Before you read further just hit play – it’s that good.
Jesse obviously has access to some sweet gear and I suspect he’s associated, or at least on very good terms, with his local Long & McQuade music retailer, such is the plethora of instruments featured on this cover. A superlative musician, Jesse’s Stairway to Heaven cover is a tour de force that pays homage to the original while taking it to new unexplored places. I mean seriously – when was the last time you saw a guy play an Appalachian Dulcimer?
The cover starts with the conceit that Stairway is verboten as Jesse grabs an acoustic guitar off the wall of his local music shop and starts playing under the looming presence of a NO Stairway sign. When the video split screens to reveal Jesse playing a mandolin, a bouzouki, and all 4 recorder parts I recommend you just turn it up, sit back, and let the whole thing unfold.
An Appalachian Dulcimer: see below for credits
Highlights include Jesse’s lap steel work, with guitar lines that take a page from Rob Baker’s work with The Tragically Hip and have a languid prairie-like whimsy to them that just sets your mind off on its own journey. Maybe it’s a London Ontario thing – but Jesse really has an affinity for that particular instrument and that fluid style of play.
The quality of the production, from the performances & arrangement on through to the audio and video, is unmatched on YouTube. There’s lots here to inspire and I think the greatest lesson comes from understanding that even someone with as much talent as Jesse (who is obviously a pro) has such a love for and respect Stairway that he (like we saw with Stanley Jordan) covers it on his own terms with no apologies to anyone.
Jesse comes from a musical family; his father the noted guitarist James (Jim) Nestor. You might recognize Jesse and his father from the annual “Wish You Were Here” Pink Floyd tribute & benefit concert series they perform in and organize in London Ontario every year to raise money for cancer patients. I’ve not seen the show but if Jesse’s cover of Stairway is any indication you can bet it’s an amazing production as well.
Read more about Jesse here and keep an eye out for him not only in Canada but internationally as well.
Photo Credits:
Dulcimer by Teresa, by CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Feature Image Credit: There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold, and she’s buying a stairway to heaven By Chris Lofqvist by CC BY-NC-ND 2.0