Welcome to the Greyhound Diaries on the BBC World Service.

I'm Doug Levin.

Join me as I ride from New York City to Points West, hearing some singular American stories

along the way.

For 12 years and 120,000 miles, I've crossed the United States by Greyhound Bus, guitar on

my back, and notebook in my pocket.

My fellow travelers and I trade stories, some of which turn into songs.

Going coast to coast can be done in a mad three-day lunch, but I like to stop off and play

for veterans, the homeless, offenders and ex-offenders, anyone who may be looking for their second

third or fourth chance.

My journeys are inspired in part by Woody Guthrie, the folk music icon of the Depression

era.

Traveled the country riding the rails and transforming the tales of the overlooked and under-reflected.

These days, the people on the margins ride Greyhound, the only form of long distance

travel they can afford.

It makes for an ever-changing congregation of people on the move, looking for work, dealing

with family emergencies, and taking leaps of faith in pursuit of transformation, redemption,

healing.

In 2006 when I was in my early thirties, the bus became my refuge as I tried to outrun

the emotional fallout from my father's death years before.

While I set out to shed light on the struggles of others, along the way I found compassion

over the armrests and above the rumble of the wheels.

...