Day 3 - Car Parks and Guitar Parts

This morning's litany of pains in the ass yet again brought the end game of this recording lark into focus...  In fairness, it was mainly the godawful commute into Glasgow city centre at 7.30am that did it.  Apparently all approaches to the city had been temporarily converted to car parks, seemingly in conspiracy against me getting into work on time.  For me to get to the studio for midday, I needed first to get to work nice and early so as not to draw attention to me doing a bunk at 11.30am... No such luck.  Oh, how wonderful it would be to no longer be on this hamster wheel and singing full time... one day!

By the time I made it to the studio, Stuart had already made a start, getting things in order for the day.  And we had a really productive one - another 5 guitar tracks done, and with only two left to record, we're just about ready to move onto the first vocal tracks tomorrow.  I can't wait - as much as I enjoy playing my Taylor, it's the singing bit I really look forward to, especially as the tracks start to take shape.  It's great to feel that we are making progress now, even with regular blackcurrant tea and You Tube breaks - I've got to let my wee sore wrist recover from all this guitar playing, after all!

So it's vocalzones and a cup of lemon and ginger tea for Spina...  I don't want to tempt fate, but it seems that I have managed to make it to my first vocals day without contracting some horrible illness.  It has become almost an inevitability that, if I have something important coming up, I will come down with a cold at the very least.  Cases in point:

• Two days before my gig with Sheryl Crow a few years ago, I came down with tonsillitis and lost my voice.  
• In between the sound check for my Celtic Connections debut with Horse at Glasgow City Halls and my stage time, I was knocked flat on my back with a virus (by the time I made it to the post-gig set at the Festival Club, I was white as a sheet, shaking uncontrollably and had lost my voice altogether, resulting in probably the most mortifying attempt at a live set EVER...I still cringe when I think about it.  But I was really sick...);
• Then there's my Joan Armatrading shows earlier this year - I came down with a cold the day of the first show, but managed to keep my voice intact.  That was until the morning of the last show at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall when I woke up with little more than a croak.  

Every time, the shows went on and I did the gigs to the best of my ability.  But it really does feel sometimes like my body is trying to sabotage me...  Luckily, though, the preparation for the album recording appears to have escaped the attentions of the germ-demons so far...  Here's hoping it stays that way and I don't wake up tomorrow with Man Flu.

And on that note, time to get some sleep!  Night night, I'll be back tomorrow to round up the week so far.  Bye for now! 

Love, A x