#protectyourvoice

    Very few people know this but Tuesday has been kind of an inside joke (...hence why very few people know this...) amongst the revolving door of Rosedale team members. "Wait until Tuesday, They'll probably reply on Tuesday...Follow up on Tuesday...ask them on Tuesday...hit'em up! For it is Tuesday" etc.

     I don't mean for this to come across as cynical, but Tuesday has kind of become the day where everyone is more likely to get things done. Based on nothing but statisticless experience, people are more likely to say "yes" on Tuesday for whatever reason. Humans are more willing to ignore all distractions and Crush It on Tuesday.

      Come to think of it, this is probably the same reason why there's $1 bowling on Tuesday. And movies are half price on Tuesday. And EVERYONE knows about Taco Tuesday! A little closer to home, In Canada, I remember a bunch of fast food places had "Toony Tuesday" advertised on their windows (a Toony is a $2 coin). These leisure-y businesses probably recognized drastic dips in sales on Tuesdays because everyone was too busy Crushing It to go bowling, watch movies, eat tacos etc. So they made Tuesday specials.

     I still haven't totally figured out why a day of the week has such significance as to why we perk up and Get Shit Done. But the most reasonable explanation would probably come from our counter-motivation to the general perception of weekends. Here's what I invision: Friday night is social/party night (ie.Tacos and Movies), Saturday maybe you'll beach/golf/mimosa (.../more tacos) or maybe you’ll get stuff done around the house during the day then more social events (like bowling...and tacos) at night, then Sunday is so chill that Chick-Fil-A is straight up closed (I know about religion, don't worry).

      But then why not Mondays, right? Well Monday becomes most people's time to just get back into the groove; they'll get some stuff done, ie. reply to some of the workaholics who filled their inbox over the weekend. I'd guesstimate that the average normy gets 20% of the amount of work done on Mondays than they do on Tuesdays. Maybe it's also because on Monday we're all simultaneously subconsciously thinking "I can watch that viral thing that Mr.Normy was talking about at the water cooler...I've got the rest of this week to get the thing done".

    Anyway, that's what generalization looks like from the guy who once assumed all dogs are male and all cats are female. So now that you're all in on my Tuesday theory (and know what a Toony is) I guess I'll try to finish out this here blog and give you some updates:

      Rosedale is still in the re-branding stage. I've been tossing ideas around with friends. Some like/hate certain names, other friends are on completely different pages (hating/liking what was liked/hated...if that makes sense.) But overall I'm still just trying to figure out what to do from a branding standpoint in general! Do I assemble a band finally? Keep the one man show going but give it a clever name? Have a couple different projects with different names (one with a band, one solo with video screens, maybe even one more chilled out piano/acoustic??) I feel like the name’s will be narrowed down if I can organize the overall brand plan first.

      I guess I've been more focused on writing songs (and parts for those songs) than anything. I've got about 30ish songs that I'm happy enough to keep working on. Many others have been scrapped but might make their way back somehow. So that has me juggling a lot of computer files and lyrics messaged to myself randomly throughout my days. It has been nice to focus on creating songs and recording demos as opposed to spending hours grinding away as a small time booking agent for a project whose name is nearly unsearchable.

      But yes, it is really time to buckle down and figure out what to do with these songs/project/name/podcast/YouTube ideas. So if anyone has any suggestions feel free to send them my way and I'll put them in the ever-growing vault of ideas. And I promise to start making some moves soon.

      Speaking of moves, I recently moved to San Diego and am currently living out of my trailer and a rehearsal studio in El Cajon. That has been a throbbing idea of mine since around the time I spent Christmas 2015 in Time & Distance's rehearsal room in Charleston, WV and edited the entire video for Written By The Artist. I've always wanted to live in SoCal since I started skateboarding at 12 years old. Now I'm 30 and I still love this scene so I finally just did it in the most cost efficient way possible and I’m glad I did. Big thanks to Vocal Eze for helping me make ends meet with getting down here for NAMM (namm is a big music trade show). It has been really fun working as an artist ambassador for that amazing throat spray and I’ve been learning a lot. Check out some of the #ShareYourVoice vids I make too!

      In the midst of all of that I got very show deprived from going to see the many great bands down here so I picked up some acoustic shows thanks to Nick from Mainsail. We've been accompanying each other's songs along with some covers - half-jokingly calling it "MainDale". I also started filling in on bass for Mainsail. Check them out asap they're great and super good dudes. A lot of big things to come for that band for sure.

