RUNNING & RECORDING

 

Today was a great day.  I got to do two of my favourite things - running and recording.  

I started running between my first and second year of university.  I was a Pronghorn.  I ran for the University of Lethbridge X-Country Team and the Track & Field Team. This morning I ran in Fish Creek Provincial Park in the south of Calgary.  I didn't go far, just enough to break a sweat.

As a touring songwriter, you're probably wondering why I'm talking about running? It will make sense if I tell you why I run.  I run for both physical health and mental health. As a touring musician I spend long hours sitting in a tour van or on a plane.  Combine this with eating out in a lot of cafes and diners on the road along with an unregulated sleep schedule and it's a recipe for illness.  So I run to get my heart rate up, move my muscles, and force my body to move.

But more importantly I run for my mental health.  I'm a person that struggles with my own mental well-being.  Not uncommon for people in the arts. Running for me is a mood enhancer.  It gets me out in nature ( I quit running roads years ago to save my ankles), away from my phone, and my laptop.  It's often during this time that I work things out in my head.  Everything from logistics for an upcoming tour to song lyrics  that have been bugging me (I'll talk more about how movement is a creative catalyst for me in a future post) to tough conversations I may have to have with people in my life.

It was also day two in the studio.  We got bed tracks completed for four more songs. For this recording I've decided to do a mix of live off the floor and layering.  Myself and Jason Valleau are recording guitar, vocal, and bass live without a click (a digital metronome that keeps everyone at the same tempo).  Once we have all eleven songs tracked (recorded) we will begin layering (adding) harmonies and other lead instruments.