The Piano Guys - Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts (Piano/Cello Cover)

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Published Feb 28, 2012

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Story behind the song:Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson were booked for a Piano Guys show in Hawaii. How could we resist filming our next video in the land of Aloha -- beautiful beaches, green mountains, and fresh pineapple?? We went to our Founders and Facebook fans to ask what song they wanted us to play there. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was the nearly-unanimous response. But you know how we are ... we couldn't "just" do this tune by itself...so in the studio we found a made-in-heaven matchup in the timeless melody from the Shaker Hymn "Simple Gifts" written in the 1800's (also used by Aaron Copland in his Ballet "Appalachian Spring"). We feel it's an especially appropriate mash-up because of our profound love and respect for the Hawaiian culture -- a people who are so good at finding happiness in simplicity. As you probably could hear we borrowed a lot of ideas from Iz's version which has become the stuff of legend.Getting a piano onto a sandy beach and then onto a big hill in a famous ranch within the SAME day (we only had 8 hours to film) was no small feat. The only thing harder would be to be predict Hawaiian weather, which ended up being our biggest challenge.We had a little extra help on this one. Steven Sharp Nelson's mother, Lynne Sanders Nelson -- a main source of his inspiration for pursuing music -- passed away early in life from the effects of a brain tumor. She was an incredibly-gifted musician and taught Steven to play music passionately rather than just playing "notes" on a page. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was one of her favorite songs. We finished this arrangement on what would have been her 70th birthday. Somehow she helped. Thank you so much to the Kualoa Ranch who bent over backwards last-minute for us and provided us such a beautiful place to shoot. Visit their site at http://www.kualoa.com -- when you visit Hawaii be sure to stop by and take a tour -- its where dozens of huge blockbluster movies/tv shows have been filmed.This song is dedicated toLynne Sanders Nelson, The Hill Family, J. Mueller, & the people of HawaiiFilming locations:Beach Scene:Pounders Beach, North Shore, Oahu HawaiiFinale:Kualoa Ranch, North Shore, Oahu Hawaii (This is the place to go for sightseeing on Oahu!)Toll Free: (800) 231-7321Tour Desk: (808) 237-7321

http://www.kualoa.com

Credits:Over the Rainbow music written by Harold E. Arlen in 1939 for the movie "Wizard of Oz" -- originally performed by Judy GarlandPublished by EMI Feist Catalog, Inc.Inspired, in part, by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's coverSimple Gifts written by Joseph Brackett in 1848Arrangement written and produced by Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp NelsonVideo produced by Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart Piano: Jon SchmidtElectric/Acoustic Cellos: Steven Sharp NelsonVocals: Al van der BeekPercussion: Steven Sharp Nelson & Al van der Beek