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Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts (Piano/Cello Cover) - The Piano Guys with tags the, piano, guys, thepianoguys, steven, sharp, nelson, jon, schmidt, bass, kamakawiwo'ole, simple, gifts, aaron, copland, appalachian, spring, john, williams, hawaii, koalua, ranch, pounders, beach, north, shore, classical, over rainbow simple gifts piano cello cover thepianoguys, jon schmidt, steven sharp nelson, al van der beek, paul anderson, thepianoguys, concerts, tour, paul anderson, steven sharp nelson, jon schmidt, al van der beek, somewhere over the rainbow, simple gifts, piano cello cover

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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. This arrangement is, in part, a tribute to him.

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. My mother, Lynne Sanders Nelson -- a main source of my inspiration for pursuing music -- passed away early in life from the effects of a brain tumor. She was an incredibly-gifted musician and taught me 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. I miss her so very much, but when I play songs like this I feel like I get to be with her again. This song is dedicated to her."

-Steven Sharp Nelson

This song is dedicated to

Lynne Sanders Nelson, The Hill Family, J. Mueller, & the people of Hawaii

Filming locations:

Beach Scene:

Pounders Beach, North Shore, Oahu Hawaii

Finale:

Kualoa Ranch, North Shore, Oahu Hawaii (This is the place to go for sightseeing on Oahu!)

Toll Free: (800) 231-7321

Tour Desk: (808) 237-7321

Credits:

Over the Rainbow music written by Harold E. Arlen in 1939 for the movie "Wizard of Oz" -- originally performed by Judy Garland