On Sunday February 16th, 2014, The Pier filmed Passafire & Ballyhoo! for The Pier’s Live Acoustic Series. They did a collaborative cover of the song “Easy” that was written by Lionel Richie & made famous by The Commodores. After premiering the video last Sunday, Today & for the next 6 days, the MP3 from the live session is available for FREE download…
You can download an MP3 version of the session from The Pier’s Live Acoustic Series with Passafire & Ballyhoo! performing a cover of The Commodores “Easy” for FREE on our home page under the MP3 Leak of the Week on the right hand column! This Download will only be available until Saturday Oct 4th, 2014.
Passafire & Ballyhoo!- “Easy” (Live Acoustic Series Cover of The Commodores)
The Shoot: “Easy” :
The idea for a collaboration song was posed by The Pier’s editor, Mike Patti, and Passafire and Ballyhoo! were kind enough to accommodate. We figured fans of both bands would love the idea, so we pursued it! The idea is simple: ask a couple of the genre’s strongest bands to play a recognizable song with acoustic instruments. “Easy” is the first collaboration song in the history of the Live Acoustic Series. The song was written by Lionel Richie and made famous by the Commodores in 1977.
The video was shot on location at Jackson’s in Denver, CO in early 2014. The Pier caught-up with Passafire and Ballyhoo! during their co-headlining “Winter Brewhaha” tour. The bands rolled into Jackson’s for the Sunday morning shoot (hence the song they chose), as we were setting-up lights, sound and the cameras.
As a small group of diehard fans looked on, Passafire played an original song, and then Ballyhoo! did the same – and yes, we will be premiering those videos as well! On “Easy,” Ballyhoo! front-man Howi Spangler took the lead on vocals, while Passafire’s Ted Bowne and Will Kubley provided harmonies, lead guitar and bass. Nick Kubley played drums, while Scott Vandrey played keys and Passafire’s Mike DeGuzman rocked the melodica.
A huge thank you goes out to Jacksons for providing the space and Cheba Hut for providing the food!
Watch: Passafire & Ballyhoo! – “Easy” (Live Acoustic Series Cover of The Commodores)
The Pier’s Live Acoustic Series Background
The creative force behind the Live Acoustic Series is Denver-based Director/Producer/ Video Editor and musician Tage (pronounced Taw-Guh) Plantell a long with producer & The Pier’s veteran photo-journalist, Kit Chalberg
The vision of the Pier’s “Live Acoustic Series” is to provide reggae-rock fans with an intimate, stripped down acoustic experience featuring the genre’s most recognizable bands, along with some new faces. The concept is simple. First, get the genre’s best talent to play an acoustic version of a new or unreleased song. Second, create a production concept that is visually appealing and recognizable. Third, record the band’s performing the song. While the concept is simple, the execution is much more difficult. The Series required the coming together of a video director, crew, sound, venue, equipment, The Pier’s network, and, the bands—all with a common vision. Ultimately, this concept aims to produce quality music videos that are unmatched by any other outlet dedicated to covering reggae-rock. The series debuted on Nov. 12, 2012 with Cas Haley performing “Crazy Good Woman.” Since then the Series has featured some of rock-reggae’s premiere acts, including the Dirty Heads, The Green, Tarrus Riley and Iration.
On November 4th, 2014 – We will premiere another installment to The Pier’s Live Acoustic Series – Stay tuned!
Related Links:
The Pier Youtube Channel
Passafire Website
Passafire Facebook
Ballyhoo! Website
Ballyhoo! Facebook
Huge thanks again to Passafire & Ballyhoow! for allowing us film & share this experience with everyone! Enjoy the MP3 from the session & remember, FREE music is a privilege to be grateful for and we appreciate the work these artists do! Feel free to download this song for FREE and spread the awareness to your friends!
Enjoy the FREE track on the homepage!
Article By: Mike Patti
Watch: Passafire & Ballyhoo! – “Easy” (Live Acoustic Series Cover of The Commodores)
