As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rock the music industry, GRAMMY.com reached out to a few musicians to see how they were spending their days indoors. Today, Caroline Jones shares her Quarantine Diary. Her latest single, "All of the Boys," is out now.
[6:30 a.m.] Wake-up rituals. I love to wake up early so I have a few hours to meditate and exercise or do Egoscue postural therapy. My physical and mental health are both of utmost importance to me, and my health/wellness routine is designed for optimal energy that I can then devote to my creativity. I also love to walk in nature, daily if possible, or at least spend some time outdoors in some sort of surrounding greenery. I have been quarantining and working on new music in New Zealand for the past few months, so there is a lot of magical scenery to take in.
[10:00 a.m.] Vocal warm-up. The voice is a muscle, and I consider myself an athlete. Singing, just like producing, songwriting and playing instruments, is a craft that I am constantly honing. I am a classically trained vocalist; I grew up singing opera and jazz. I typically need 45-60 minutes of vocal exercises to feel really warmed up, whether going in the studio or on stage. For those interested, the vocal exercises I have been doing for decades are on my YouTube channel.
[11:30 a.m.] Studio time. My team and I have been conducting remote recording sessions while I am here in New Zealand for a few months. The technology is staggering and the execution has been remarkable, thanks to the team at Roundhead Studios in Auckland, New Zealand, and my team in America: Ric Wake, my co-producer, Gustavo Celis, engineer and mixer, and Jorge Stelling, assistant engineer. We have redundant communication between Audio Movers, Zoom and Gus running Pro Tools in real time from Miami through TeamViewer. Whew! I get tired just thinking about it. But it's been working beautifully and we are able to continue the momentum of my second album!
[2:30 p.m.] Tracking with the Trenwiths. New Zealand being [almost] COVID-free, once I arrived here I was eager to engage in the in-person musical connection I have been missing this year. As anyone who follows me knows, I am always open and excited to dip my toes in the waters of different styles of music. I researched The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band, which is a more-than-50-year-old institution here in New Zealand, and of which Paul Trenwith is a founding member. We were able to get in touch with Paul and begin jamming with him, mandolinist Keith MacMillan, and Paul's sons, Sam and Tim, who together are known as the Trenwiths.
The Trenwiths and I recorded two Christmas songs (dropping Nov. 20!), stomping down-home bluegrass style at Neil Finn's famous Roundhead Studios. We are now working on a full set to livestream, and hopefully, we will also record a few traditional folk songs. It's hard to put into words how truly down-to-earth, genuine and funny this family band is, but hopefully, folks will feel it in the music we have made thus far and see it in the accompanying videos. We are having an absolute blast!
[5:30 p.m.] Overdubs. When my team and I are not tracking with the Trenwiths, we are completing overdubs on songs for my forthcoming second album (expected early 2021). We tracked most of the album in Nashville in August with an A-list band, and now I am tweaking vocals, singing stacks of harmonies, and overdubbing guitars, banjo, dobro, keys, etc. I absolutely love the process of producing and arranging, and I love challenging myself as a musician in the studio.
An example is my current single "All of the Boys," which I co-wrote with my good friend and mentor Zac Brown and co-produced with Ric Wake. I have the utmost respect for the talents and expertise of producers, engineers and studio musicians. I have been obsessed with the craft of record making since I first stepped into a Nashville session with Mac McAnally in my early 20s.
[7:00 p.m.] Adventuring in New Zealand. Typically, after a workday, we will cook or go out for dinner, then wind down and go to sleep! However, on weekends or days off, I have been blessed to adventure in this extraordinarily beautiful country. In the past month, I have found myself in some of the most remote, beautiful and otherworldly settings I have ever seen, by driving just one or two hours outside of Auckland. Piha and Raglan break have some of the world's best surfing; see picture below—not of me surfing, but playing guitar on the beach, ever true to form. We also went camping at South Head on a completely deserted beach. It was magical.
[10:30 p.m.] Bedtime. What an inspiring time in my life this is for me—to have the opportunity to create, write and adventure in a country 10,000 miles [away] from my home! I am soaking in every moment of it.
