Brooklyn-based composer and double bassist, Garth Stevenson, draws most of his creative inspiration from the natural landscapes beyond the metropolis in which he has lived for the bulk his twenties. Garth was raised in the mountains of British Columbia by parents that spent all of their free time in the outdoors. Nature became his primary inspiration and the common thread between his life and music. In the past four years, Garth has released two full-length solo albums, informed by his experiences carrying his 150-year-old double bass to the woods, the beach, and the desert. His most recent and critically acclaimed release, Flying, is a seventy-five minute adulation to a recent life-changing trip to Antarctica. Of Flying, iTunes praises, “Garth Stevenson joins the likes of Brian Eno, Sigur Rós, and David Sylvian as a practitioner of this ethereal yet accessible genre... ‘The Southern Sea’ offers the aural equivalent of effortlessly swimming underwater without ever needing to come up for air.”

Stevenson’s music is cinematic in quality and has found it’s way into independent films, commercials such as the Barnes and Noble “Nook” campaign, and into Leela, a meditative video game based on the teachings of Deepak Chopra, produced by Curious Pictures and THQ. Stevenson is well known for his morning meditation hikes at Wanderlust where he carries his bass, pedals and battery powered speaker high into the mountains to perform his solo music in remote nature locations for large audiences of hikers.

His month-long journey to Antarctica took place on an ice-breaker full of renowned artists including author Cormac McCarthy, actress Juliette Binoche and the Ashes and Snow team. Stevenson played his double bass to seals, penguins and icebergs while composing the score and acting in the feature film directed by Scott Cohen, featuring Vincent Kartheiser of Mad Men. Roger Payne, the famous whale researcher and first to record the humpback whales in the 60's was also on the trip. “I spent a few weeks prior to the trip learning to adapt whale calls on my bass by playing along with Roger's Songs Of The Humpback Whales recording the same way I used to play along with Charlie Mingus albums. One evening, in the middle of a four day open sea crossing between South Georgia and Antarctica, I gave a concert at sunset on the bow of our ship. I was improvising and creating layers with my loop pedal then started imitating whale calls on the bass. A few minutes later twelve sei whales came and swam next to our vessel!”

Garth introduced his music to the yoga community at Wanderlust in 2009. His improvisations contoured an hour-long classes led by Elena Brower, with whom he had an instant connection. Back in New York he plays regularly with Brower at Virayoga, her studio in SOHO. Together they have led yoga classes at MoMA, Wanderlust, the Brooklyn Museum, in Central Park for 13 000 people and for a class in Paris for France’s largest yoga gathering in history for over 3000 people in front of the Eiffel Tower. Stevenson has also collaborated with Schuyler Grant, John Friend, Samantha Shakti Brown, Kelly Blaser, Kate Greer, Richmond Dickson, Sianna Sherman, Stacey Rosenberg, Stephanie Sandleben, Kenny Graham, Tara Glazier, Kevin Courtney and Dana Courtney. His latest album Flying is designed to follow the arc of a yoga class and is being used by teachers all over the world.  Flying was recently featured in the September 2011 Music Issue of Yoga Journal and on the main page of iTunes.

Additionally, in 2008, Garth was awarded with the International Society of Bassists composition competition first prize for his innovative piece “Grandfather: for double bass and electronics” and subsequently served as a judge for the competition in 2010. In 2009 he was commissioned by Robert Nairn, Julliard faculty, and Heidi Von Bernewitz of the London Philharmonic to composed “Migration: for double bass and viola”. Stevenson has collaborated with folk/rock singer Sonya Kitchell since 2005 and composed the string quartets for her most recent album Convict of Conviction. Stevenson is a founding member of 5707, the ambient duo with guitarist Ryan Ferreira and TAQ, the polish piano trio with Marcin Masecki and Ziv Ravitz. Stevenson is active in the New York jazz and experimental scene and has performed with Mat Maneri, Craig Taiborn, Randy Peterson, George Garzone, Joe Lovano and Ornette Coleman. As a freelance bassist he has recorded on over 50 albums and has performed with the Crash Test Dummies, Fitz and the Tantrums, Annie and the Beekeepers, and Lucy Wainwright. Stevenson attended Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship and received a degree is Performance and Jazz Composition. He has appeared on David Letterman, Craig Fergusson, hundreds of radio stations, at Bonnaroo, and at music festivals in Europe, Japan, Canada, and South America.