Collaboration: The Honest Jones - Amazing Grace at Salvation Mountain
INTROducing
I would like you to meet Amanda, who is one half of the creative team that is The Honest Jones.
Based in Sydney, Australia. Amanda is a filmmaker, art director, and overall creative wizard.
Amanda, myself and one of the other shipmates - Jess (that’s what we call each other) went to LA for the 4th Shipmates wedding in January 2019. We made a little trip outside of Los Angeles to Joshua Tree, Palm Springs and Salvation Mountain. Below is Amanda’s beautiful story of our adventure to Salvation Mountain with a video she created of Jess Henderson and myself performing my version of Amazing Grace.
Something a little different but something to encourage you to experience this magnificent landmark for yourselves.
AMAZING GRACE AT SALVATION MOUNTAIN
BY AMANDA JONES
We were chasing the sun. Not just because the days are shorter in January and Salvation Mountain was still at least an hour away — because the only real time to visit this desert monument is at sunset. As the day ends, the painted mountain and the golden sun face each other in a kind enfold, making each other ever more breathtaking.
It’s there, caught between a vast desert dusk and a larger than life artwork, you suddenly feel very far from home. Very far.
The drive out to salvation mountain is, in my opinion, almost as marvellous as the mountain. Almost. The road is long and straight. On one side you have the Salton Sea glistening with the afternoon light reflection, on the other a vast desert plain bordered with a dramatic mountain range turning from purple to orange to pink as you drive towards it.
The long empty drive, with only the dips in the road to keep you company, only builds the anticipation of Leonard Knight’s mountain. But nothing can prepare you for that first step out of the car onto the dusty ground of this sacred place.
And it is sacred.
The first time I stepped out of the car onto the ground in front of Salvation Mountain I felt it in the wind. I knew the story of Leonard, but it suddenly truly hit me that he had lived his life (over 30 years of it) to build this monument in the middle of an unforgiving desert landscape. With no power or running water he lived and died right here, to bring us this message. It was was right then I knew I needed to capture something special for this place.
When the opportunity came to visit the mountain again 3 years later I started to dream up an idea of capturing a very raw, very vulnerable performance by my talented travel companions. When I asked Lucy if they could do her arrangement of Amazing Grace she got very excited, she had already been hoping to re-release the song for Easter. We had to work out if it was even possible to record there, especially with the wind. It was winter which meant the sunset was a lot shorter, we only had one shot at getting it right. After shooting and watching the sun fade completely, we left in the pitch dark hoping that we captured something good (or at least usable!) I think we all teared up when we heard how beautifully the recording came through!
Because of the harshness of the desert environment Salvation Mountain may not exist forever, but it will live documented in the art that has captured it. I hope that we have contributed to and honoured the message of the mountain and the man that devoted his life to bring it to us in the most beautiful way.
The message is simple and sacred.
“God is love”
Original version of Amazing Grace on Spotify. Listen here.