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Songscape: KWWRA Recording Session

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Yesterday, Parsonsfield headed over to Green Roster Studio, Dirt Floor, in Haddam, CT to record the song they composed for Songscape: Katahdin Woods and Waters Recreation Area. The studio is nestled up in the hills overlooking the Connecticut River, in a cozy log cabin, complete with a great fireplace, a bear of a dog, and even a house rabbit! Owner Eric Lichter was incredibly generous and donated a full day of recording studio time, which has been Sustain's largest donation yet! We couldn't have done this without Eric's support and time.

Enjoy a few photos from the day below, and be sure to keep an eye out for our "Making of Songscape: KWWRA" video in the future, and of course, the release of Parsonsfield's newest song!



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Spotlight Interview: Dirt Floor

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Dirt Floor is a Green Roster Studio, and the first member to have joined our community of environmental bands, luthiers and studios. Run by Eric Lichter, Dirt Floor has really embodied the spirit of Sustain and our desire to bring the environment into the music industry. Sun-powered, in a cabin above the beautiful Connecticut River, and run by a down-to-earth team, Dirt Floor not only respects the environment, it fosters a great environment for bands to record songs and albums.

We bring you this interview with Eric Lichter to shine some light on Dirt Floor, their ethos, and their dedication to being green.
 

What is Dirt Floor?

Dirt Floor was at one time simply a recording studio, but has grown into so much more. It has become more of a style of production and record making, in a very classic style reminiscent of recordings from the early 1970s, the timeless sort. As a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and artist myself, I often help solo artists craft entire records from the ground up.

What are your proudest accomplishments?

Well, besides raising a small daughter, who I adore, I would say creating a record that helps an artist get to the next level in their career. There are many, so to pick just one would be impossible. Also, watching a community of artists come together through the Dirt Floor connection has been a joy to witness. Jake Klar, Jonah Tolchin, Spirit Family Reunion, Parsonsfield, Kerri Powers and Ian Fitzgerald are but a few of my very favorites, and have become family.

Sustain is all about bringing best environmental practices to the music industry. Can you tell us about what Dirt Floor has done to uphold an environmental ethic?

Considering the environment while running a business, especially a studio, has always been at the forefront for me, as one who tries to live a clean and low impact lifestyle. I also wanted to use old technology and make records using the power of the sun, utilizing solar panels to power the studio portion of the house. It all comes back around to my role as a father, and trying to teach my child how to respect mother Earth

What advice do you have for other recording studios thinking about adopting environmentally-friendly practices?

My advice for other studios looking to do their part and adopt environmentally friendly practices would be to take stock in their surroundings. Do they use plastic water bottles? Is there a lot of trash being produced from clients? There are so many little things that can be considered, and this is a great place to start. I tell clients beforehand that we have everything that they would need and to avoid those plastic bottles. Again that is a small example. Every studio is unique, and the footprint is different for all of them.

 

How do music and nature relate to you in your life?

For many years I have tried to live light, and to respect mother Earth. She has been an inspiration to me as an athlete, a self-professed nature boy, and of course as a songwriter, in the tradition of writers I've admired like John Denver. Nature helps me to see the wonder in things, and to still look at the world with that sense is a very wonderful thing, and so important today. Every time I step outside my front door, that childlike excitement returns, and I feel it's my responsibility to affect my own world, and hopefully influence those around me to do the same.

What would you like to see come forth from partnering with Sustain?

Partnering with Sustain was a no-brainer for me, and an incredible opportunity I wanted to jump at, knowing that this could only benefit like-minded artists and of course the environment in a positive way, and the possibility of a beautiful ripple effect was something I really wanted to be a part of....

 

Learn more about Dirt Floor at www.dirtfloor.com

New Green Roster Luthier: Tim Sway Perspectives

New Green Roster Luthier! Tim Sway Perspectives

Tim Sway's mission is to "make nice things for nice people out of things that would otherwise be thrown away."

