Category: Life

A Good Morning Run Over a New Course with Old Memories!

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A Four Mile Run Some Shade, Some Sun, Some Memories – Good Music from Amplifier

So this morning I decided to creat a new course for my run. My training plan since my early 40s has been running four miles on two weekdays.! And then a five to eight mile run on the one of the weekend days. This year I have not run any distance greater than four miles. As a result there are portions of those five to eight mile courses that I have not run this year.

One of those places is along the Rancocas Creek bear its confluence with the Delaware River. So I designed the course so that I could have a four mile run that included that part of Delran and Riverside. Here are two pictures taken along the creek somewhere in the third mile of  my run. The second one is the view I had as I plodded along hoping for shade!

RancocasCreek – looking towards Delaware River

Rancocas Creek looking upstream

A little farther along on that third mile I came to Whomsley Field where my boys played Little League baseball. Needless to say a lot of memories came back when I passed there. I went back after the run to take these pictures.

I looked for the sliding board that used be out beyond right field fence on this field. The reason was that was the slide that our third son fell off of day at a game!! Got him a big knot on his field and a trip to the doctor!

The Run

But back to the run. The first part of the run had more shade than sun, while it was the reverse on the second two miles. The first two miles were completed in 10:37 and 10:39 While the sun shiney portions of the run were covered in 11:08 and 11:34. Yes I was sucking wind at the end. But I still managed to crank it up over the last 0.17 miles. Running that short distance at a pace of 10:41!! Here are the complete results!

The Results

Total Distance 4.17 miles    Total Time: 45:51  Average Pace: 10:58 (m/m)

Mile Splits Mile 1:  10:37 m/m Mile 2 – 10:39 m/m   Mile 3 11:08 m/m Mile 4 11:34 m/m   0.17 – 10:41 m/m:

Average Heart Rate:140 bpm Max Heart Rate: 152 bpm

Calories Burned: 580 cals.

The Soundtrack

The Soundtrack for the run was my first listen to Trippin’ with Dr. Faustus the latest from the Psychedelic/Space Rock ban Amplifier.

From ProgArchive

AMPLIFIER is a Manchester based space rock band. This three-piece makes extraordinary music which is quite similar to the, also Manchester based, band OCEANSIZE. The band consists of Sel Balamir who plays guitar and is also the band’s lead-vocalist. Than there’s Matt Brobin, who is the band’s drummer. Last, but not least, there’s Neil Mahony who is the bassist. As you can see there’s no keyboardist on board, so all the weird sounds and effects are played on the guitar, hence the name “AMPLIFIER”…..

….Their music is highly original. They combine deep personal lyrics with walls of noise, combined with stunning melodies.

This band has been hailed a lot in the media. Kerrang! Magazine said this was “.the British rock-scene altering record” when talking about their selftitled debutalbum. Metal Hammer said they were “.the future of rock.” and even Q magazine said that “.at present British rock doesn’t get much better than this.”  Read More

As with the other albums that have been soundtracks for recent runs, I hope to write about Trippin’ with Dr Fautus after listening to it a few more times. It may sound just a little different if I’m not half-dying while listening to it!!

But for now let’s listen to “Kosmos (Groves of Triumph) ” from Trippin with Dr Faustus by Amplifier

 

 

A Good Morning Run – Music by Jon Spear Band

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A Strong Four-Mile Morning Run with Some Great Blues from the Jon Spear Band

 

Yesterday morning was almost a perfect morning for a run.It was mostly cloudy and the temperature was in the low 70s. The only drawback was that the relative humidity was slightly high. It was also  the mid to low 70s. Because of the cloud cover I really didn’t need to worry about shade.I also knew I wanted to run a fairly flat course. So I ended up basically running a 4 plus mile course around town that I usually run but I ran it in reverse.

I actually did make one mistake on the run. Since I was coming in the opposite direction than I usually do along a street in the first half of the run, I turned on the street before my actual turn. That street turned out to be a cul-de-sac so I had turn around and go back, get on the street I turned off of and make the turn on the right street!!

I ran the first mile in 10:25 and the good thing was that while I slowed down over the next three miles the drop-off wasn’t nearly as great as it was the other day!! So when I arrived at the end of the run, I still had enough left to muster a little sprint!

