Tag: art

mixed bag

In all honesty, I have been quietly considering stopping this blog.

Not because I didn’t have anything worth talking about, but because everything I’ve been doing has been sort of… mechanical. Not mechanical in the sense that it’s emotionless or straightforward, but I’ve literally just been doing the “work” part of my art for a while.

I have been creating… so, it’s not that.

I’ve been recording songs with my band for months at this point. This is where all the creativity becomes tangible, and as much as it IS creative work, it’s also a realization of things we’ve already created. It’s a difficult thing to blog about because the process takes some real time to accomplish.

It’s a mechanical process in a lot of ways.

I’ve also been writing quite a bit. Also a difficult thing to specifically talk about for a big pile of reasons without sharing what I’ve been writing. I suppose I’m not averse to that, but it would lack context at this point.

I’ve been learning how to create guitar pedals.

Again… a difficult thing to talk about directly without getting into the weeds. It inspires creativity, but is very mechanical in it’s execution. If one is proverbially supposed to walk before they metaphorically run, then I am figuratively crawling right now.

I’m training, but not for any particular event.

It’s hard to discuss training for an event that doesn’t exist just yet. I’ve got my eye on a race or two that I’d like to run, but it’s difficult to know if I’ll be able to participate before knowing what my performance schedule for the summer is. Though… I’m sure to do some fitness blogging soon.

So; that, too, is a bit mechanical.

And then spiritually…

Well, I won’t say I’m at a stand-still spiritually… but this time of year, by spirituality is strained because I live in Canada and my spiritual connection to nature is on an extended pause.

HOWEVER… I have been on a bit of a journey of self discovery that includes seeking out some professional help in assessing my modus operandi and what makes me tick; upstairs, and it’s been a wild ride so far. I’m not sure how it relates to me on a spiritual level other than the fact that I am a spiritual person who’s going through some stuff… but I guess we’ll see! It’s been really insightful and special, but there have been some definite times of absolute suckdom, if I may be so bold as to invent a word for it.

Again… not something I can really dig into until I have a formal diagnosis but I’ve certainly been challenged, and overwhelmed, and enlightened, and I’m certain that there is some meaningful writing coming around the bend.

So please stay with me as I gradually get to a place where I can be more open about what’s been happening… because it’s a lot.

milestones

I’ve been dancing around talking about this because the process is so long, and occasionally painstaking, but my rock & roll band has completed another record. It’s bittersweet in a number of different ways…

It’s a pleasure to have completed what we set out to do, and the record sounds absolutely massive. It’s a relentless rock & roll record, to be pressed on 10-inch vinyl with 7 songs on it. The artwork is a fantastic contribution from a friend and favored artist. Everything about it is exciting.

However… now that the work is done… the work begins.

It’s not enough to make a record, and it’s not enough to have it mixed and mastered, and it’s not enough to have killer artwork.

We have to go cram it down everyone’s throats for the coming year or so.
We’re put thousands of kilometers on our tour vehicle, to play dozens of shows all over Western Canada. Digital uploads to streaming services, piles upon piles of gas receipts, burger joint stops, disposable coffee cups… merch booth set-ups… drunk patrons… amazing fans… playing shows with amazing bands… in amazing venues… all in hopes that we’ll run out of our brand new product as fast as possible.

It’s all coming at us quickly and we’re excited to share what we’ve done – so sometimes it’s hard to just stop and enjoy the moment of completion…

But I think we have to take those moments.
This rock & roll thing is really fun and as difficult as it can be to get our thing done the way we like it to be… it’s super fun and I am honoured to be able to do it with THESE guys.

There will be more shows.
There will be more songs.
There will be more records.

No reason not to stop and relish in the accomplishments when the opportunity to do so arises.

outlets

I’ve recently taken on a new project, and a direction of learning I’ve never spent any time with before. It’s a wild trip, if I’m being honest. I purchased an online course during boxing week and it’s likely the closest thing to a New Year’s Resolution I’ve ever done… though the timing is somewhat coincidental.

I’ve decided to dig in on Brian Wampler’s guitar pedal building course, which is a very thorough and fairly in-depth way of learning all the ins & outs (HA!) of guitar pedal building.

