RECAP: 10 Sessions for 10 Years of The Old Spruce Sessions
Just a few short weeks from now will mark a decade since I moved from the suburbs of Boston, working an office 9-5 just outside of Central Square and moonlighting as a songwriter & sitting in with friends bands multiple nights a week. While running this publication from a much more centralized point, embedded IN the scene, as opposed to a quiet rural town of just over 1,000 people in Central Vermont.
In that time things have waxed and waned fairly dramatically for me with Red Line Roots. I have a love / obligatory relationship to it that sometimes isn’t great for my mental health or my own needs to feel accepted by people/artists/community. I get a sudden urge to churn out articles because a bunch of wonderful records are sent my way then I don’t feel the compulsion for months at a time to write about anything. To film anything. To shoot anything music related. But, I think I am coming to terms with that being completely acceptable and ok. This is what is it and what I (and Ken) have energy for and putting any sort of positivity into the universe is a good thing at the end of the day.
Anyway, a happy side effect of that big move to a little town was the birth of the Old Spruce Sessions. A catalyst that flung me head first into my present love and dedication to filmmaking in Vermont. Dovetailing my passion for music and supporting musicians with a newfound obsession for moving pictures and making films. Old Spruce itself has featured about 65 different artists/groups (and collabs with music fests and others sees another 30+ artists). To say I am lucky to have had the opportunity to work with so many incredible artists is a vast understatement Over the years, things also have been a rollercoaster of productivity (big thanks to COVID), but I am getting back into finding my vision and wanting to continue highlighting those hyper local artists here in VT and friends who are passing through. I have to thank this series in a big way for fostering relationships that saw two of my favorite projects of all time this past year (unrelated to OSS or Red Line) and gave me 4 extremely collaborative and fulfilling years shooting sessions at Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots, cementing relationships with some of my favorite artists and heroes (*see note about 2 projects from last year).
I don’t know what the “magic number” is for how many sessions keeps us relevant or feeds my soul. Honestly, it could be one a year, that simply creates that connection with an artist in making something together that I am so constantly on the hunt to find and nurture. I am always learning something new, finding my footing, finding “the look” and “the vibe”, but in the end, doing anything for a decade feels like some sort of accomplishment or commitment or something. Now I am rambling.
Anyway, I guess this is all to say that I am eternally grateful to any artist who has ever taken the time to sit and play tunes in from my lenses and microphones and before I get too emotionally cheesy, here are 10 Sessions from 10 Years of Old Spruce Sessions that have stuck with me and I feel give a good wide brushstroke of what this decade has been…
Connor Millican “Dreams I’m Living In” – This was the session that started it all. We had lived in our new VT home for literally a couple weeks, barely unpacked before our friend Connor and his bandmates in Wise Old Moon swung through to play at Light Club Lamp Shop and crash with us. Connor and I were up relatively early the next morning, while the rest of the gents still slumbered, and were chatting over a strong cup of coffee. Before I moved up to VT I had shot a couple of videos for friends back in Boston, but nothing too serious, so I said to Connor, “when do you think these guys will get up? Want to go out to the dilapidated sugar house in the woods and film a song or two?” Connor eagerly obliged and this is what shook out from our caffeinated adventure.
Dan Blakeslee “Bandit” Another very early session. Those who know Dan, love Dan and I feel no different. Dan was swinging through on his way to Burlington as he has done a few times over the year since and we were thinking about where to shoot…something unique and quirky and the sun beating down made me think of the necessity of a cool breeze. What screams cool breeze in the Vermont summer sun? Water. So we trekked over to our neighbor Fritz’s pond, launched a canoe and started to film…and subsequently continue to be pulled into the bank (which, hopefully doesn’t show too much on camera!).
Billy Strings “Cocaine Blues” – The reason why most people end up on the Youtube channel (it has over 6 million views now). We shot this little one off session just before Billy and the band exploded. They were playing the showcase lounge at Higher Ground and Billy and I spent a bit of time before the show talking about his childhood, about community and music and then I pulled out a camera and asked if he would play something impromptu for me. He obliged and this video has been seen by countless folks, tab has been made of the performance and it gave me a truly special intimate moment with one of the greatest musicians of my lifetime.