The Results

Totals –  Distance : 4.23 Miles   Time 45:35   Average Pace 10:46

Mile Splits – Mile 1 – 10:25  Mile 2 10:41 Mile 3 11:02  Mile 4 – 11:05   0.22 – 10:24

Average Heart Rate: 144 bpm     Peak Heart Rate : 166 bpm    End of Run 156 bpm

Calories Burned: 598

The Soundtrack –  Jon Spear Band – Hot Sauce

Jon Spear BandHot Sauce is the latest release from the Jon Spear Band. Okay, so I must admit that I am unfamiliar with this band. But the minute I heard “Bottom of the Bottle”,the first track on this terrific album, I knew I was going to love this album. Hot Sauce is the third release from the band. The band’s debut album Old Soul was released in 2014. They followed that album in 2016 with a live album appropriately titled Live Music is Better

After the release of these two highly praised  albums,, the Jon Spear Band had a fantastic 2016. Here are some the highlights of the ban’s 2016……

• Our 2nd CD, “Live Music is Better” was nominated by Blues Blast Magazine and Blues411 for Best Live Blues Recording of 2016
• We were listed in the top 100 of the Roots Music Report’s Top Contemporary Blues Album Chart – for the SECOND year in a row!
• We were a “Reflections in Blue” Top Pick for 2016
• WMHB Top 100 Blues Chart, 2016
• 2016 WAMMIE nominee for best Blues/Traditional R&B Recording (Thank you Washington Area Music Association)
• International Blues Challenge Finalist for 2017 “Best Self-Produced CD” award

About the Jon Spear Band

The Jon Spear Band is a collaboration of some of Central Virginia’s finest blues musicians. The band calls Charlottesville, Va. home. The band is lead, of course, by Jon Spear. From Jon’s biography at the band’s website….

Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist Jon Spear doesn’t admit how long he’s been performing but here’s a hint: Jon was in a band that opened for the Isley Brothers at the Capital Theatre in Port Chester NY when Twist and Shout was top-40 hit….

A contemporary of Jon’s is the band’s drummer John Stubblefield. Again from the band’s website…..

Drummer John Stubblefield started playing drums around the time the Beatles made their US debut. His dad owned radio stations and he grew up loving all styles of music……

The two young guns of the band are bassist Bassist Andy Burdetsky and guitarist Dara James

Andy Burdetsky has been playing bass since his junior high school days back in the mid 70’s. Andy was born and raised in the D.C. area where he was influenced by such great musicians as the Nighthawks, Danny Gatton and Charlie Byrd….

Dara James is an amazing young talent with outstanding vocal, guitar and harmonica skills far beyond his years. Dara’s grandfather gave him his first harmonica when he was about 5 and he joined his first band with his father — Upland Express — at the age of 11,…..

Here’s what Peter Merrett, of PBS 106.7FM, Melbourne writes about the band….

“Not many groups can boast two virtuoso guitarists as The Jon Spear Band does and few can match the writing skill of Jon Spear and Dara James – obviously a first class band that know precisely how to play together.”

You can read the complete biographies of the band members at the band’s website – link

About Hot Sauce

But let’s get back to Hot Sauce. Like I wrote previously, this is one really good album. There’s a bit of everything I like in an album in Hot Sauce. Good vocals, great guitar work and catchy songs. Here’s what the band writes about the songs on Hot Sauce…..

  • Natchez Burning (a moaning blues song about the disastrous 1940 Rhythm Club fire that killed over 200 people);
  • Hot Sauce (I’ve tried Tabasco and Cholula too, but none of them get me anywhere near as hot as you);
  • Hit the Quarter (a catchy beach house dance number);
  • Pierre Jourdan (the story of how one of New Orleans’s richest men became the Crescent City’s most famous ghost);
  • Geographical Cure (just what it sounds like);
  • Blues (a sad look at the decimation of African wildlife);
  • Blues for a Soldier (the ones who call for war the most are the ones who know it least)
  • Butt-Dial Kyle (hilarious butt-dialing faux pas including an errant 911 call); and more.

I have highlighted my favorites on the album. I would also add the opening track “Bottom of the Bottle”!

Bottom Line: Highly Recommended – So Check it Out!!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of the Jon Spear Band

Artist Website
Facebook
Reverbnation
CDBaby

Here’s a playlist with some of my favorites from Hot Sauce

Another Shaded Early Morning Run

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A Struggling 3.25 Mile Run is  Better Than No Run – July 19, 2017

 

As I  sit here now (12:19 pm) I see that the current temperature is 90 degrees and it’s very, very sunny. So I know that I made the right decision about running this morning. But it was a bit of a struggle to get out the door. The whiny, heat hating me said, “But it’s still going to be hot running, even though it’s 75 now. You know the sun is going to be hot!” The good me said “I know that so what I’m going to do is once again alter my course a little more to get a few more blocks of shade into the run!” The whiny me said “Okay you win!”