I’ve long been frustrated with the availability of things I need in order to accomplish what I want to accomplish as a performer. I have a number of great pieces of equipment I’ve acquired over the years but there is a piece of the guitar effects market that; I feel, anyway, is largely ignored. I can’t be certain that there’s a market for what I’m hoping to accomplish once I attain the knowledge I’m setting out to find, but it’s quite possible that there is. I’m hesitant to get into what that is in the event that this does turn into some measure of side-hustle but there are some things I know about myself that are definitely helpful here:

  • I am really good at playing guitar
  • I am really good at getting sounds I am happy with
  • I have an intense level of focus
  • I have an artistic vision

But… if all I end up doing is building things for myself then I honestly think I’ll be happy with that… but you never know how things will go until they go. Anyway, it’s very exciting and extremely nerdy and I’m happy to have this new direction of learning.

If you tuned in to this blog from some spiritually-driven snack, and feel like you’ve been denied that, don’t worry… I’m not done yet.

It might sound a little bonkers, but this is truly something that aligns with me spiritually and is truly helping me navigate the prairie winter months. When I am immersed in this, it can only happen in real time… it’s an incredible experience where I am not thinking about food, or work, or anything except for what’s in front of me. It’s an incredibly meditative (active meditation, obviously) and grounding (HA!) experience that seems to tie me to the present moment in a special way.

Sure, I have other things in my life that offer that level of detachment from the world around me, but the way my brain seems to thrive is to have a few options to alternate through – songwriting and composition, recording, performing, my vintage automotive pursuits, and now this new exercise – all provide me with a break from my distractions and put me into a moment where I can completely lose track of time and just create.

It’s thrilling.

another spin

I suppose it’s that time now.

If I’m being completely frank, I’m entirely satisfied that the interruption of my regularly scheduled food regimen and workout schedule is coming to an end. The holiday hours at my gym are less than ideal and at the risk of sounding like a total grinch, the notion that Christmas is ONE SINGLE DAY that seems to infringe upon us from December 20th until about January 3rd is irritating.

I like Christmas. Don’t get me wrong… but I feel like I am one of the few that acknowledges that traditionally, Christmas Eve is the day that a family would go out and cut down some unsuspecting sapling, then on Christmas morning the kind would open their (singular) present, and play with their newfound toy until dinner was ready. Boxing day is a tradition by which leftover food would be ‘boxed up’ and taken to the cornerstone of every community – the church – where the less fortunate folks go go enjoy a meal of leftovers…

… and that’s ultimately it.

What my brain knows about this holiday season, and what my credit card statement knows about this holiday season, are vastly different. My credit card statement’s knowledge of the history of christmas only goes back about 30 days.

It’s fine. I’m happy everyone had a nice christmas, and honestly, I had a nice Christmas.

I don’t live to work out. Nor do I live to eat.
I eat and workout to live.
And taking breaks is an important part of living.

But… now it’s time to get back into my regularly regimented program of eating nutrient-dense food and beating the absolute shit out of myself at the gym. My goals for the new year haven’t really changed much. My athletic goals are an augmented update of the previous year, and my artistic goals are an augmented update of the previous year… and with each passing year those things are more and more important.

My goals need to be steady, really. I’ve got a teenager in my house who is going to finish high school, become a legal adult, and enroll in a post-secondary program that will set her up in a better way than I ever was. Ultimately, I’ll be riding shotgun for those huge steps in amongst my own smaller old man steps.

I’m lucky I get to do that.
I’m stoked for it.
I’m sure you’ll get to read about some of it.

Happy new year, y’all.
All the best in 2026!

vibration

I’m sure I’m not alone in my observations here, but my social media feed has devolved a few notches in an effort to show me content that does not align with my values at all… and by that I mean the advent of artists talking shit about other artists in an effort to… I don’t know, raise their own profile?

I move in country music circles a bit, so I’m speaking primarily about this Gavin Adcock character, whom I’ve never heard of before a few weeks ago, who has grabbing headlines by talking shit about Charley Crockett and Zach Bryan. I won’t get into the back-story because the back-story isn’t the point. The point is that I have now heard of Gavin Adcock, a man who’s decided to take issue with the ‘authenticity’ of other country singers to the point of publicly slinging arrows at Charley Crockett, who has said nothing and continued to just do his thing, which includes making records and entertaining fans.

