Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros guitarist Christian Letts stopped by the Jam in the Van traveling studio in Los Angeles this month to perform songs from his new debut solo album, “Hold Fast.”
Letts (with fellow ESMZ bandmates Mark Noseworthy, Josh Collazo and Seth Ford-Young backing him up) performed Boxing Day, The Keeper, and Twenty Seven Arrows. Letts also fielded questions about the new album from Spudnik of Jam in the Van. Here’s what Spudnik had to say about Letts:
“I can’t quite place who Christian Letts reminds me of, but I know it’s a character from some movie, and I know as soon as it hits me who he is, I’m going to be like ‘yep, that’s the guy.’ He’s just got this undeniably creative look and spirit about him.”
Jam in the Van calls itself as “the world’s first solar powered music discovery vehicle.” The van travels across the country, inviting bands and musicians to film live performances, which it shares exclusively on its website and YouTube channel.
“To be honest, when he showed up to Jam in the Van I judged a book by its cover, which I try never to do, but I seem to always fail at following through on this resolution,” Spudnik writes on his blog. “At any rate, I read him as someone who would be too cool to shoot the shit with us. He seemed like he was going to get in, play his songs and get out. Boy was I wrong. He was a warm dude, clearly the leader of his band of minstrels. He grouped them together on the sidewalk before the session and it was obvious that he was running the show. Nevertheless, he turned out to be extremely appreciative and kind, and above all, he really got what The Van was about. He came out from his session raving on how fun and enjoyable it was, and that above all else, is the key to a successful Jam in the Van; you’ve got to have fun with it. When you watch these videos, you’ll see it — it’s subtle, but it’s there. Just a little bit of extra happiness that puts these at the creme of the crop. Now if you could also see and figure out what movie character I think Letts looks like when you watch them, that would be awesome too…”
For more info about Jam in the Van, visit www.jaminthevan.com.