The Run….

So out the door I went with a slightly altered course that offered a little more shade than my last run. The course I had laid out was a four-mile, but I didn’t care if I made the whole four miles. I was ok through the first two miles, completing them both in 10:51. Then the wheels fell off the bus, and the sweat was pouring from my body!  And that put my distance at whatever it was when I got back to my house. The course I had laid out, had a run around the park, and some more, to make it a full 4 mile run . I knew that wasn’t happening!

Without the extra distance the course ended up being 3.25 miles. which I finished in 36:01. My average  average pace per mile was 11 minutes and 4 seconds. Typically, I would have tried to sprint to get my pace back under 11 minute per mile pace. But that was not the case today. What do they say “Discretion is the Better Part of Valor” I will live to run another day!

I decided that, like the other day, I would walk another 0.75 miles to make the total run/walk 4 miles. It wasn’t tpp long into my walk around Spring Garden Park that I stopped an said “Whoa!”

One of the largest and oldest trees in the park had been reduced to a stump!

Anyone care to count the rings?? I  bet there’s close to 150 or so. The tree is  probably as ol as the park!

The Results of the Run…..

Mile Splits: Mile 1 – 10:51 Mile 2: 10:51  Mile 3: 11:21 an 0.25 – 11:40 (out of gas on the last quarter-mile!

Total 3.25 Mile 36:01  – Average Pace 11:04 min per mile Average Heart Rate 142=3 bpm  Calories Burned: 475

The Soundtrack for the Run  Anu]bis – The Second Hand 

Anu]bis is a Neo Prog progressive rock band from Australia. You can read about the album here at ProgArchives The band’s album Behind Our Eyes (Live 2014) was the soundtrack of a previous run. So I think it’s time for a review at FreeWheelin’ Music Safari.

Third Run of the  Week Puts Weekly Mileage Over Ten Miles!

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July 15 – Three Runs in One Week! Yeah Me! Life’s Little Victories!

The Run

Ah, this morning temperatures were in the low 70s and it was cloudy a good morning for a run. And it was,but there was one thing that I forgot! That one thing was that the relative humidity was relatively high! That for someone like me who sweats at the drop of a heat is not a good thing. My first thoughts about the run were that I would run my most hilly four mile run. But that thought went out the window after the first mile. May second, thought was maybe I’d run my four mile Creek out and back 4 mile run.

As I got hotter and hotter that run did not appeal to me. So I finally, settled on my 3.1 loop that includes the out part of the Creek Out and Back run. But instead of turning around at the 2 mile mark I just keep going straight and loop around and come back home. As I ran down along the Rancocas Creek I thought maybe I would alter the run a little and make it a four mile loop.

NJ at Wathcase etc

Point of run going uphill the building on left is the Watchcase Bldg where I work for like 25 years!

Then I hit the slight hill at the railroad tracks and as I struggled up that hill I thought the hell with it lets just get a 3.1 plus mile in today! The final length of the run turned out to be 3.30 miles as I ran just a little past our house.

Post-Run Walk

When I finished I started my usual cool-down walk around the block. I got a little past halfway around the block, when I thought about increasing the length of my walk. It would only take .70 of mile to make the overall workout four miles. Then I thought how about I go down to the high school track and see how accurate the GPS is on a walk around the track.  The answer was pretty much dead on. When I started around the track I was at .52 miles and at the end of the lap .77, which makes one lap .25 miles!

I momentarily contemplated running some intervals. However, on the walk to the track I couldn’t see because of the sweat in my eyes.  I could just see it. Well maybe not! I figured on the quarter lap after a full lap, I i would be blind! Anyway, I’ll save intervals for another day or night!

So the question of the day what’s worse : Sunny and low humidity or cloudy and high humidity. My vote goes to the later. Any thoughts?

the results of the run……..

 

Mile Splits: Mile 1 10:37  min/mile – Mile 2 10:56 min/mile – Mile 3 11:24 min/mile – 0.30 mile – 11:20   Totals 3.30 miles – 36:24 min – 11:01 min/mile

Average Heart Rate : 142 beats per min (bpm)  Max 154 bpm  Calories Burned: 464 cal

Soundtrack of the Run: Behind Our Eyes (Live 2014) from the Prog Rock band  Anu]bis.