     Then I randomly took a gig for Rosedale this Friday April 5th at Himmelberg's in San Diego (cus why not) so if anyone wants to see that it starts at 8pm PST this Friday April 5th. Rosedale is on last at 11pm so please stick around, tell some friends it'll be worth the late night. Here's the flyer:

     Mainsail has a show at Blonde Bar on April 8th which is also a headlining set. From there I'm driving 38 hours back to Toronto to re-import all my gear back into Canada and renew my work permit (as both my bond and permit expire April 12th). Not gonna be fun, but has to be done. I'm technically not aloud to work or bring my gear into the United States until my new permit starts (May 3rd). But Mainsail has some more SoCal shows in April that I might fly back for... or just help make BassDale tracks for. We're not sure what we're doing about that yet. I really need to figure out dual citizenship though. 

     Most of this + more was already covered in the @Palapalooza podcast I did on my bday. Here's the link for that. 

actually here it is:

     Shout out to Troy from Ready Set Survive for spreading his passion for music/new bands and having me and Mainsail Nick on that.

     One last update; I was working on video edits and mixing for a live hometown Rosedale show that I multi-tracked with Zedpromedia on my last tour and I was working off my 2T hard drive (because the files were so massive) and it crashed the other day while transferring that Palapalooza video onto it. I had so much on that hard drive (old videos, shows, pictures etc) and I've been trying to recover the files but it has not been very successful. I got most of them back with a $90 app but they're all re-organized and renamed or Corrupt and the sessions won't even open. The drive is still sitting about 90% full of files but I worry there's no way of getting any use out of it. Unless I bring it somewhere and pay a bunch of money for someone (that knows something I don't) to do their thing. Which I'm thinking I should probably do.

     I guess that's all the updates for now. What have you all have been up to? I really miss seeing friends at shows and hearing about what they have going on in their lives. So feel free to reply here or message me anytime even if you feel like you have NOTHING going on (we all feel that way sometimes). Any new music/Podcasts you've been listening to? Blogs or vids I should check out? And of course, the perfect band name for me?? Let me know! 

Thanks again to Vocal Eze and Westone and Ernie Ball for helping me out so much over this re-brand transition! I'm extremely lucky to have such great support from these awesome companies.

     I also wanna give one last special shoutout to an awesome fan/friend who has really inspired me to get back to writing these blabbering blogs. Mellyssa Woodward recently started a blog that exposes new bands via very interesting interviews. She was hesitant to do it because she wasn't sure if anyone would care. Then she just decided to do it for herself and I assure you that they are so good because she is right in her element with these! I think we can all relate to that on so many levels with the many ideas floating around in our heads. Just go do it for yourself however you would like it to be done! That's what Mel (@AssyllemNaej on insta and twitter) did and here's a prime example of how it can only do good for yourself and the world...and of course my favorite Georgia band, LIKE MIKE: https://notesonnotes.tumblr.com/post/183814739906/notes-on-like-mike

Thanks for reading! Hope to see you in San Diego this Friday night or sometime soon :) 

That raspy, weaker-than-usual voice that shows up with a cold or the flu isn't just a side effect to shrug off it's a sign your vocal cords are swollen and working harder than they should. Protecting your voice when sick is less about babying it and more about understanding what's actually happening in your throat, so you don't turn a few days of hoarseness into weeks of it.

At the New York Institute of Otolaryngology, Dr. Raj and the ENT team see this pattern often in patients throughout Brooklyn and Rego Park: someone pushes through a presentation, a shift, or a singing rehearsal while sick, and ends up with lingering voice problems long after the illness itself has cleared.

This guide covers why illness strains the voice in the first place, what actually helps, what to avoid, when to rest completely, and how to speed up recovery without making things worse.

Why Illness Strains the Voice

Your voice is produced by two vocal cords vibrating together hundreds of times per second as air passes between them. When you're sick with a cold, flu, or upper respiratory infection those cords become inflamed and swollen, just like the rest of your throat and sinuses.

This swelling changes how the vocal cords vibrate, which is why your voice sounds different: rougher, lower, breathier, or weaker than usual. A few things make this worse during illness:

Coughing forceful and repetitive, it slams the vocal cords together hard, adding mechanical trauma on top of inflammation

Post-nasal drip constant throat clearing to deal with drainage is another form of repeated cord trauma

Dehydration fever, mouth breathing, and reduced fluid intake dry out the mucus layer that normally cushions vocal cord vibration

Talking through it using an already-swollen voice at normal volume and duration adds further strain

This is why voice care during illness matters the vocal cords are already vulnerable, and how you use your voice over the next few days can determine whether hoarseness resolves in a week or lingers for a month.

