Welcome to the Van Sessions
Photograph by Jen Siska
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Life on the road for a rapidly-rising, country-rock band from San Francisco includes the requisite dive bars, corn dogs, and music festivals.
But for Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, it also means that jam sessions are recorded at 70 miles an hour as they travel the open road, using nothing more than an iPhone rubber-banded to the rearview mirror of a tiny van. I recently tagged along with them from Idaho to Wyoming to get a taste of what rock star life is really like (F.U.N.).
The flash of brilliance to record on the move began accidentally one day when bass player Steve Adams busted out his ukulele in the back seat, and started playing “Tonight You Belong To Me” from the movie The Jerk. Just for fun, they recorded it and sent it out to family and a few friends. Since then, they’ve covered things like the Hall and Oates song, “I Can’t Go For That,” which immediately went viral on YouTube (1.5 million views and counting…):
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The tour continues.
Listen to the Van Sessions and tell us which song is your favorite.
By Rachel Levin
