Hi, I’m Erin. LadySouthpaw.com is my art project and labor of love.

Often, I feel like I’m fighting this mental static. Running and making music both help me break out of it. Some call it the “flow” or “the zone.” It’s what I’m chasing when I do “Lady Southpaw” stuff.

My first loves were all in the arts. I was always labeled “creative” and loved art, music, dance, and theatre from a young age. It’s what drew me from Michigan where I grew up to New York where I’ve lived about as long.

The nickname Lady Southpaw came from a boxing class. Despite always being lefty, I learned lots of things right-handed out of convenience, like playing guitar. When it came to learning boxing, I wanted to do it as a lefty. There was already a male “Southpaw” in the class, so the instructor called me, “Lady Southpaw.” Once a week I was Lady Southpaw and it was empowering. It felt like what I would later I recognize as a “runner’s high.” I wanted to capture that feeling.

After I got more serious about running, I discovered that I could tap this runner’s high feeling by running in sync to music. Most of this website is about running music. I obsessed over beats per minute, steps per minute and the history of the NYC Marathon. Marathoners Rocking New York is a concept album that is both a microcosm of the marathon route in song and a story about a 70’s punk fan running it for the first time. The whole thing is in a reliable 180bpm (or a little higher near the end.) It’s in the style of the Ramones meet Blondie and Patti Smith.

More recently I was contacted by author Christopher McDougall to write a song for Born to Run 2.

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Nowadays, my main pursuit is raising my two boys alongside my husband and Lady Southpaw Band bassist, Andrew. We also have a little black dog named Metsy who we are lovingly dressed as in the portrait above. 

Yet, I still get the itch to create music, art, and to write. Mostly, I sketch on my iPad or record my music and spoken word. This website is a place where I can share it and keep chasing that feeling.

I am also an RRCA certified running coach and have started working on ways to help people use music and cadence to enjoy running more. You can sign up for a free consultation here or try a customized running playlist here.