Here’s a Track from the Album. And once again I will try to write about the album later to day……

 

Featured Image: looking down Bridgeboro Street at the point where i cross it. Many times when I run down this street I think that the first time I ran down this street was as a member of the Burlington City Cross Country team in either 1968 or 1969? So I’ve almost been running down this road for 50 years! Oh  My!

A – Mile Morning  Run Because It’s Hot and I’m Old! Three

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July 12 th – A Three – Mile Morning  Run Because It’s Hot and I’m Old!

 

Ok so this morning when I checked the weather it was sunny and almost 80 degrees. The forecast is that temperatures will climb into the low 90s today. It would not have taken much to convince myself not to run! But I fought the impulse to do that. Rather I decided that the best idea was to shorten my run to around three miles. Additionally, I decided to plot out a course that would maximize shade! The final thing I needed to do was to tell myself to take it easy!

The Run

So with all that in mind I set out.The first half-mile was fairly easy some clouds blocked the direct sunlight so it wasn’t too hot. By the time the sun did come out I was almost to shade. I reached that shade just a little before the first mile mark. I reached that Mile mark at 11:03 into the run.. Ah, shade and I was almost to the high point of the run. I reached that high point in another few minutes

 

Photo 1 - Going Up Oak Towards that Shade!

Photo 1 – Going Up Oak Towards that Shade!

Photo 2 – The Shade Along Moreland Ave. Heading towards the Highpoint along Fairview St.

Ah, now it was downhill in the shade for most of the decent. I was in and out of the sun for the second half of that mile. Again I had planned the course to maximize the shade and it worked. I ran the second mile in 10:39. Again most of it was downhill.

Photo 3 – Along the downhill on Pancoast Ave.

Now all I had to do was make it through the last mile. Most of that mile was in the sun. Luckily I convinced myself that I could go slow and no one would care!

When I was heading into the last stretch of the run I noticed my overall pace was just a little over 11 minutes per mile so I mustered what Speed I could get and I finished at 11 minute per mile pace. The time for the last mile was 11:28 but my sprint pace at least for .1 miles was 9:37.

When I finished the run my heart rate was 165, but within four minutes of walking around the block it was down to 116.

The Post Run Walk

As I walked and cooled down, I thought why don’t I try to stay in the shade and try to walk for a mile. I walked in the shadows at the school for a bit and the around the Spring Garden park and made the mile. Because my heart rate was still over 100 it was a good fat-burning walk!!

The Results:

3.1 mile run – 34:15. Average pace: 11 min/mile
Average heart rate 147 bpm – 443 calories burned.

1.0 mile walk – Average heart rate 118 bpm
215 calories burned

Not too bad!

The Soundtrack for the run was a blues album. The latest from Julian Sas – Feelin’ Alive and sometimes during the run I actually did!

I’ll review the album in a bit at FreeWheelin Music Safari.

To try to make these posts a little less boring., I thought I’d add a few pictures to show you where I was actually running! What do you think?

July’s First Run – Not Great But Every Run Helps!

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Today’s Run : July 9, 2017 – Four Miles – a struggle over the last mile

 

The temperature was right around seventy  degrees this morning so I decided it was a good day for a run. Looking back at my posts,I see that the last run I wrote about was way back on June 8th. Just because I haven’t posted, doesn’t mean I haven’t been running. While I haven’t been running as much as I should, I did run four more times in June  Here are the results….

1 – June 15 – distance 3.26 miles, overall pace 10:45 min/ mile
2  – June 22 – distance 3.28 miles, overall pace 1049 min/ mile
3  – June 25 – distance 4 miles, overall pace 11:13 min/mile
4 – June 29 – distance 4 miles, overall pace 10:53 min/ mile

While you may not realize it, three of those four runs were on a Thursday –  June 15,22, and 29! The reason is simple, it’s my day off from babysitting and Target.

The last two runs were  both four mile runs and that’s a good thing. Now all I need to do is get another weekday run in and then a longer weekend run! Ha!

Today’s Run Prep

As I said at the start of this post the temperature this Morning was relatively cool (70 degrees). The only bad thing was that it is also very sunny! On days like today,  I try to plan my run so that it has a good amount of shade in it. The bad thing about that is that the most heavily wooded area in town is also the area at the highest elevation . Which means it’s uphill to get there!

