The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone.
– Oswald Chambers
She’s come undone.
– The Guess Who
My shoelaces keep coming undone. This isn’t a metaphor. I walk every night, and every night both my shoelaces come loose, at least once, sometimes more. It all started after the big storm in Toronto this past summer. I got caught in it. By the time I made it home, the waterline in the street was partway up my shins. I’m sure I was wading through raw sewage. Lovely stuff. It took my shoes three weeks to dry out. I sprayed them down with hand sanitizer. I’m sure the peppermint oil in the sanitizer is the culprit behind my now slippery, unreliable shoestrings.
As mildly maddening as my flapping shoes have been, I’m aware I could’ve just replaced the laces; still, I wander. They’re not at the top of the to do list. The day gig has been excessively intense and stressful. The new recordings are trucking along. Researching and visiting high schools for the kid’s grade 9 debut next year. Continuing to manage and improve the chronic pain I’ve been navigating for what feels like forever. Groceries, dinner, chores…
I last wrote here on the eve of my heading up to my mate Cory’s place for our second vocal session. It was another amazing trip. I left early to take pics of a place I’d passed on my way up there the previous time, a ramshackle roadside cluster of sheds, left to nature’s creep. It’s a prime setting for shots for the album art. I later discovered some history about the location. There’s a story about a local ice cream shop, a personal family connection, and a plane crash in a nearby cornfield in the late seventies that have become interwoven into the lore of making this new record. The tale will see the light of day along with the record’s release. The vocal session itself was great. Two more songs in the can and another in process. The drive back to The Big Smoke was another peaceful one, full of good tired.
I’ve since massaged the two new vocal takes into their respective mixes. They’re sounding good and almost there. Just this morning I finalized one of the other vocal takes. We’ve a plan for two more vocal sessions before breaking for Christmas, to reconvene in January to record the only piano-based tune on the record. I’d been rehearsing the piano songs regularly, but that fell away a couple of weeks ago with the introduction of a new piece of gear that I’ve been nerding out on.
While my recordings are fully arranged with all the fun bits, my live show is very bare bones. It’s usually just me, my guitars and some delay pedals. Two weeks ago I picked up a new looper, which is a machine that one traditionally uses to record guitar chords into, to allow for noodling over top. I’m using it to incorporate live percussion/drum loops and layered live vocal harmonies. It’s been both rewarding and a bit insane. The technology and options incorporated into this little machine are almost too much. The current goal is a solid 60 minute set. I’m having fun working on the live stuff while finishing up the record. Like all worthy art, the bits of the live set that work reveal themselves the more I sit with the songs. It’s currently a workshop setting, with the occasional opportunity to really lean into the different numbers as they come together.
As I’ve sat here writing this, my lace came undone. I wasn’t walking around. I wasn’t doing anything. Still, new laces are not on the top of the list. I’m holding out for a few weeks, when I’ll start wearing my winter boots. I’ll retire my high tops until the spring, when, with a new vinyl record and a tight live set in hand, I can finally look at setting my footwear situation straight.
As always, thanks for reading.
K. xo