Sauni was a beyta fish that got tired of living in a little fishbowl and Sauni's Big Jump is a Northern Colorado based band who try to expand the fishbowl that is pop music by blending bluegrass, alt rock, folk rock, country, and other influences.

13 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk-Rock, POP: Folky Pop

Show all album songs: Anything Could Happen Songs


Details:
Sauniâs Big Jump consists of Daryl Holmlund (guitar and vocals), Nick Tempel (guitars), Elle Price (violin), Jon Brummet (drums), and Kristen Andersen (vocals).

It all started for this group in the in-class daydreams of guitarist/vocalist Daryl Holmlund while he was attending graduate school in northern Colorado. After a particularly productive winter break of writing music and starting in January 2007, he began to team up with high school friend and guitarist Nick Tempel to play some open-mic shows in the Loveland-Fort Collins area. During the summer of 2007 the duo began to dream of recording some of their song arrangements, but felt like their music was lacking something. Playing at yet another open-mic they met violinist Elle Price and later asked her if she was interested in playing with them.

After Elle joined up, the group (which at the time went by names like Yardsale, Sasquatch Safehaven, and Big Thumb) was in great need of another key element: percussion. Daryl mentioned this to his brother Michael who mentioned it in passing to his co-worker and school chum Jon Brummet, who informed Michael that he played drums and was interested in playing with the group. With Jon, Elle, and Nick added to the line-up and an addictive set of songs that Daryl had written over the spring and summer, the group was ready to go â all they needed was a quality name and a studio to record in.

The latter was found when the only studio to reply to initial Nickâs inquiries turned out to be run by an old friend of Darylâs â Don Mattson of True Light Productions. The four musicians began work on a recording project at Donâs studio in August 2007; meanwhile they also started to perfect their live performance by playing shows at coffee houses around northern Colorado.
A good name was harder to come by, and many suggestions were left by the wayside before a story that Elle told about a beta-fish that jumped out of a cup of water when left at home caught Darylâs attention. The fish, whose name was Sauni, was clearly tired of feeling penned in, swimming around and around in circles; so much so that he was willing to take a great risk to find freedom â something that most people are too afraid to do.

Now christened Sauniâs Big Jump, Daryl, Nick, Elle, and Jon, completed their recording project in December 2007. The full length CD, entitled Anything Could Happen, features 13 songs and just under an hour of music. Blending Nickâs background in the classics (classical guitar and classic rock), Elleâs melodic improvisation and Jonâs love of rhythm with Darylâs engaging storytelling, catchy hooks, and surprising arrangements, the music on Anything Could Happen is a unique musical delight.

Songs like The Learning Song and The Starting Song display roots in bluegrass. Michigan Song and Where We Left Off betray a country pop influence. Two and a Half Years is reminiscent of 80s Paul Simon. Other songs, like The Hospital Song, Fidelity, or Mystery are much harder to pin into a specific category. Several guest musicians also add spice to the recording: Where We Left Off, Michigan Song, and Everything Now are benefited by the tremendous voice of Kristen Andersen while Julie Butler lends her powerful pipes for the emotion-driven title track; Mitchell Vandenberg contributed bass tracks to a handful of songs and Jared Banta put down some upright bass lines on The Starting Song.