Guest Blog—My current recipe for exercise success:

Variation and Rewards

By Bobby McCullough

It was a little over a year ago that I decided to get proactive about my health and integrate exercise into my daily life. As someone who was aiming to be mentally healthier, I recognized that improving my physical health would be a crucial part of the solution.

  

With all the traveling that I do, I initially had concerns about whether I would be able to maintain any kind of exercise schedule.  As it turns out, I found that the inconsistencies in my whereabouts and schedule could actually help keep things interesting!  

First and foremost, I have had some of the most amazingly scenic runs while on the road: on the trails of Redwood National Forest, in the mountains of Colorado and through the urban landscapes of cities like San Francisco and Seattle.  

When I toured last summer, I also used running as a way to explore the small towns that we tour through.  I would wake up early on Saturdays to shop at the local farmers markets or I would find some interesting local stores I wanted to visit and base my run around them.  I also get to visit so many different gyms and yoga studios, the change of atmosphere is something I now look forward to.  

On this past tour with Benyaro, I went to about 15-20 different yoga studios, took a variety of types of classes and practiced with all kinds of people.  With all these variables, exercising on the road becomes more fun and interesting.  Also, between meeting people after the band’s performances and meeting people the next day at markets, stores and yoga classes, I feel like I haven’t just seen a town but have been able to get small sense of the community there.

The other focus that has kept me going for the last year is creating rewards for myself.  The first thing I focused on was how great it felt after exercising in the morning and feeling like I had earned my breakfast.  

When I first started, my goal was just to “do something” before breakfast—simple.  Whether it was a short jog, some weightlifting or a yoga class, I would find something to do before I ate breakfast.  

I love feeling like I have earned my food that day and also enjoy the feeling of actually being hungry, not just eating out of habit. Also, if I exercise at some point during the day, I feel like I can go out and not have to be as cautious about how much I eat or if I have too much dessert, because I have earned it.  I’ve found that it’s amazing how much you can eat when you exercise regularly!  

Focusing on rewarding myself enjoying the rewards that naturally come from exercising are what fuel my motivation to keep moving.

Bobby McCullough is a touring musician living in NYC, who has recently refocused much of his energy on healthy and happy living.

Guest Blog—Picture Rock: Scenes from Life in a Colorado Mountain Town

Picture Rock, Installment Two

Jam

By EZ Ryyder

Climbing up the worn wooden stairs, we’re surrounded by promo photos of musicians from the days when bands had press kits.  I smile at Katy, and the Prophet just nods as we stroll through the front reception area.  I slip the mandolin case off my shoulder and stash it behind the Elvis statue. The Prophet hangs on to his banjo case.

The restaurant is packed with mountain bikers, kayakers, local families, tourists, climbers and an assortment of people that just can't be classified.  The wait staff is bustling around, explaining the beer selections, taking orders and carrying trays with a mixture of plates and glasses.  There doesn't seem to be an open seat and there is no hint of what's to come. 

We wander into the other room, sort of an upstairs bar with “seat yourself” tables in the center of the room, high tops along the walls and windows that look out on the hills and redstone cliffs.  There is a wrap around porch outside with more tables through the heavy glass door.  There are a couple of seats at the bar and we slide in and stake our claim.  Annie’s blue-green eyes sparkle our way from under her curly brown hair while she fills two pints and talks to an older gentleman with a fishing cap and a scraggly beard, and before you know it, she asks us what we’ll have.  I order a Devious Ale and the Prophet gets a whiskey and a glass of water.

We wait for the other musicians to show, sip our drinks and talk about how quickly the trails are drying out. 

Kasey and Erik host the weekly bluegrass jam at the brewery.  Most of the time, at least one of them is off touring with a band. Tonight, they are both in town and there is a buzz of anticipation as a few more folks carrying instruments walk into the bar and tuck their instrument cases out of the way.  Or try to.  The cases are always in the way. 

Around eight o’clock, the last guests finish their dinner and as soon as they get up, people start clearing the tables and carrying them out to the porch and stack them on the outside tables.  Next, the chairs are dragged across the wooden floor and arranged in a circle.  The instruments come out and banjos, fiddles, mandolins and guitars somehow get spaced out so there aren’t too many in a row. 

