Gondola Sessions

Back in April we got this rad bunch to pile into the Aspen Gondola for a groovin’ Gondola Session. Their level of stoke and positive vibes shown in this photo was present throughout the session, but don’t take our word for it...

“Find A Way”

Acoustic-Electric

This was a unique session in that we had to record the bass separately, then mix in. We have only done this on a couple of videos before:

Fruition

The Deltaz

Jeremy Garrett is a multi-instrumentalist and founding member of The Infamous Stringdusters band. After months of planning, the stars aligned and we were able to get Garrett on the gondola when stopping through Aspen, Colorado on tour with The Dusters.

For the first song Garrett played mandolin for “Somewhere In Between,” a song from the April 2019 Dusters album Rise Sun.

Then he got out the fiddle for an insane take of his song “Lead Or Follow,” a song that he normally performs with a looping machine and some electronics. Hope you dig!

Somewhere In Between

Lead Or Follow

Spencer and Sequoia Gondola Session

We discovered the trumpet and acoustic guitar duo of Spencer and Sequoia through a contest thing that we did with ReverbNation. For the contest we had to sift through quite a lot of rubble to find some gems, and we were stoked to stumble upon the smooth, seductive, catchy and jazzy tunes of Spencer and Sequoia. 

As we’re currently recording in New Zealand, and none of the bands that we selected from the contest were New Zealand bands, there was a bit of a question mark as to whether we would even get to record any of them. 

As fate, or luck, would have it, half of Spencer and Sequoia is from New Zealand. While based in the states, they travel back from time to time to visit. 

We synced up schedules and made it happen. We hope you enjoy the result.

“Best Friend”

“Simple Math”

Mike Dawes Gondola Session

We got UK fingerstyle guitarist Mike Dawes on the Christchurch Gondola for a rad 1 track session. Mike Dawes uses a ToneWood amp to add reverb on the guitar, which contributes to the unique sound he creates from slapping and knocking on the guitar body without any amps or other equipment.

“Slow Dancing In A Burning Room”

On the gondola, Mike Dawes put down an acoustic instrumental recording of John Mayer’s “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room.”

It would be wrong not to include Mayer’s version here too. Here’s a live recording that is pretty awesome:

Here’s Maxwell Senteney, Reverend Peyton and Breezy Peyton of The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band in Telluride after recording a couple of songs on the gondola with us.

The band’s DIY mentality and ability to play under any conditions comes across well in these videos - they are laid back, comfortable, and just having fun. 

“We Deserve A Happy Ending”

“Font Porch Trained”

Candice Milner Gondola Session

Candice Milner is a singer-songwriter from Lyttelton, New Zealand, which is conveniently a 5 minute drive from the Christchurch Gondola. Lyttelton has long had a highly productive music community, and Milner is one of the younger and more recent additions to the list of musicians who have based themselves in the small portside town (Marlon Williams, Aldous Harding, Delaney Davidson, Adam McGrath are but a few). 

For her session, Milner brought a ukulele and an acoustic guitar, and played one song on each. The ukulele one, “Broken Record,” is a previously unreleased song and the acoustic guitar song, “Valley Of Blue,” is from her 2016 debut album, Evergreen.

“Broken Record”

“Valley Of Blue”

We got on the gondola with Brian Keith Wallen and Molly Nimmo during the 2017 Telluride Blues & Brews Festival for our first ever night session. 

With the lit up town of Telluride fading away below, Wallen played this energetic country blues song “Crazy Beautiful World.”

Brian Keith Wallen “Crazy Beautiful World”

Here is Jack Broadbent getting ready to record with us on the Telluride Gondola. We wondered if he would play his Höfner guitar acoustic like in this photo, but he pretty much did the opposite. 

He brought his own mic and amp on board, plugged the guitar and mic into the amp, and then started to play. There is some reverb from the amp, but we also then recorded all of this output through our mic, which added a bit of delay/reverb effect as well. Hope you enjoy this beautiful and echoey take of his song “Remedy.”

Jack Broadbent Plays “Remedy” on the Telluride Gondola

We finally did it, we got to record some handpan on the gondola. We teamed up with handpan case maker Panji Bags and Québec City artist Philippe Gagné to make it happen, and ended up recording 2 songs on a rainy day in Telluride. 

The first is a cover of “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers, and features Gagné on 2 handpans, a harmonica, and vocals.

“Ain’t No Sunshine” (Bill Withers Cover)

For the 2nd track, Gagné played an original instrumental titled “À La Dérive” or “Valse for the Insomniacs.”

“À La Dérive”

New one up today with Samantha Fish getting down on “Need You More” at the 2017 Telluride Blues & Brews Festival. This solo acoustic version lays it all on the table, and we’re finding the chorus particularly gripping:

There’s no one left for me to take it out on I revel in the spin down to the bottom I push you out to the unknown A troubled heart takes a feeling home And I need you more than you’ll ever know

If you dig it, give her latest album (which features this song) a listen: smarturl.it/SamanthaFishBelle

Got another Robert Finley jam up today from our time at the 2017 Telluride Blues & Brews for “It’s Too Late”

New one up today with Hamish Anderson for “Never See You Again”