The Run…

Anyway I took off telling myself to take it easy because there will be a hill coming. So I was buzzing along feeling pretty good like I could keep this pace up for the whole run But when I finished the first mile in 10:25 I began to worry. At the 1.5 mile mark my pace had dropped to 10:38 (mid-way up that hill) and by the time I was at the top of the hill and heading toward the second mile mark my pace had dropped to 10:53! Finally I made the turn and headed back to the hill, but this time I was going down hill so I got to recover a little but the rest of the run after  my descent was a struggle! My only thought was I don’t care about time just let me finish – which I did!

The Splits

Mile No   –  Average Pace

1      –     10:26 min/mile
2      –     11:17  min/mile
3      –      10:58 min/mile
4.     –      11:47 min/mile

The Results

Calories burned 591    Average Heart-rate 143 bpm Max Heart-rate by 156 bpm

Overall, I am going to rate today’s as a B – The first mile gets an A  and the last a C The to middle miles a B. So that’s the average which is fine by me!  AndI just need to remember each run makes me a little better than before!!

The Soundtrack for the run was Erosion the latest from the Prog Rock band Cydemind. I will be reviewing the album in a bit at  FreeWheelin’ Music SafarI

 

 

 

 

My Morning Workout – July 2 & 3 2017

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My Morning Workouts – July 2 and 3 2017

We went to the Jersey shore yesterday for a small family gathering ( no beach) Just the way I like it! Anyway as a result I didn’t get to run. I did get in an abbreviated morning workout though. I did the first twenty two minutes of my 60 minute workout. The routine included  a 4 minutes dance cardio warm up and a tabata routine was made up of….

1 -4 – 20 second sets of jumping jacks (25 per 20 seconds ( 100 total)
2- 1 – 20 second mountain climbers -35 total
3 -1 – 20 second squat thrusts – 10
4 -1 – 20 second push-ups
5 -1 – 20 squats
6 -1 – 20 second squat kicks
7- 1 – 20 second squat steps
8 – 1 – 29 second squat together
9- 1 – 20 second hydrant
10- 1 – 20 second chair kickbacks

11- 1 20 second curls with 15 pound weights
12 -1 20 second overhead press 15 lb weights
13 -1 20 second lunges 15 lb weights

14 – Two rounds of various weights with a kettlle bell
15 – 2:00 minutes per round 4 total

At the end of those exercise I was just shy of burning 200 calories so I add some dance cardio with some jumping jacks included for 3 minutes or so bringing the total routine to 24 minutes burning a whopping 205 calories! Can you read the sarcasm in that statement?

July 3rd Morning Workout 

 

Anyway this morning I replaced the 15 lb weights with 5 lb weights for 4 minutes. Then resistance bands for four minutes and a closing dance cardio with some kettle bell and jump rope. The routine totalled about 24 minutes and burned
about  that same 200 plus calories. I don’t know precisely because I never stopped the Fitbit! So if you through in my shower and getting dressed the workout lasted 54 minutes and burned 314 calories.

I may be able to get a run in today, but with the hot weather I don’t know. Maybe an after dinner bike ride? That would be something a little different.

Ok  so me today’s workout begins in earnest. Zoe is up! Just kidding!  Watching Zoe is not a hard task and certainly doesn’t burn a lot of calories- now Oliver that’s a different story!  After Zoe got up we spent some time cutting shapes.The featured image shows Zoe cutting the shapes by herself. She will turn three in September!

 

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A Very Strong Second Comeback Run Minus the Music

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How could I not run on Global Runnig Day!

 

Ok so last night was my second comeback run and my second run of the week. The last one was ok and there has been no major pain. just the normal little soreness you can expect after not running for a while. I decided that I would run a route that is a little over 3 miles long. It is a loop run with only one small hill near the end of the run.

I had planned to use Selwyn Burchwood’s latest release Pick Your Poison as the soundtrack for the run. However I have been using my old  iPhone On my runs because I still do not haven’t  a case for my new iPhone. Anyway the old iPhone wouldn’t download any songs. Therefore I went old school and ran without music.

The Run

Once again I told myself to take it easy. The first block of the run, which I usually find the hardest , was a little of a struggle. But it was actually completed a little faster than my previous run.. After that point I was running a little easier, but I was shocked when I looked down at the first mile mark and saw that my time was 10:37!

