We all know that pipe smokers run the gamut in many regards. From brand loyalties, tobacco preferences, clenching/palm smoking, vulcanite vs. acrylic, whether or not fishing vests should be reserved for actually fishing, etc. etc. Artisan collectors, back porch corn cobbers and everyone in between, yes we pipe smokers come from every walk and, what's more, we like it that way.

So I figured, being that we are so different, it might be fun to see what a few of us around the office liked to do while smoking our pipes. While Sykes insisted that his favorite accompaniment to a good pipe was writing code, doing intense math in his head and sending emails simultaneously (hey, to each their own!), many of the rest of us indicated that listening to music was a favorite piping pastime.

Here, in no particular order, are some of the answers I received from SPC staff members, to the question: What is your favorite music to listen to while enjoying a pipe?

Ron Nunes:

While I'm still new to the whole pipe smoking world, my favorite style of music has always been classic rock, so I'll generally put on a mix of 60's, 70's and 80's like: Bryan Adams, Van Halen, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, etc. Occasionally I'll mix it up and play some Sinatra and Dean Martin. I tend to read a lot while I smoke my pipe as well, so I'm generally pairing the music with my mood or the tone of the novel I'm reading as well.

Andy Wike:

For me the music and the tobacco blends just depend on the weather. I tend to smoke Latakia or strong flakes like Peterson's Irish Flake or SG 1792 when its cold outside, preferring straight Virginias in the fall/summer with a little crossover into my winter blends. For summer its Va/Per for sure. My music and tobacco rotation might look something like this:

Celtic/world music like Loreena McKennitt: Peterson's Irish Flake and heavy Latakia blends like Nightcap

Old school bluegrass: Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Ropes

Latin Jazz : straight Virginia flake like FVF or Captsan Blue

Spoken word poetry/indie hip hop: McConnell Scottish Flake or Folded Flake

Classical Flamenco Music: Va/Per like Escudo

Hadassah Hallman:

For me when I am unwinding after a stressful day, I need music just as mellow as the tobaccos I like to smoke. Sometimes I have an evening where some light tunes from Smashing Pumpkins does the trick. Other nights I feel a little more soulful and something classic like Ike and Tina Turner hit the spot just right. It all depends on the mood really.

Joshua Burgess:

Everyone else is much cooler than me. Here are a few pieces/songs/styles of music that I like to pair with particular tobaccos:

G.L Pease Cumberland: Aaron Copeland's Appalachian Spring

Cumberland is one of my top five blends. Both the tobacco and Copeland's music strike me as very refined versions of American classics. In the case of Pease's blend, dark fired Kentucky and Virginia tobacco. The blend somehow manages to be both refined and rustic. What better pairing could there be than a piece of music that captures the spirit of Appalachia and its folk songs.

G.L. Pease Quiet Nights: Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium

Rich choral harmony that's perfect with a contemplative blend

Molto Dolce: Ella Fitzgerald "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" (or anything else from the Rogers and Hart songbook)

Molto Dolce reminds me a lot of Ella's voice--sweet and rich.

Escudo: Opera.

Refined enough to be high brow, ubiquitous enough not to be snobby

Christmas Cheer: Bing Crosby, "White Christmas"

Rapahel Fiedler:

I'll usually pop on a Zappa album, my favorite being the Helsinki concert from 74. It's fun to pick apart his arrangements.

Dennis Mann:

Music appreciation is an important tradition for my wife and I. We regularly allot time specifically for sitting and paying attention to whatever is playing, rather than simply having it in the background. There are no rules; we take turns playing anything from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Rick Wakeman, and a million things in between. I find my pipe compliments this process perfectly, allowing for a spontaneous change of pace, as well as stillness and contemplation.

Johnathan Turner:

To be honest I'm a hot ass smoker. Let me back up that sounded tremendously wrong. I smoke pipes way too hot, so I need all the help I can get. I'm also a bit of a slobberer (attracted female readers can contact me through the author of this blog) so, again, all the help I can get.

I tend to smoke a bit fast and furious, with only my thoughts accompanying the bowl, so you can only imagine the raging tempo my puffings would begin to follow, were I to listen to my usual punk rock playlist. Armed with this knowledge and painful memories I tend to seek out mellower music. Nothing harder or faster than, say, London Calling by The Clash. Jazz or classic rock, or anything that could be described as having a groove, helps me to slow down and just enjoy!

Ted Swearingen:

If I'm going to sit down and actively listen to music (without distraction) for a period of time then I usually will do so with a pipe. When I do this I'm usually listening to an unfamiliar album or collection of songs from a favorite artist that I want to pay close attention to. Or I'll sit down and smoke a pipe when I put on an opera or a lengthy piece of concert music.

John Sutherland:

My Sunday morning ritual for a while was to load up a pipe and put on the Fleet Foxes. I called it Church.

Shane Ireland:

I prefer to listen to really complex stuff when I am having a pipe, as I like to be totally immersed in both experiences at once. Coltrane or Thelonius Monk, for example,tend to compliment a good smoke perfectly.

The genres are all over the place, as expected. In terms of musical leanings, it would be difficult for me to imagine a much broader spectrum, but I think that there is one defining and cohesive element to each of these answers: thoughtfulness and the pursuit of contemplation. From Andy's structured approach of pairing tobacco and musical selection according to the weather, to John's pursuit of his own personal "church" experience, every answer lends itself to the impression that pipe smoking and music both are instruments by which the individual seeks enrichment, serenity and perhaps, for some, even enlightenment. I expect that to those who have never smoked a pipe, this post may fall on deaf ears, but for my fellow pipe folk, I bet this rings as clear as a bell.