"After a 15+ year career as a performing, recording and teaching musician, I recently "retired" from being a full-time musician to spend more time making things out of reclaimed, upcycled and salvaged materials- and to spend more time with my family and less time in band flop houses! I often make things out of discarded instruments and instruments out of discarded things. One of my long-term goals is to make high quality, sustainable, handmade instruments from locally sourced and reclaimed materials that are affordable for working class musicians-like myself." -Tim Sway

This environmentally conscious luthier makes beautiful guitars and innovative guitar stands, among his many other upcycled products (like a pinball machine desk!). Check out his awesome youtube channel, facebook, and website for more information.

New Green Roster Member: Kerri Powers

New Green Roster Member: Kerri Powers! She's one talented musician and she's toured all over the states and Europe, and played at top festivals like Telluride. Not only talented, she also cares about the environment, and we're happy to have her in the Green Roster community.

From No Depression's Lee Zimmerman: "Powers is a soulful singer, an extraordinary interpreter and an artist with a decided folk finesse that can make even original songs --- the Dylanesque duo “Old Shirt” and “Train in the Night” being prime examples -- sound both timeless and telling."

Find her on FB: https://www.facebook.com/kerripowersmusic
Kerri Power's website: http://www.kerripowers.com/

In-Depth Songscape: Katahdin Woods & Waters Recreation Area

In The Maine Woods, Thoreau brings us to the “mossy and moosey” forests, rivers, and lakes of the northernmost state of New England. His writing transports us from reading chairs and puts our minds among mosquitos and balsam air. “…at night the general stillness is more impressive than any sound, but occasionally you hear the note of an owl farther or nearer in the woods, and if near a lake, the semi-human cry of the loons at their unearthly revels.” With Sustain’s first Songscape songwriting retreat at Katahdin Woods & Waters Recreation Area, we will be bringing a new sound to the Maine woods. And it is our hope that this new song will be able to evoke the same imagery and feel of the landscape that inspires its lyrics and rhythms. With Americana folk band, Parsonsfield, crafting the music, we think we can bring a new wave of appreciation to the wilds of Maine.

Parsonsfield and Katahdin Woods & Waters Recreation Area (KWWRA) are the first participants in Sustain’s Songscape project. Songscapes are band songwriting retreats hosted at, and by, public land organizations. Sustain matches bands and public land stewardship groups for a week of outdoor recreation, ecological education, and landscape immersion. Bands use these experiences as inspiration to write a song. After the retreat, the song is professionally recorded and donated to the host land organization to use in their marketing materials. The song is also sold online, with proceeds being split between the musicians, Sustain, and the land group.

Sustain believes that crafting emotional connections to nature is integral to fostering an environmental ethic. Music excels at drawing out emotions in listeners, and it is our hope that Songscape songs will help craft connections between audiences and landscapes. We want bands’ audiences to be introduced to great public lands via great music. We also want bands who care about the environment to gather new fans from the organizations and landscapes that host them. Songscapes celebrate both the natural world and excellent music.

Parsonsfield, who will be staying at KWWRA from October 11-15 this fall, is a great band to kick off the Songscape project. Formed in Connecticut in 2010, the band has played their rowdy Americana folk music across the USA and throughout Canada. David Vescey, from The New York Times writes, “They harmonize; they play saws, mandolins and pump organs; they back their songs with crickets and squeaking screen doors; they are boisterously youthful yet deftly sentimental...”. Theirs is a sound that has its roots in Maine as well. The name, Parsonsfield, comes from the rural town in southwest Maine where they recorded their first album. Those crickets and squeaking screen doors were courtesy of the old farmhouse recording studio there, called Great North Sound Society.

Parsonsfield is excited to go back to Maine and have a week of outdoor fun and songwriting at Katahdin Woods and Waters Recreation Area.  This area is a special part of Maine, with world-class outdoor recreation opportunities including fishing, hunting, hiking, snowmobiling, canoeing and mountain biking.

