Two days ago I had the pleasure of working one on one with Karl Sterling.  Karl is an old friend and an amazing guy.  He is also one of the sponsors of this project with Sterling Fitness.  He first built his career as a professional drummer and then in the middle of his life moved over into the fitness field.  He is incredibly knowledgeable in a variety of areas including fitness, nutrition, and barefoot training.  What do bare feet have to do with riding a mountain bike or playing percussion instruments?  Everything, actually.  It’s amazing how divorced we are from our bodies and our feet in this culture.  Like most of you I was raised in shoes and my feet are very tender and very underdeveloped.  That’s sad because we actually have more nerve endings on the bottom of our feet than almost anywhere else on our body.  Our feet are as important as our hands.  Can you imagine going through your whole life wearing mittens?  That’s essentially what we’ve done with our shoes.

At any rate, I’ve had some issues with my IT band on my right leg over the years. I’m working with an incredible physical therapist named Heidi Quackenboss who is helping me deal with this, but I’m also working with Karl.  Karl showed me some very simple but effective exercises that fire up my toes and help develop the “short foot” (click on his name above and check out his site for more info).  Amazingly, this also straightens out my leg and makes my IT band work more smoothly.

Thanks, Karl!!

My William Paterson University colleague and friend Peter Jarvis has also contributed a wonderful piece to Sonic Divide:

This is a purely percussion piece that gives me the opportunity to really rock out!  The ceremony aspect of it will be wonderful when I reach a major milestone, like a 1,000 miles or the crossing into a new state.  I might also use it at the borders to begin and finish the journey.  Let’s see what the Sonic Divide spirits say!

I’ve received several new pieces over the last few weeks that I’ll be posting about.  Here’s a gorgeous one from Reena Esmail:

It’s based on a lovely poem about traveling and adventure, perfect for Sonic Divide.  Reena has brilliantly combined two Hindustani Ragas into one and essentially created a new kind of raga.  The beauty of this piece is that I can use it for Sonic Divide, but also when I’m singing classical Indian concerts (which I do quite frequently these days).  Reena’s talent never ceases to amaze me.  Yay!

My very close friend and musical collaborator Blake Tyson has contributed a piece to Sonic Divide:

It’s a lovely piece that includes a thoughtful poem by Blake.  I’m really honored to have him on board.  Thanks, Blake, I look forward to performing this many, many times over the years.