The Head and The Heart Sunset Session ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

As you will soon read here on Sound on the Sound, Doe Bay 2010 was one of the most magical experiences of our lives. (Narrowly edging out last years’ Doe Bay Fest for “best weekend ever.”) Not only were we surrounded by friends, family and incredible local music in one of the most idyllic and jaw-droppingly beautiful places you’ll ever see, we also spent the weekend working on an exciting project we’ve spent much of 2010 organizing: The Doe Bay Sessions.

The initial idea was to rent a yurt during the Doe Bay Festival and record acoustic sets with a couple of our favorite bands who were playing. We pitched the idea to the fine folks who organize and who own Doe Bay and from day one to the last day of shooting, they all bent over backwards to make sure the project could happen. What started as a typical DIY Sound on the Sound project turned into a professional video shoot inspired by the work of Vincent Moon and Yours Truly, complete with videographer Tyler Kalberg on the camera and sound guy extraordinaire Chris Proff manning our “mobile” sound set up. What we thought would be a couple yurt bound sessions, turned into 10 different video shoots all over Doe Bay with some of the best bands in Seattle.

For those of us who were a part of it and those of you who stumbled on to our sessions while hiking the trails or following the sound of the songs, The Doe Bay Sessions felt like a festival within the festival. Over the next 10 weeks we will be releasing videos featuring a candlelit session from Fences, The Head and the Heart (and the Doe Bay All-Stars) singing down the sun, Ravenna Woods using trees for percussion, a mid-trail serenade from Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives, The Maldives on a mossy knoll, picnic table perching with Hey Marseilles and many more.

We are so excited to share these videos with you and to usher in a new chapter of Sound on the Sound content. For now, we wanted to share a few stills from the sessions, as well as offer our sincerest thanks to Tyler, Chris, the bands, Doe Bay staff and maintenance crew, Artist Home, Bob from The Ballard Mine and the Doe Bay magic that made these sessions not just possible, but also so much more than we would have ever dared imagine.

Check back here on August 24th to see whose session we’ll share first!

Fences Candle Lit Session ::: by Tyler Kalberg

The Maldives on “Hobbit Hill” ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

Chris Proff ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Ravenna Woods Session ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

See more photos from The Doe Bay Sessions on our Flickr