Ode to Kansas Highway 10

There's a fascinating little stretch of highway between Kansas City and Lawrence called K-10. Johnson county sons and daughters who enrolled at K.U. were acquainted with the divided roadway that connected the southwest side of Lawrence with the outskirts of Olathe and Overland Park. It may surprise you that the 45 minute ride inspired a number of musical efforts. Chuck Mead's band The Homestead Grays sang about 285 Desoto, a highway exit back in the 1980s that has since disappeared. A few years later, a local band went one better when they named themselves after a similar sign on K-10, henceforth known as Kill Creek. Ditto for The Eudoras, who adopted the name of an entire town six miles east of Lawrence on the well travelled roadway. Most recently, Lawrence/Kansas City trio OK Jones released a song called, well, K-10.