What Helps Protect Your Voice

A few habits make a meaningful difference in reducing strain while your body fights off the illness:

Stay well hydrated. Water helps keep the mucus layer on your vocal cords thin and functional, so they vibrate more easily.

Use a humidifier, especially at night, to keep the air you're breathing from drying out your throat further.

Speak at a lower volume and shorter duration than usual this is the single most protective habit during illness.

Warm (not hot) drinks and honey can be soothing, though they don't heal inflammation directly.

Steam inhalation from a warm shower or bowl of hot water can offer temporary relief for irritated tissue.

Sleep more than usual. Your body repairs tissue, including inflamed vocal cords, during rest.

None of these "cure" laryngitis faster on their own, but together they reduce the ongoing irritation that prolongs recovery.

What to Avoid

Certain habits actively work against recovery and are worth cutting out until your voice returns to normal:

Whispering counterintuitively, whispering often strains the vocal cords more than speaking softly at normal pitch, because it requires the cords to work harder to produce sound without full vibration

Throat clearing this is essentially the vocal cords slamming together; swallow instead, or sip water

Shouting or singing while hoarse pushing volume or pitch through inflamed cords is one of the fastest ways to cause lasting damage

Smoking or vaping both are direct irritants to already-inflamed tissue

Caffeine and alcohol in excess both are dehydrating, which works against the moist environment your vocal cords need

Decongestants in excess while they reduce congestion, they can also dry out mucous membranes, including the vocal cords, if overused

When to Rest Your Voice Completely

Sometimes reducing use isn't enough genuine, near-total voice rest is warranted when:

Your voice is significantly hoarse, breathy, or cutting out entirely

You have an important vocal commitment (performance, big presentation) in the near future and need to protect against long-term damage

Hoarseness persists beyond 1–2 weeks

You notice pain when speaking, not just a changed sound

You're a professional voice user singer, teacher, broadcaster where vocal cord health directly affects your livelihood

Voice rest doesn't mean total silence is required for everyone, but it does mean minimizing talking to only what's necessary, at a comfortable volume, for a defined period often 24–48 hours during the peak of illness.

Speeding Recovery

Beyond protecting the voice moment to moment, a few things support faster overall recovery:

Treat the underlying illness. Voice symptoms improve as the cold, flu, or infection resolves rest, fluids, and appropriate medical care for the illness itself matter as much as direct voice care.

Avoid pushing through obligations that require heavy voice use. If possible, reschedule calls, classes, or events that require extended talking.

Reintroduce voice use gradually. As you feel better, ease back into normal speaking volume and duration rather than jumping straight back into full use.

Don't self-medicate voice symptoms with numbing lozenges before heavy use. These can mask pain signals that would otherwise tell you to stop, increasing injury risk.

FAQs

1. How long does laryngitis from a cold typically last? Most cases resolve within 1–2 weeks as the underlying illness clears. Hoarseness lasting longer than that is worth having evaluated.

2. Is whispering better for my voice than talking? No whispering can actually strain the vocal cords more than speaking softly at a normal pitch, since it requires extra muscular effort without full vocal cord vibration.

3. Can talking too much while sick cause permanent damage? Occasionally, yes. Repeated strain on already-inflamed vocal cords can lead to vocal cord nodules or other lasting changes, especially in professional voice users.

4. Does drinking tea with honey actually help my voice? Warm fluids with honey can be soothing and help with hydration, though they don't reduce the underlying vocal cord inflammation directly.

5. Should I completely stop talking if I have laryngitis? Complete silence isn't always necessary, but minimizing talking, avoiding straining, and using a comfortable volume for 24–48 hours often helps significantly.

6. Can post-nasal drip really affect my voice? Yes. Constant throat clearing from drainage causes repetitive trauma to the vocal cords, similar to the effect of coughing.

7. Are decongestants safe to use for voice protection during illness? Used as directed, they can help reduce congestion, but overuse can dry out mucous membranes, including the vocal cords, so they're best used in moderation.

8. When should I see an ENT about voice changes from being sick? If hoarseness lasts more than 2 weeks, if you notice pain while speaking, or if your voice doesn't return to normal after the illness resolves, it's worth an ENT evaluation.

9. Can steam really help a strained voice? Steam inhalation can offer temporary relief for irritated throat tissue, though it's a comfort measure rather than a treatment for the underlying cause.