Woot! Year Three of the Gondola Concert Series™! We are so stoked to have been able to do it again. It was the brainchild of Music Fog founding member Ben Krech, hatched when we were still at XM. That year, we were stopped from the trip by high winds, but Robert Earl Keen had kindly agreed to take the ride up the mountain with us. We held it in the Steamboat Conference room instead, with contest winners up close and personal.

The first year we did it under the auspices of Music Fog we had Paula Nelson and George Devore, and it was the trip that we met Sheila on. Last year, Brandon Jenkins was our magnificent artist. Saturday morning of this year's MusicFest we were at the outdoor stage, watching performances at the base of the mountain from Corb Lund and Jack Ingram, (Eds Note: You really need to think about coming to MusicFest at Steamboat next year, cause it rocks!) when we spotted Fred Andrews of Honeybrowne fame. He said yes! And so last Sunday morning we sent a tweet out and posted the request on Facebook for a fan to accompany Fred on the Gondola for a private concert. Johnny Van from Chicago was the lucky winner waiting for us, as we stopped by the office for our lift tickets. Again, thanks to the folks at Steamboat Resort for making all the strategics so effortless.

Sheila and I were on the first car, with camera two, while Aaron, Beans, and Denise were on the car with the action! The temperature was much warmer this year, but heavy snow proved to be a view stealer. One of the shining moments of this video, though, is where contest winner Johnny Van inserts an impromptu line into the stop down section of the tune...just classic! Here's Fred Andrews performing "I'm Not Saying Goodbye Today" from high atop the Steamboat gondola. Enjoy the ride!

- Jessie Scott