The pair worked long and hard in that short time, learning to sing together and adapting the material to fit their voices. “We didn’t have any material that we had co-written,” says Courtney, “so we took every day of those three weeks for me to learn to play and harmonize to his songs, and him to learn and harmonize to mine. By the time the show came around, we had one original we co-wrote, ‘Riverbend,’ which we put in the set.”

The show was packed and a resounding success. The two then immediately left for Nashville, where they soaked up the sights and sounds of Music City, and impressed those who heard them. They played every night, including an appearance at the famed Bluebird Café.

Grand Canyon is now an equal songwriting partnership and their sound uniquely theirs. “Now, we could play anything and it would just sound like us because now we have a way of working because we do it so much,” says Chris. “I mean, if we decided that we were going to cover a Def Leppard record, we could probably get it all worked out in a couple of hours because we just have this way of singing now that is second nature.”

The EP that is now available, produced by Scott Dibble, captures the purity that Grand Canyon displays onstage. It was recorded live off the floor, vocals and all, with just a few small treatments. Scott calls it “real-deal music” and that real-deal came from an honest beginning.