Since then, Zach Bryan (another country singer) and Paul Cauthen (yet another country singer) have decided to weigh in on a discussion that never involved them in an effort to grab some headlines as well… Bryan going so far as to climbing over a chain-link fence at a music festival to confront Adcock.

I hate this.
This is Trump-style politicking within the arts community.
These people should be creating community and art and propping each other up rather than tearing each other down.

Since then I’ve seen some other musician I’ve never heard of is taking similar shots at Yungblood in hopes of netting a similar result.

This is some low-vibrational shit.
I hold nothing but contempt for so-called ‘reality TV’ and do not wish to see it permeate culture more than it already has. It’s done irreparable damage to our artistic media already, and only serves to distract us from our purpose on this planet.

We should be creating or supporting.

Just take care of each other.
Build each other up and support what you love, and leave what you don’t love alone. There’s so much amazing stuff being created every day and this soap-opera drama is negatively impacting our lives, even if we don’t realize it at the time.

This is not normal or healthy behavior.

Create or support.
Those are our only real viable options here… make something, or support someone else who’s making something.

Increase your vibration.

look at me now

Hey all,

Time for another one of these songwriting videos. This one is a fictional story about my car… but it draws from real life experience.

What I don’t mention in the video is that the impetus for writing this song came from Mike McDonald of Jr. Gone Wild fame when I did a songwriting circle with him, Kimberley MacGregor, and Sean Herbert (we actually did a few of those…) and I mentioned the 7-year cell-replacement factoid (mentioned in the video above) in relation to another story I was telling, and he encouraged me to develop that idea further.

Anyway… enjoy!

getting it

At this point, I have a number of daily practices. I’m a bit of a creature of habit when I’m home, partly because when I’m not home, I need to adapt. This is fine, and I have no problem doing it because it’s part of a greater plan, but when I am home, I keep it pretty rigid.

I was recently reflecting on the pandemic times with someone, and was reminded of the practices I had in place that have gone by the wayside, though many are still in place after several years. Then I began to reflect on all the podcast episodes and audiobooks I’ve digested since then.

I’ve really dug into philosophy and self-betterment over the past 5 years as a vegan, and longer, actually, as I was already on my spiritual journey when I came to veganism (though that was a big turning point). The rub is that once these things became part of my modus operandi, I didn’t have to focus on them specifically anymore.

I don’t have to think about stoicism because I’ve adopted it.
I don’t have to think about veganism because I’ve adopted it.
I don’t have to think about not drinking alcohol because I’ve adopted it.
I don’t have to think about endurance training or weightlifting because I’ve adopted it… they are a part of what I do. I do not thinkk about the merits of doing or not doing any of these things because the decision has been made a long time ago to do them.

It’s easy to think about the morning journaling and evening yoga practices that fizzled out after the pandemic, when demands on my personal time resumed, but it’s somehow less easy to think about the practices I have that stayed with me because they’ve just become part of what I do. Even so – as I type this and mourn my lost evening yoga practice, I suddenly remember that a Yoga Nidra practice gets me to sleep every night.

I also have to trust myself – something I’ve struggled to do for years, because I was not trustworthy for a long time. I couldn’t be trusted in a room alone with a box of donuts not that long ago, so this trust has come slowly, but at the base of my being I can always trust that I am doing my very best. I know that, because we are all doing our very best. So now I must trust that since I have tried all of these practices and some stuck while others didn’t, that the ones that didn’t just weren’t for me.

That is to say, just because someone wrote a book about daily journaling doesn’t mean that I have to journal daily. I journal weekly… and you’re reading that journal now! I also write songs with both frequency and urgency… so to say my writing practice has fallen away isn’t a fair assessment, either.

At any rate… this recent reflective time has shown me that; although there are miles to go before am finished, I am getting it. There are always things to try and things to stop trying… but I have to trust myself to hold on to the important stuff and filter out the suggestions that don’t mean so much to me.

I’m getting it.

The irony of this post is that despite trying my very best, I somehow managed to overlook the fact that last week, I didn’t manage to get anything posted. It was going to be a songwriting featurette but I just didn’t get it done in time.

So for the first time in 3 years… I missed the mark. Ahh, well.