I thought that’s pretty fast, so I better slow down. I thought I did, but as I kept looking at the time, my pace was hovering right around 10:40 minutes per mile. That was what the pace was when I reached the two mile mark and the three mile mark! And actuallly I was still running pretty comfortably. I was even comfortable enough to get a little sprint at the end. That sprint brought my average pace down to 10:37 for the run!

Here are the splits: Mile 1 10:37 Mile 2 10:40 Mile 3 10:40 last 0.27 10:14!

Hmm I was just thinking if. I better off running without music. That’s the way I ran for years and sometimes I think it helps me be more in tune with my body and my breathing. So maybe I’ll try it in my next few runs and see how it goes.

This Morning’s Workout

This morning I didn’t want to do a full 60 minute workout, but I still wanted to get in a good workout that would burn a few calories  not just a yoga strecting workout. So I designed a modified 27 minute workout which combines a little tabata with my regular stuff
. It ended up being a 39 minute workout that burned 236 calories. But the most importantl thing is that my morning workout seems to get my body started in the morning.

Oh by the way i intent to write about Selwyn Birchwood‘a album in a bit so stay tuned. Now I want to go hear what Mr Comey has to say!

A Return to Running Music by Sean Chambers

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The Run –  30 Minutes – 2.75 Miles

So I stuck to plans for a run this yesterday afternoon and took off on a run at around 5:15. Which I guess is actually this evening. My plan was to run for at least 30 minutes. I chose a course that I usually run when I am returning to running. It’s  about 2.5 miles plus and takes around 30 some minutes.

Since it was my first run in over a month, I kept reminding myself as I was prepping for the run to take it easy! Anyway whether it’s old age or I just have learned over the years how to run slower, I was able to maintain a nice easy pace throughout the run.

Here are the mile splits: mile 1. 11:01, mile 2 11:17 the last .75 mile 11:19.I’ll take the last .75 mile being only 18 seconds per mile slower than the first mile any day.

The bottom line is that it was a successful start for a return to running. And so far my foot feels fine. The only thing that hurts tonight is my left shoulder, but that is from this morning’s tabata workout. I hate push-ups.

The Soundtrack: Trouble & Whiskey – Sean Chambers

The soundtrack for the run was Trouble & Whiskey, the latest release from Tampa based blues guitarist Sean Chambers. This album has been in my music rotation for several weeks now and is one of my favorites of 2017!

I first discovered the music of Sean Chambers in 2010 when I started blogging and exploring new music. He is the former lead guitarist for Blues great Hubert Sumlin. At that time, I explored his albums Humble Spirits and Ten Til Midnight. I enjoyed them both. More recently I listened to and enjoyed his album Live from the Long Island Blues Warehouse. And while I enjoyed all of the above albums I think that Trouble & Whiskey may be his best yet!

About Trouble & Whiskey

Both Costello’s vocals and guitar work are great on the album. Ben Elliott who has recorded classic artists such as Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons and Leslie West among others produced the album

The Sean’s band consists of obviously Sean on lead vocals and lead guitar. The rest of the band includes: Michael Hensley on Hammond B3 & keyboards, Todd Cook on bass and Kris Schnebelen on drums.

Special guests include Jimmy Bennett on guitar on track #8, John Ginty on Hammond B3 on track #4, (one of my favorite tracks!) and Andrei Koribaniks on percussion on tracks #1 and #7.

Seven of the tracks on Trouble & Whiskey new original Sean Chambers compositions. The remaining three tracks are covers: “Bullfrog Blues” by Rory Gallagher,(again one of my favorites), ‘Cut Off My Right Arm” by Johnny Copeland and “Be Careful With A Fool” by B.B. King/Joe Bihari.

So check it out! As for me I think I’ll create a playlist and give a listen to some of those other albums I haven’t heard for a while !

Here are some links …..

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Sean Chambers

Artist’s Website
Facebook
Twitter

Amazon

Here is a video for. the title track from Trouble & Whiskey from Sean Chambers

AM Workout: Tabata with Meditation Music From Nathan Speir

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Originally posted at The Amelioration Project

A Tabata Workout Followed by the peaceful music of Nathan Speir

This morning I really did not feel like doing a full 60 minute workout. I seriously considered only doing a light yoga workout. But the. I thought maybe a short 20 minute Tabata workout. So I created one on the workout app that I use. It consisted of 8 – 20 second intervals followed by 10 second rest of the following

  • Jumping jacks
  • Squat thrusts
  • Sit ups
  • Mountain climbers
  • Push-ups/ squats 5 push outs 3 squats

Of course I counted how many of the exercises I did in each interval. If you had told me T the beginning of the exercise I would be doing

  • 200 jumping jacks
  • 64 sit-ups
  • 64 squat thrusts
  • 240 mountain climbers and
  • 40 push ups

I would have said you were nuts! But that’s what I did. And although the workout only burnt. Calories according to my Fitbit I think it was pretty damn good workout!

