There are many video series on sites like YouTube and Vimeo: The “Takeaway Shows” series, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts. Each has its own style, but they all feature musicians playing intimate sets with acoustic instruments in a stripped down or unusual setting. Aspen has its own low-key music venue: the Silver Queen gondola on Aspen Mountain.
It’s the work of John Austin who was inspired by all of the videos he was seeing online, as well as ones he watched growing up.
“I think it all started with ‘Unplugged’. I think that’s kind of the essence of the whole thing … getting people who you don’t know can play an acoustic guitar to do it,” Austin said.
The videos came from an idea Austin had when he lived in Vail. He’d come to Aspen to see shows at the Belly Up. The allure of the Valley was so strong that he moved out to Aspen. About four years ago, Austin had to take the first step - convince Aspen Skiing Company to let him film on their property. The initial reaction was less than ideal. But when he showed them what he had in mind, they were on board.
More than 80 Gondola Sessions later, Austin has a well-established brand.. Acts like Shakey Graves, G. Love and even the popular Denver singer Nathaniel Rateliff have taken the 15 minute ride up the mountain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFRyLknza8Y
But it wasn’t as easy to book bands as he’d hoped.
“Right off the bat, I wanted to film Wilco or Jeff Tweedy solo, or something,” he said.
Austin said to get acts you have to show that you have an audience, and sending bands like Wilco links to videos with a hundred views wouldn’t give them much incentive to come to Aspen.
Once he began to consistently book bands, and the views on his videos went up, he was able to get larger acts to play in the gondola. Austin plans to continue shooting bands in gondolas for as long as he can keep using the gondola, but right now he’s filming his gondola sessions in New Zealand.
