Twin Cities musician Jeremy Messersmith finds music in the rhythm of hikes

Walking along the Superior Hiking Trail, a journal and a ukulele in his pack, Jeremy Messersmith finds inspiration.

It’s the tall waterfalls that make one feel small, the panoramic views of Lake Superior and the trail itself that rises and falls and winds through the woods.

Messersmith, the Twin Cities musician behind the songs “A Girl, a Boy and a Graveyard” and “Ghost,” lets his mind drift on walks and hikes, tuning into the sounds around him.

Take his song about letting go of stress: “666.″ Its lyrics were inspired by a hike along the North Shore: “If the rigors of modern life have / left you stressed / take a long, slow breath and practice / mindfulness” and “If there’s any tension let it go / feel it from your head down to your toes.”

The words start flowing when his body is moving, he said.

“You know your body has a kind of rhythm when it walks, there’s a tempo,” Messersmith said. “I don’t really think seriously about songwriting, but then that’s usually the best way to get in the songwriting flow is to walk — to just get lost somewhere and wander and move your body.”

We asked Messersmith, 45, more about how the outdoors and hiking inspires his songwriting. His responses have been edited for clarity and length.

Q: What’s your favorite outdoor activity? Why?

A: My favorite outdoor activity is just walking around. It feels like one of the most human things that I can do. It is sustainable and it works for my body and I like the mindset that I get into when I walk.

Walking feels rewarding, I like what I think about. I love writing songs when I walk.

Q: How did you get into hiking and walking?

A: Mushroom hunting was, for whatever reason, the thing that got me going out into state parks. Probably 10 or 15 years ago, my friend Peter took me out on a mushroom hunt. I was interested in, from a culinary standpoint, finding some morels and then I just got kind of hooked. Sometimes you find mushrooms and sometimes you don’t, but a walk in the woods is just always delightful.

Q: What’s your favorite place to be outside in Minnesota?

A: I’d say overall my favorite is the Superior Hiking Trail, which is pure magic. I’ve been through hiking big sections of it. Now I do mostly day hikes, but it’s a real gem. I love that it exists. I love all the volunteers who maintain it. Walking the trail in late September to early October, when the leaves are changing, is just magical.

There are other spots I like, too. A regular hike for me would be on the North Shore, the Caribou Falls wayside.

Also, because I live in the Twin Cities, I do a lot of hiking [in the metro]. I live over by the [Great] River Road, so I do a lot of hiking along the Mississippi River. I also do walk around in the Wood Lake Nature Center, which I like quite a bit in Richfield.

Q: What have you learned about yourself on these hikes?

A: They’re physically demanding. I mean, every time you hit the trail, your body is a little bit different — different aches and pains may come up. But hiking is a great time for thinking.

I’m not sure that there’s anything that refreshes me and makes me relax like being in a natural environment. Once I’ve spent enough time hiking around the trail, going back into the “real world” feels so strange and so dystopian. Sometimes I’ll just think, like, all of our cities are designed to be so anti-human, and I wish so much more of it was walkable.

Q: What is your best day outside? Worst day?

A: A great day outside for me was last summer up at a cabin and then it being very, very warm, just lying out in the sun and then diving into Lake Superior and just swimming around. Spending a day doing that was just delightful.

Worst day: I used to go with my dad, who was an upland bird hunter for animals like quail, grouse and pheasants and stuff like that. I remember as a kid I got to accompany him on a hunting trip and I was not wearing the appropriate cold weather gear and I was shivering and being miserable and complaining loudly.

Q: Is there an outdoor activity that you wish you knew how to do?

A: This is embarrassing. There are several activities I wish I had known how to do. But I’m not a native Minnesotan. I’ve just lived here for a long time. Big things that I feel like I missed out on: I don’t know how to ice skate, and I also don’t know how to ski or snowboard, so any of those winter activities which so many of my friends and neighbors enjoy, I cannot do. I’m somewhat balance-impaired, too, so I’m just like, I’ve gotten this far. I should probably just avoid doing those things.

Q: Is there an outdoor activity you think is overrated?

A: ATV stuff. I’ve ridden on them a few times and I’m, like, this doesn’t seem that fun. And I would include snowmobiling. It’s just, I’d rather walk. And I feel like I’m just guzzling gas on those things.

Q: You’ve been given the chance to go on your dream outdoor adventure: What is it, and which three people would you bring with you?

A: My dream would be — and this is actually something I have looked into and will probably try to book at some point in my life — I love the idea of doing a pilgrimage hike. There are a few around the world where you basically pack a small amount of stuff, you hike all day and then you arrive at a hut so it’s more like you’re not really camping but you’re just kind of walking from place to place.

I love hiking. But I don’t necessarily love the camping part of it. It would be amazing to do this on the Superior Hiking Trail and I could maybe look this up — that would be awesome to just hike from place to place and not even have to camp. That would be absolutely amazing.

As far as the three people I’d take with, I probably would take my brother, Anders, and I’d take my band mates, Andy Thompson and Dan Lawonn.