Joe K. Walsh & Danny Barnes “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” at GMBR…Shot during the first year of Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots, this cemented a relationship for 4 years of the festival between myself and the GMBR fam. Those early days were so beautiful and exciting and this feeling of tight togetherness encapsulated moments that I will forever be grateful for and this moment was one of the many. Joe and Danny in a dimly lit room, sunlight piercing the one window between them and this gorgeous rendition of a classic. I have heard many versions of this song and this one may still be my absolute favorite.
Maya de Vitry “The Key” – Maya and the fellas swung by the house and I had the brilliant idea to head up the hill to a beautiful field I thought would be the perfect backdrop for filming…that was until the gnats came out as the sun drifted slightly lower in the sky, but it didn’t stop Maya, Ethan and Jason from performing this beautiful take on Maya’s tune “The Key” off her latest release (at the time) “Adaptations” . They truly get the award for the “most resilient Old Spruce Session artists”. True pros…grinning and singing through the gnats in the field, packed up and they then headed on their way to the next stop on tour.
The Stash Band “Kill Everything”– The Award for “Best Dressed”. I headed up to Waterbury to catch Stash and the band at Zenbarn (which was kind of new at the time?) and headed through a labyrinth, through a kitchen and a secret door (?) in an office to a stairway that brought me up to where the fellas were hanging before the show in an apartment connected to the venue. Then, I was greeted by these fellas. It was like something out of aDavid Lynch film. Beautifully strange. To witness Stash and the band in any capacity, well, you know. Its an experience and the full body spandex suits were something…plus the performance and show later on that evening, top notch energy.
Lula Wiles “I’m Over You” – I had long been a fan of anything that Isa, Ellie and Mali did and was ecstatic to catch up with them before they were performing at Feast and Field in Barnard, VT for their weekly farmer’s market towards the tail end of the summer (OK, it was beginning of October, but we still had sun and not much chill in the air yet). We met at the Fermentory across the dirt road from the market, up a hill and inside this beautifully resonant room as the mid-afternoon sun provided a halo of light across the three artists as they sung. If you look up the word “sublime” in the dictionary I am pretty sure there is a photo of these 3 singing next to it.
Eli West “The Hearth” – I fell in love with Eli’s voice and songwriting upon the first time listening and when he was passing through Montpelier (which turned from a duo to a solo gig) I had to meet up with him and shoot in this historical and sparse space at the Old Meeting House Church just outside of Montpelier up in the hills. Eli fished a piece of paper with scratch marks and lyrics written across it and started to play a new, not quite finished yet tune that struck the moment brilliantly. Large meeting house windows casting light across the pews and Eli, lonesome in the space, playing to the emptiness. Moments like this don’t happen often, so I cherish them so very much.
Jake Klar “Rosy” – Jake was an early guest and a “more than once” collaborator with us. Stopping by a handful of times in the early days of OSS. Jake has a swagger and a coolness to delivery and writing. Driving up a rutted out dirt road, hiked up a meadowy hillside and played his song “Rosy” as he looked out past the spiked tops of the pines to the rolling hills beyond here in Corinth, Vermont. I am so grateful for those early days and to work with artists like Jake with this project.
Courtney Hartman “Inside Outside” – Vibiest sound in any session? Courtney was up in Vermont playing a solo show in an old church in Thetford just two towns over from me. I hadn’t seen her in a couple years and reached out to see if she wanted to shot something…she said yes and so day of, we ventured up to the loft where the church organ is located, found a quiet corner and Courtney beautifully played a duo of tunes to the reverberating empty space. The natural room sound captured by two directional small diaphragm condensers and her brilliant performance filling the quiet with a jubilant and poignant sound ahead of her show. Just the two of us in a huge space, but tucked away into a corner as cars rushed by outside the windows and rain pattered down on the pavement.
