Kitchen Table Covers Week 7: Pancho & Lefty

This week I covered the Townes Van Zandt song "Pancho & Lefty", and I had the most interesting thing happen while I was trying to record it! I love this song, and I had the chords and lyrics written down in a binder from long ago, but when I was practicing singing it, it just felt like shit. It didn't sound good and it didn't feel good to sing.

I decided to take step away from the song for a bit, even though I was running out of time to record it. When I was young, my uncle Zane taught me the magic of taking breaks from practicing or writing, and it has always served me well. As much as my brain tells me to hammer something until I get it right, I've always found that whatever problem I'm having will somehow be fixed or solved when I come back.

So when I did come back, something magical happened. I picked up the guitar, and without thinking about it, my hands started playing the song in a different key. I actually didn't even notice I was doing it until I started singing, because it felt so different! It felt great, and I liked the way it sounded this time.

Now, transposing the key isn't hard to do, but I would normally have to think about it for a second... but my body didn't have to think about it, it just knew. 

So, anyways. Lessons of the day: take breaks and trust your body  🙃

Enjoy!

Meg