Bass Musician Magazine - SPECIAL March 2014 Issue | Page 25

regarding Nate’s stunning rendition of the
song. I did not even want to attempt to
put it into my own words for this article,
so I reached out to Chris. Thankfully, he
was happy to share it again.)
We wanted to pay brief respect to Jaco’s
version but then let it unfold to a very
complex and gorgeous production. The
key to this was making sure that Nate’s
performance was not overplayed. The
bass is sure a delicate instrument to
solo on and I needed him to express his
emotion like walking on rice paper and
really understate his ability.
Nathan is such a remarkable observer
and absorber of the human experience.
He is an amazing person. He accepts and
views everything with an amazing childlike
openness to all in front of him. He has
such a positive attitude and spirit and it’s
reflected in this record.
He is also incredibly patriotic and loves
this country. He doesn’t take anything for
granted and celebrates the hard steps
walked by all in our collective pasts.
He is a huge history buff as am I. We often
spoke over the phone about our pasts and
how this country was shaped and all who
fought to earn what we have today. So
when “America The Beautiful” was being
recorded, I wanted Nate to really absorb
the environment he was going to make his
statement in.

I’ve spent the last 20 years in Franklin TN,
which was where one of the last great
battles of the civil war was fought and
where nearly 7,000 men died. I wanted to
present the idea of hope and future and
adversity over the idea of freedom.
I am an avid collector of American flags.
One of my prized possessions is a beautiful
and beaten 35-star American flag that was
made during the war, which Nathan often
commented on. I told him that at the time
this flag was made, eleven of the states
that were represented in this flag had left
the union. He often commented that he
was amazed by the belief that the union
would prevail by the makers of the flag and
the fortitude and beliefs on both sides of
the fight.
I decided to take him to the museum of
the battle of Franklin and subsequently
to the largest private civil war cemetery
in the US. Being from Canada, I myself
have been fascinated by US history and
the place I live. I wanted to introduce
to him the idea that regardless of what
we view to be right or wrong, these men
fought against each other to protect their
own freedoms, and although slavery is
reprehensible, brother fought brother
for the right to express their unique and
individual rights and as a direct result of
this conflict, this gradually paved the road
in which Nathan walks today.
This was a pretty remarkable experience
for the two of us. Nathan absorbed the full
MAR 2014 / BASSMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM