Vincent’s “Cat Man,” and Bill Haley’s “Thirteen Women (And Only One Man Around).”

This song is featured as a DIY Rockabilly Experiment. That post explores the history of rockabilly and the creative process of writing and recording The Night Wrecker. It even includes alternative takes (one of which is so unhinged that it must be heard to be believed). And because I love music gear, that article describes the musical equipment I used to create The Night Wrecker. (I also created a “live” version of the Night Wrecker for the 2026 NPR Tiny Desk Contest).

Recording Equipment Snapshot:

Guitars

• Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster (Ash)
• Fender American Ultra Luxe Telecaster (Also Ash)

Amps and Pedals

• Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (Texas Red)
• Bugera attenuator
• MXR Carbon Copy Mini

Bass

• Dean

Drums

• Yamaha FGDP-50

Recording Equipment

• Sure SM57 & SM58
• Focusrite 4i4 Scarlett
• Garageband (MacBook Air)

The Night Wrecker Lyrics:

Ah, no grass grows beneath my feet
And if it did I couldn’t see it
It’s dark up on these northern roads
And when the radio calls I go go go

Some things break, some things combust
Oh I’ve seen flats and I’ve seen rust
Whether lack of luck or lack of thrust
Sometimes it’s steel to ashes and dust to dust
When all that’s left is smithereens
The night wrecker is on the scene

Temperature drops the roads are slick
Dispatch calls I feel sick
Sometimes you just kind of know
But when the radio calls I go go go

Go go go now!

Some things break, some things combust
Oh I’ve seen flats and I’ve seen rust
Whether lack of luck or lack of thrust
Sometimes it’s steel to ashes and dust to dust
When all that’s left is smithereens
The night wrecker is on the scene

Some things break, some things combust
Oh I’ve seen flats and I’ve seen rust
Whether lack of luck or lack of thrust
Sometimes it’s steel to ashes and dust to dust
When all that’s left is smithereens
The night wrecker is on the scene

All that’s left is smithereens
The night wrecker is on the scene
All that’s left is smithereens
The night wrecker is on the scene
All that’s left is smithereens
The night wrecker is on the scene