Though Nerdist HQ is located in sunny California, whose worst weather can be easily mitigated with light knitwear, many of you are likely suffering through Polar Vortex  It is an icy, hellish storm that just makes you want to give up on the outside world, put on every article of clothing you own, and build a fortress out of blankets and space heaters (read: that is a terrible idea that we do not advise).

Sometimes, though, the best method to keep yourself warm is to enter a cozy headspace and distract yourself from the numbing gales crashing into your window. Steve Gunn is the sort of folk guitarist whose strumming and wide-eyed pizzicatos will warm the corners of your room. His music always induces metaphysical wanderlust, which is exactly what you need when you are in fact, trapped in an icy dungeon. Listening to his Car Tunes and Cartoons mix below, which features plenty of spiritual folk jams (Fleetwood Mac and Moby Grape are among the artists), it is easy to teleport to a sun-dappled wheat field somewhere in the midwest.

Much like the simple desire to be warmed, Gunn’s illustration (see the bottom of this post) is a quaint, charming doodle of himself equipped with his main instrument. The frayed edges of the paper suggest perhaps that this was sketched on the go, as Gunn fulfilled his own desire to travel on to a warmer, dryer place. Check out his excellent mix below and let us know if this will help you get through the frozen slog.

Tracklist:
1. “Spirit Of Love” – C.O.B.
2. “Sur Le Borde de L’Eau (On the Water’s Edge)” – Blind uncle Gaspard
3. “I Am Not Willing” – Moby Grape
4.”Your Own Back Yard” – Dion
5. “Baby Ain’t No Lie” – Davy Graham
6. “Kama Kalinyana” – Elias Nelushi
7. “Although The Sun Is Shining” – Fleetwood Mac
8. “Jamming” – Black Roots Players

Let us know what you think of our latest edition of Car Tunes and Cartoons in the comments and on Twitter at @NerdistMusic! Back to you in two weeks with another installment. In the meantime…DJs please, pick up your phones, we’re on the request line!