Located in the shadows of Mount Katahdin, Maine’s highest and most storied peak, Katahdin Woods & Waters Recreation Area offers a sneak peak of land that one day could become a new national park and national recreation area. The land, bordered on the west by Baxter State Park and with the amazing East Branch of the Penobscot River running through its heart, includes unparalleled opportunities for traditional outdoor recreation and an opportunity to see firsthand the woods and waters that have helped to define the state. It is KWWRA’s hope that the Katahdin region, and KWWRA specifically, will gain public support to become America’s next national park and recreation area. This unique and beautiful landscape has such a rich history and ecology, and it deserves to be shared with the nation.

Post retreat, Sustain’s Green Roster Member recording studio, Dirt Floor, in Haddam, CT, is donating recording services on November 9. Parsonsfield will produce a polished version of the song they created up at KWWRA, and it will be for sale on the Sustain website shortly after. You’ll also see it in KWWRA’s marketing materials as they gather public support for national park and national recreation area designation. Sustain will bring you music videos, sound clips, and other media from the Songscape retreat, so keep watch on this new and exciting project.

 

Songscape: Katahdin Woods & Waters Recreation Area

Announcing Sustain's first Songscape songwriting retreat to be held at Katahdin Woods & Waters Recreation Area with folk-rock band Parsonsfield. This October 11-15, the landscape that inspired Henry David Thoreau's The Maine Woods will be the inspiration for Parsonsfield to write an equally timeless song. KWWRA is generously hosting the band for a week of hiking, campfires, off-the-grid living, and songwriting. Come November, Green Roster Studio Dirt Floor will be donating studio time to record the band's KWWRA-inspired song. In return for KWWRA's hospitality, Parsonsfield will donate the final song to them to use in their marketing materials. The song will also be for sale here and proceeds will be split between the band, KWWRA, and Sustain.

Sustain will be documenting and sharing the process extensively. Watch this space for more materials, further information about our partners, and beautiful Maine scenery.

 

An Introduction to Sustain

“Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries.” -President Jimmy Carter

Harrison Goodale and I co-founded Sustain because we hold a love for both music and nature, and believe the two passions can be melded to benefit both the music industry and the environment. Sustain strives to elevate the music community as a leader in environmental responsibility and awareness, by crafting partnerships between the music industry and environmental organizations.

It’s an exciting beginning for our non-profit. We’ve been buzzing with ideas on how we’ll link musicians with the organizations that steward America’s landscapes. How we can deliver the best information on sustainable practices in music business. The ways we can boost support for bands that are operating with respect for the environment. How to translate fanaticism for music and for nature into tangible benefits for both parties. The work is thrilling.

Songscapes are one piece of our vision. Songscapes are songwriting retreats that match bands with land stewardship organizations. Over a few days of immersion in a place’s beauty and history, bands create a song inspired by their experience. Shortly afterwards, the song is professionally recorded and donated to the host organization for use in their marketing materials. Eventually, we’ll collect enough songs to issue place-based albums, which will inspire listeners to visit and value these landscapes. Songscapes are exciting because they bring new audiences to emerging bands, and new awareness to land organizations from bands’ fan bases.

Sustain’s vision is carried out through our Green Roster program as well. We are creating a roster of bands, luthiers, and recording studios that pledge to uphold best environmental practices in their businesses. We will be a key resource and driver for the music industry to adopt more sustainable ways. The Green Roster network will facilitate partnerships between savvy bands, studios and luthiers. Members will get preferential support from consumers that care about sustainability, while bringing new awareness about music’s environmental role to existing audiences.

We believe involving music in the field of environmental progress is a great way to create emotional connections between music audiences and the lands and waters that support them. Interest in music cuts across all generations and all socioeconomic groups in a way the environmental movement has struggled to capture. Sustain has the potential to create real change for the music industry and for environmental consciousness. We’re excited, and hope you are too.

Thank you,

Betsy Mortensen

Welcome

Hello there! We haven't formally launched our organization yet. It's coming in the next few weeks, so you must be one of the lucky folks who know us personally. We will be filling this news section up once we launch, so be pumped for upcoming announcements about our exciting partnerships!

One hint.... Moose.