Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers - The Van Sessions

Week two of YouTube month.  

The Gramblers was a side project for Tim Bluhm of The Motherhips.  He heard Nicki sing one day and offered to produce some demos for her. They fell in love and married and Nicki joined The Gramblers.

To deal with the boredom of travel while on the road, they started working up cover songs and recording them in the van with their phone and posting the results to YouTube.

A friend pointed me to their rendition of the Hall And Oats classic I Can't Go For That and I was hooked. If you have a chance to see them live please do. Nicki has several albums to her name. Some solo and some credited to Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers, all wonderful.

01 I Can't Go For That
02 Watercolor Canvas
03 You're No Good
04 Hey Baby
05 Everyday
06 Islands in the Stream
07 Let's Hear It For The Boy
08 Can You Get To That
09 Faith
10 Deal
11 Band on the Run
12 Don't Worry Be Happy
13 Easy
14 Material Girl
15 How Sweet It Is
16 Hit Me With Your Best Shot
17 She's Got You
18 Stuck in the Middle With You
19 Take the Money and Run
20 Ramblin' Man
21 Here Comes The Sun
22 Days Like This
23 How Will I Know

Reality Notes

Because of the location and nature of these recordings, sound quality is so-so. Listenable but a bit of background noise (they were recorded in a moving van!). The noise is minimal and does not detract from the overall enjoyment of these songs. The performances are all top notch and instruments are well placed for a good balance. And Nicki has a beautiful voice. They have a lot more than this up on their channel so I was able to pick and choose my favorites.

I was saddened to read that Tim and Nicki have recently split and Tim has left the band. They seemed a great match both musically and relationship wise, I wish them well.

I found the cover during a google search. Some kind artist illustrated a screenshot from one of the videos. I did have to add the title text.

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