I followed it with a 10 minute meditation  and 5 minute savasana
( had to sneak in a little yoga!)

Today’s Meditation Soundtrack: Part of a Kindly Plan – Nathan Speir

 

The soundtrack for the meditation was a New Age album that’s been in my music rotation for a while now but I haven’t written about it yet. Big surprise I haven’t been doing a lot of writing about anything recently. So in an effort to break out of that rut,let me tell you about Nathan Speir and his album Part of a Kindly Plan.

Nathan Speir is a pianist, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in southern California but was raised in Florida and Connecticut. Currently he calls Winston-Salem North Carolina home. Part of a Kindly Plan is Speir’s eight studio release. His music style is eclectic and varied. He cites among his influences the music of George Winston, Keith Jarrret, Pat Metheny, Steve Roach, Harold Budd, R Carlos Nakai, Chopin and Erik Satie. His is inspired by his family, poetry, fine art, space and astronomy, the study of religion and nature.

From his Website Biography…

“I have a perpetual need to create,” explains Speir, “and making music teaches me many lessons in life. I hope that my creations enhance the ambience in the listener’s life, and in doing so, the listener holistically benefits. This kind of music lends itself to solace, relaxing, thinking and reflecting on life. Studying your inner life and identifying your personal beliefs is serious business, but I believe that serious things can bring great joy. I want the music to feel like taking a pastoral retreat, or going to space and then returning to earth, but afterwards feeling more at one with things. I feel strongly that each person needs to contribute in some way to our world. With my music I try to do my small part.” Read More

About Part of a Kindly Plan

Part of a Kindly Plan contains mostly acoustic instruments – acoustic piano, steel and nylon string acoustic guitars, wooden flute, cello, harmonica, rain-stick and singing bowls. A couple of the tunes also include a little synthesizer (primarily replicating a string section.)

In addition Speir states: “…. silence has a big part in my music and I pay a lot of attention to the space between the notes”

Some of the inspiration for Part of a Kindly Plan comes from the Thomas Hardy poem. “On a Fine Spring Morning” . The poem was written in the early 1900s and Speir has included it on the back of the album cover. Speir explains…

“At the beginning the poem asks a question: What is solace? Hardy says it is not this or exactly that, but at the end he is happy and content because he says everything is part of a benign or kindly plan that is proof that earth was made for man. I liked the sentiments expressed so I paraphrased the various lines for the name of the album and several tune titles”

You can read more about the various tunes also in his biography at his website. Here is the  link.

 Thoughts About Part of a Kindly Plan…...

I find Part of a Kindly Plan to be a nice quiet and relaxing album. It is a nice album to use for meditation, not a perfect meditation album but damn close. One of the tracks that I’ve heard the most and have really enjoyed is track two “As We Turn” The track features an acoustic-steel string guitar blended with piano, rainstick shaker some sampled tympani and synth strings. Speir says the following about the track:

“There are lots of turns in life, and as we grow older our perspective of life changes.”

As I was driving to Walmart this morning listening to the album, I thought about what Speir had written about the use of space between the notes in his compositions. I really noticed that in practice on the tune ‘Praxis”  The song mixes nylon-string guitar and Native American flute with a rhythmic drum-sound created by Speir hitting the cello fretbound with his open hand. “The idea behind this piece”, relates Speir is that everyone should choose a discipline of some sort, seriously practice it, persevere, improve and also enjoy the journey.”

Anyway the album is, like Speir says a beautiful and varied collection of acoustic music and is well worth checking out. I think that it will be in my New Age rotation for quiet a while!! And it’s not just me who likes this album. The album was number 8 on the MusicZoneReporter.com Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart for April

Links for the Further Explorations of the Music of Nathan Speir

Artist Website
Facebook
YouTube
CDBaby

Here’s is a video for “A Taste of Solace” from the album Part of a Kindly Plan by Nathan Speir