What do you get when you combine the beautiful outdoors of Colorado and local musicians? An audio-visual experience like no other.
Crafting a audio visual experience using our natural landscape has been one of Eric Smith’s biggest missions when founding Little House Of Sound. “ I wanted this project to be a way that artists who are serious about their music could get some fun, unique, high quality promotional material and not have to spend a fortune. I set this business up as a non-profit and have been funded by grants, donations, and fundraisers. That way, the artist can focus on the song.” says Eric.
Little House of Sound was founded in fall 2015. Eric wanted the chance to express his passion for recording music, but also marry that with his love of the outdoors. The idea came to begin shooting live video sessions with a focus on high quality audio. The only constant in each session is Eric’s ‘82 VW Westfalia, which would be the “stage”, and the backdrop is ever changing. Eric wanted this project to be self-sufficient and solar powered so that they would be able to park in natural areas, parks, and farms.
Since 2015 Little House of Sound has released around 45 sessions with a few currently in production. Each session contains anywhere from 2-5 songs. The majority of these artists are from Colorado, though some reached out while touring through the area.
We love the “in the moment” performances Eric is able to capture, not only are full bands stripping down, and rearranging their songs to accommodate for an intimate performance, but they are often surrounded by the beauty that Colorado has to offer.
Eric has a unique story to go along with each session. Whether it was a rainstorm that started no less than 10 seconds after we wrapped a session, capturing the perfect evening light to bring in an amazing Colorado sunset, or having to rally a few friends to help me push the van so he could pop the clutch and get it started (more than a few times). But the most memorable story he can remember (and will never forget) was in the Spring of 2018.
“A large group was gathered to head up to Pingree Park for a night of camping. In the morning, I would shoot a session just after sunrise. Probably about 4 cars full of people heading up at different times. I loaded up the van with all my recording gear, camera equipment, and food. More importantly, my wife, Genevieve, our son, Robin (who was only about 4 months old at the time), our good friend Chris and three dogs. It was a beautifully sunny day. We popped a tape in the cassette player, and commenced a gorgeous Sunday drive up the Poudre Canyon. About a mile past the Mishawaka, while in mid curve on a windy canyon road (right alongside a raging river), we felt a large jolt, followed by a copious amount or sparks in the rear-view. The van was out of control and we got it stopped safely on the side of the road, just seconds after hearing my wife yell “Oh my gosh! It just flew into the river!”. The item that landed in the river happened to be the entire rear passenger side wheel. No, we didn’t get a flat. No, we didn’t lose a rim. The ENTIRE wheel separated from the van and went cascading down into the mighty river.
We waited for someone else from the group to drive by, and managed to contact someone to drive up and give me a tow back into Fort Collins. There was a few thousand dollars worth of damages, and I had to cancel a handful of sessions”- Eric told us.
This story has a wonderful happy ending though, A few of his coworkers at Equinox Brewing organized a fundraiser to recoup some of that cost and get Little House of Sound back on the road to keep recording musicians. They organized to have performances by Cary Morin, Danielle Ate the Sandwich, Mike Yob, and Eric’s wife, Genevieve!
The event was a massive heartwarming success that managed to raise just enough money to get the van fixed. The Fort Collins community is amazing in that way.
“The point with all this is that recording music and shooting video outside is a wild ride. It can be at the same time exciting, stressful, disappointing, and ultimately a good practice in patience. Sometimes it’s too windy, sometimes it’s hard to find a safe/comfortable location, sometimes it’s too cold, or too hot (equipment malfunctioning). However, I love being outside. I wouldn’t trade that aspect of what Little House of Sound is for anything. “ He concluded.
