“Ahhhhhh”… That’s the sound Kevin makes when he wants to let out a big exhale and release some tension. These are the kinds of things you get to know about someone when you tour with them, share a room, and play music together night in and night out. There are other things too, like whether or not they snore, pre-show rituals, how their mood affects the way they feel and play music. The list goes on.

I, on the other hand, have been doing a different breathing exercise that emphasizes taking in as much breath as you can and then holding your breath until you can’t hold it any longer. When that moment comes, the exhale produces a much different sound and the exercise is intended to balance our breathing to prevent, rather than compensate for accumulation of tension. Either one, however, if heard over and over again would become tiresome to the listener. But perhaps together, they would sound good and be in harmony. We wouldn’t know unless we tried. In a way, that’s a beautiful metaphor for what’s been going on since this little West Coast adventure got rolling about a week ago.

As the beginning of the tour approached, I was excited to be heading back to BC and Alberta after an enchanting first time out last fall. I was also excited to be touring with another musician for the first time; my good friend and long-time band mate Kevin Mendes. I was most excited about the decision that we made before the tour that we were going to treat it like an experiment; an opportunity to step out of our comfort zone and really play in a way that we haven’t allowed ourselves to, in rehearsals and especially at shows. All of this was in the name of tasting of the fruit of pure creative flow, unfiltered musical expression, and the stuff that magical moments are made of.

We have now been on the road for a week and much has become of these expectations and intentions. There’s no question that despite all the glorification of “touring” and “being on the road”, it can be a challenge. Whether it’s sleeping in a different bed every night, the long drives, too much Tim Horton’s, a disappointing turn out, the sacrifices required to have a financially successful tour, not to mention the constantly shared space with those you travel with; it can all wear you down pretty quickly. That is, if you let it.
See there’s more to the story. I’ve heard people talk about it a lot but never had the chance to experience it myself. Friends and other musicians have told me that when you go out on tour and play music every night, something special happens. You begin to experience your songs in a different way, you connect with the other musicians on a deeper level, you grow exponentially.

And it’s true, both personally and musically. So far, Kevin and I have played 6 shows in 8 nights and we’ve stayed true to our intention of stretching ourselves musically and creatively on stage. We’ve invited other musicians to join us and play our songs on a moment’s notice; we’ve played songs that aren’t complete and improvised far more than ever before; we’ve allowed ourselves the space to jam, try different things and see what happens in the moment; we’ve developed our trust in each other and in ourselves and damn it feels good! And the fact is we’re enjoying the music so much more because we are actually playing (in the sense of how a child “plays”), inventing spontaneously and authentically. And that’s ultimately what it’s about. Having fun and making honest music.

This is only the beginning but it’s one that I’m very excited about and it all began with a simple idea and a conversation between two to people who were committed to keeping it alive. And the true beauty of it all is that if it weren’t for the challenges of the journey, we probably wouldn’t appreciate it nearly as much. Similarly, Kevin and I also wouldn’t be getting along as well as we are today if it weren’t for the small challenges we’ve encountered in touring together. The choice is ultimately ours. I could let the disappointments of the road get me down. I could second guess myself and my musical instincts. I could convince myself that my breathing technique is better than Kevin’s and either one of us could take issue with the irritating sound of the other’s unnecessarily vocal release of breath… Or we could embrace all of it, be at peace and recognize that it all fits together perfectly. We could surrender to the things we can’t control and being present, choose how we are going to respond. That’s what we’ve been doing on stage, letting go and letting it happen naturally. It’s been amazing and it’s from that space, that harmony in music and peace in life become possible.

Ahhhhhh.

CA
(Kelowna, BC)

Ps. Just getting some footage together from our amazing night at the magical Duncan Garage Showroom that I’ll be including in the next post. Check back in a couple of days