Hayden, Masa and Swatkins at the Peace HouseAs 2014 was winding down, Chance Hayden was gearing up to present a project he’s been envisioning “for quite some time.” The genre-spanning guitarist’s living room is the setting for the Peace House Sessions—“a video series with a goal of unification through a love of genuinely soulful music,” Hayden says. With new videos released every month via YouTube, fresh collaborations with guest artists in a homespun scene make for live audio and video with “a warm, organic feel,” Hayden explains.
His proof of concept was recorded back in September when soulful R&B singer-songwriter Jarrod Lawson (with whom Hayden tours internationally) stopped by, and as we move into 2015, Hayden is unveiling the session he produced in December—a season faintly revealed by the tinseled Christmas tree peeking its spindly fir branches into the performance via the mantel mirror behind the players.
Featuring Steveland Swatkins (currently touring with Seattle's Allen Stone) on vocals and the Wurlitzer 200A electric piano, Hayden on electric guitar, and the emotive Moorea Masa (also of Ural Thomas & the Pain) adding harmonies, "Chances" was written by Swatkins almost a decade ago.
”I composed the song in 2005 on guitar and then brought it to Excellent Gentlemen after we moved to Portland from the East Coast,” Swatkins says. “We worked it up live with a two-keyboard approach and it ended up on the 2009 release Just Say Yes with Wurlitzer electric piano and guitar, similar to the PHS arrangement. What a good song for a collaboration with our buddy who shares a name with the song. You only get one Chance. Moorea's harmony vocals really bring out the sweetness of the song.”
Have a look and a listen for yourself—and look forward to more PHS premieres on Vortex in the coming months.
