Daniel Hanson & Gerry Griffin - In the Sky

Stream it here: https://l.danielhansonmusic.com/its/s... Gerry's music:    / gerry griffin - topic   Gerry's website: https://gerrygriffinmusic.com Daniel's website: https://l.danielhansonmusic.com/h/sy-mp Lyrics by: Gerry Griffin Filmed by: Sean Yazdan Edited/Mixed/Mastered by: Daniel Hanson Instrumentation/Production/Arrangement by: Daniel Hanson & Gerry Griffin ___ It's been a strangely serendipitous occurrence having met Gerry the way I did. I'd been staying with my parents for a few years when I finally decided to find space away from home to go all in on my music career. I wanted to find somewhere to retreat to for about 2 months. And given that the height of the summer vacation season was fast approaching, my ideal retreat location had specifications that I wasn't sure I'd be able to find last minute, so I was willing to settle for something less than idyllic. The first place I found met my base criteria of being dog-friendly, available for 8 weeks, and on a lake. But some unforeseen changes on the owner's side led to him referring me to his neighbor Gerry, who had just finished renovating his cabin into a solid rental property. Gerry and I got on a video call to get a feel for each other, and within moments it became extremely evident that the fit was right. Not only did his property meet all my idealized criteria, but he also happened by total chance to be a music producer with an incredibly rich history, who also happened to be the first person I'd ever met in person who used the same music production software that I use. And to add insult to injury, that very cabin he'd just renovated used to be his music studio. After arriving and getting settled in, we started hanging out more and more, and filling each other in on our histories with music composition and production. Sharing songs and stories with each other, unfinished works and insight into how we see things. And what began to strike us both is that while we come from entirely different generations—him being raised in the analog era and me in the digital—that our relationship to composition and production was essentially the same at its core. The way we spoke about the process shared the same fundamental perspective on what really mattered and why. It was highly illuminating. One of these unfinished pieces I shared with him was called 'sands v1.mp3'—an ambient desert-themed acoustic instrumental piece I'd started a year or two prior. It resonated with him, and a short while later he mentioned to me that it seemed to fit quite naturally alongside an unfinished piece of his called "Alberta"—a kind of lyrical painting he'd composed while driving through the Albertan landscape years prior, and had started expanding upon with his own instrumental production. He realized that sticking my tune right at the beginning of his, and even pasting them right on top of each other, seemed to just fit. They clearly shared the same DNA, and emerged from a related place. And so I started bringing my keyboard over and working on the unfinished project, weaving my ideas into his. And since he uses the exact same software I do, all of my tools, virtual instrument libraries and templates could easily be integrated into the project, giving me very natural leverage over contributing to and expanding upon it. Progress on the piece went through some ebbs and flows as my career trajectory changed gears, but we eventually got it over the finish line. It feels good to have a video that encapsulates a meaningful fragment of our relationship. Gerry is one of the most inspiring people I've ever met. And it's been a true honor to have met him, become a close friend of his, and to live alongside him and his wife Heather—who have both become like family at this point—in their later years. Hearing their stories and perspective, and receiving their undying encouragement and support on my journey has been more impactful to me than words can effectively deliver.