After moving to the sprawling Los Angeles metropolis, singer-songwriter Moira Mack discovered the power of the natural world through hiking.
“I found that is a really crucial part of maintaining a balance in my life, when I’m living in a city” she said on a stroll along England’s south coast in the most entry in our Sofar Stories series. “To get out somewhere.”
With her Sofar Artist’s Residence in London behind her, Mack took to the Seven Sisters Cliffs – a series of rugged white chalk cliffs along the English Channel – to reconnect with herself and her craft. After years of struggling with anxiety and depression, the great outdoors became a therapeutic release for Mack.
Hiking is now a vital part of her songwriting process and identity as a musician. Mack wrote “Don’t Walk Ahead”, her most played song on Spotify, while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. It was on this hike that she was given the rather fitting trail name ‘Songbird’. Mack is now walking ahead: carrying songs with her, leaving behind a version of herself, and forging a new community.
“I’m really enjoying collaborating with people I met here,” Mack says. “People I’ve met through Sofar shows and some people that I knew before. It’s nice to build a new community; I’ve been so used to working within my own community in Los Angeles, which I also love. But you get so much inspiration from new collaborators.”
We joined her on the hike for our latest in the Sofar Stories series:
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