The Doe Bay Sessions Team ::: portrait by Hilary Harris

Another Tuesday has passed with no new video, which means I’m sitting here missing The Doe Bay Sessions and reflecting in wonder that they happened at all.

For the folks involved with the technical side Doe Bay Sessions, they have another nickname: the serendipity sessions. Everything that could possibly go wrong did, but so did everything that could go right. Despite months of planning, the only thing that made the Doe Bay Sessions go as beautifully as they did was the kindness of strangers, phenomenal timing and two very talented men behind the scenes: videographer Tyler Kalberg and sound guy Chris Proff. While mine and Josh’s work with the sessions was all but done in August (other than sharing them with you) both Tyler and Chris spent hours upon hours the past couple months, editing, mixing and perfecting the videos and their sound. It is only due to their hard work and talents that the videos turned out as wonderfully as they did. If you enjoyed the videos, these are the people you should offer your gratitude to.

But it took more than Josh, Tyler, Chris and me to make the sessions happen. It took the support and approval of the folks who run the Doe Bay Resort and the Doe Bay Festival. No one has been bigger fans or supporters of the sessions than Joe Brotherton, Kevin Sur and Chad Clibborn both before, during and after the filming. And then of course, there was the serendipity and the hefty dose of Doe Bay magic that made the videos possible. When our brand new generator broke before our first session, the head of the Doe Bay grounds not only lent us his infinitely quieter generator for the entire weekend, but he delivered it to our distant campsite with a smile. The next day, when our “mobile” 80 plus pound soundboard died, a stranger who happened to be walking down the trail as we lamented our terrible luck, turned around and offered his mobile recording system for the entire weekend to total strangers. Not only did this allow the project to continue, it gave us more flexibility where we could record sessions. What could’ve been terrible, turned out to be totally for the better. From day one, though we’d never done anything of the sort before, everyone who came in contact with the project believed it could be done, put their whole heart into it and did everything in their power to make sure it happened. It would not be overstating to say, its the kind of thing that restores your faith in humanity.

And of course there was the bands who took the time to hike down the trails and share themselves and their songs with us. We could not have dreamed of a more talented (or pleasant) group of musicians to work with. Our sincerest thanks goes out to:

The Maldives
Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives
Kelli Schaefer
The Head and The Heart
Hey Marseilles
Fences
Ravenna Woods
Curtains for You
Tomo Nakayama
Black Whales

Last and certainly not least, thanks to all of you for stopping by the site every Tuesday to check out the new videos, for sharing them with your friends and for all the kind words.

Stay tuned for two new video series coming soon from Sound on the Sound and the whole Doe Bay filming crew. And we’ll be back next summer with even more Doe Bay Sessions!