Erik kicks off the jam with a John Hartford tune, “Here I Am In Love Again.”  After the first verse, the solos start snaking their way around the circle.  When it gets to me, I do my best to play crisp notes that project across the room and don’t get lost in the volume of the jam. Then it’s back to the next verse and the solos pick up at the spot in the circle where they left off.

Most of the pickers are quite competent.  Some are spectacular. 

After the song finishes, the next person in the circle selects the next song and around it goes.  By now, there are 15 people in the main circle and there is barely room to stand in the bar.  Soon, additional circles begin to split off in other parts of the building and as the evening rolls along, the real pros start to show up. 

There is a jam circle in the front lobby, two in the main dining room and one on the back porch.  That’s not counting the main jam that got things going.  The place is mobbed.  The Tuesday night ride from the Cyclery has occupied the large, Viking-length table in the back—which seems fitting as this group has been pillaging the most technical terrain above town for the past few hours wearing headlamps. 

Clusters of people fill the open space between the jams.  It’s hard to tell the musicians from the fans or the random folk that stumbled into something real and alive, ebbing and flowing with notes flying through the air and bouncing off the walls.

I wander into the other room to check out another circle and see the Prophet tearing it up with Kasey, Joseph, Topher and some fiddle player that I’ve never met.  Kasey is singing “I’ve Endured” and it strikes me that this is probably one of the most enduring jams anywhere. 

As on most Tuesdays, I feel lucky to be here.


Next: Installment Three, Spin

© EZ Ryyder 2012

EZ Ryyder spends his time a little bit farther down the road.  Past the city limits.

Guest Blog—Goodbye West, Hello Bagels

By Bobby McCullough

It feels great to be back home in New York City after being on tour since mid-January.  I had been touring with the band Benyaro, traveling through 10 states, performing 47 times in about 60 days.  

Although I did not miss the loud horns and sirens, the crowded subways or the lack of interaction between people in public, I do enjoy not having to unpack my things every night only to pack them up again in the morning.  Now in the same place for a while, I’ve been able to spend the last week recharging, seeing friends and stuffing my face with bagels.

The tour started mid-January in Utah, where we performed at the Sundance Film Festival and saw people like Andy Samberg (SNL) and Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation).  The second day at the festival was our first encounter with heavy snowfall, which we would end up dealing with again the second half of the trip.  

Next we went through California, starting with San Francisco and working our way north through the beautiful wine country, playing some good concerts accompanied by good weather.  From there we moved north through the coasts of Oregon and Washington where I saw some breathtaking shorelines and one amazing sunset.


        

In eastern Washington, we had the pleasure of staying with a local high school football coach in Colfax, and I managed to pull my back out while working out alongside his football team.  We then headed east through Idaho and Montana, playing college towns such as Moscow (University of Idaho) and Bozeman (Montana State University).  This is where our second bout with snowstorms began.  

We left Montana for even more snow in Wyoming where we spent a few days off around the Grand Teton Mountains.  From here we played some more shows in Idaho and Wyoming, at one point dealing with some serious road closures in which roads were closed for days, causing us to have improv some dangerous alternative routes in order to get to our concerts. 
        

We headed south to do a long string of shows in Colorado, one of my favorite states to both perform in and see.  This year, along with performing in our usual towns such as Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins, we also saw a few new places, such as Lyons and Eagle.  

After Colorado we played a couple of shows in New Mexico and got to stay two nights in a small town called Cerrillos, which used to be a mining town and now is home to only a few hundred people. I went on one of my favorite runs here in the local state park, and explored the gorgeous, mountainous desert landscape. 

We finished the tour in Austin at the SXSW Festival.  I have never been so overwhelmed with great music before.  It was almost stressful trying to decide which acts to see because there were hundreds to chose from.  It was also crazy to be in 80-degree weather when only two weeks earlier I had gone running one morning in Jackson, WY, and it was only 5 degrees.

Keep an eye out for my next blog, as I share more stories from my journey in music and wellness.  

Bobby McCullough is a touring musician living in NYC, who has recently refocused much of his energy on healthy and happy living.