Big Red Machine | |
|---|---|
 Big Red Machine performing in 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2018–present |
| Labels | Jagjaguwar |
| Members | |
| Website | bigredmachine |
Big Red Machine is an American indie folk band that began as a collaboration between musicians Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon. [1] The band is named after the nickname for the dominant 1970s Cincinnati Reds baseball teams, which won the 1976 World Series in Dessner's birth year. [2]
Big Red Machine began as a musical collaboration in 2008, when Aaron Dessner messaged Justin Vernon on MySpace, without any prior personal meeting. Dessner sent Vernon an instrumental idea for a compilation album named Dark Was the Night , benefiting the Red Hot Organization, which he wanted Vernon to write a song for. [3] The sketch was titled "Big Red Machine", and Vernon created a completed song using the track. The album was celebrated with a show at Radio City Music Hall, where the two met and began further collaborating. Since then, they have worked on a number of projects together, including PEOPLE Collective, Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival, and Day of the Dead . [3] Dessner is most famous for being a founding member, songwriter, and producer for The National, and Vernon for being the leader of Bon Iver.
In 2016, Vernon, Dessner, and Dessner's twin brother Bryce Dessner founded an artist collective named PEOPLE. The PEOPLE website states that the concept aims to "establish an independent and nurturing space in which to make work (generally around music) that is collaborative, spontaneous and expressive in nature and where all unnecessary distractions or obstacles that get in the way are removed." [4] They first gathered for a festival at Funkhaus, Berlin, in 2016. The second festival took place in 2018, again at Funkhaus. Since 2016, Big Red Machine has played festival sets at Eaux Claires, Haven, and Sounds From a Safe Harbour. [5]
Dessner has stated that the original sketch that he sent to Vernon in 2008, named "Big Red Machine", uses the nickname of the 1970s Cincinnati Reds teams that won the World Series back to back in 1975 and 1976. The team received the nickname "The Big Red Machine" throughout this successful period. Aaron Dessner grew up in Cincinnati, and he and his twin brother were born in 1976, during the Reds' run. [2]
Big Red Machine released their debut album Big Red Machine on August 31, 2018, via PEOPLE and Jagjaguwar. Prior to this, the outfit released four tracks from the full-length album: "Gratitude", "Lyla", "Hymnostic", and "Forest Green". [6] The 10-track self-titled album was co-produced by Dessner, Vernon, and Brad Cook, while Jonathan Low mixed the recording. The album features approximately 40 collaborators, including Bryce Dessner, Bryan Devendorf, Richard Parry, Phoebe Bridgers, Lisa Hannigan, JT Bates, and Kate Stables, among others. [6] The majority of the album was recorded in Dessner's shed studio in the Hudson Valley, [7] where Dessner also recorded the 2017 The National album Sleep Well Beast . [8]
In 2020, it was announced that Dessner and Vernon had begun work on new Big Red Machine material. Early in the year, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Michael Stipe appeared on several late-night shows, premiering a new song called "No Time for Love Like Now". The song was revealed to be a Big Red Machine song, and the single, featuring Stipe on vocals, was released in June. [9] Dessner also performed several unreleased Big Red Machine songs during an Instagram Live session. In April—December 2020, Dessner co-produced and co-wrote many tracks on Folklore and Evermore , the 2020 albums by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift; [10] Vernon also contributed vocals and instrumentation on some of the tracks. Dessner and Swift won Album of the Year for Folklore at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. [11]
In August 2020, Dessner confirmed that Big Red Machine were finalizing and arranging new music for an upcoming album. [12] Later that year, the band released two covers of Aimee Mann's "Wise Up" and collaborated with Sharon Van Etten on the reissue of her album Epic . [13] [14] Additionally, Vernon, in his "Visit with Vernon" web series, performed an unreleased Big Red Machine song called "Latter Days", that had previously also been performed by Dessner during his Instagram Live concert. "Latter Days" was co-written by Hadestown writer Anaïs Mitchell. [15] In April 2021, Vernon teased a potential collaboration with Swift. [16]
In June 2021, the band announced the upcoming release of their second album, How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last? . In the week of the announcement, they released the singles "Latter Days" (featuring Mitchell), "The Ghost of Cincinnati", and "Renegade" (featuring Swift). [17] [18] The record came out on August 27, 2021.
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [19] | AUS [20] | BEL (FL) [21] | BEL (WA) [22] | GER [23] | IRE [24] | NL [25] | SCO [26] | SWI [27] | UK [26] | ||||
| Big Red Machine |
| — [upper-alpha 1] | — [upper-alpha 2] | 16 | — | — | — | 80 | 40 | 86 | 96 | ||
| How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last? |
| 82 | 51 | 9 | 179 | 18 | 66 | 17 | 15 | 88 | 45 | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [30] | US Adult [31] | US Rock [32] | AUS [33] | CAN [34] | IRE [35] | NZ Hot [36] | UK [26] | UK Indie [26] | WW [37] | |||
| "No Time for Love Like Now" (featuring Michael Stipe) | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Latter Days" (featuring Anaïs Mitchell) | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last? |
| "The Ghost of Cincinnati" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Renegade" (featuring Taylor Swift) | 73 | 14 | 9 | 70 | 58 | 53 | 3 | 73 | 9 | 96 | ||
| "Phoenix" (featuring Fleet Foxes and Anaïs Mitchell) | — | — | — [upper-alpha 3] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Mimi" (featuring Ilsey) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Alt. DL [39] | US Rock DL [40] | BEL (FL) Tip [21] | |||||||||
| "I Won't Run from It" | 2018 | — | — | 15 | Big Red Machine | ||||||
| "Birch" (featuring Taylor Swift) | 2021 | 17 | 17 | — | How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last? | ||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||
The National is an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1999. The band consists of Matt Berninger (vocals), twin brothers Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner, as well as brothers Scott Devendorf (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). Carin Besser, the wife of Matt Berninger, is not a band member but has written lyrics for the band alongside her husband since its 2007 album Boxer.
Eaux Claires, also known as the Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival, was a two-day music and arts festival that took place for four years in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The festival took what was to be a year-long hiatus in 2019 but was expected to return in 2020, before being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. He is also a member of the bands Volcano Choir, Big Red Machine, the Shouting Matches, and Gayngs, and was previously a member of the now-defunct band DeYarmond Edison. Known for his distinct falsetto voice, Vernon has received widespread acclaim for his work, predominantly with Bon Iver.
Aaron Brooking Dessner is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band the National, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big Red Machine, teaming with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon; and a collaborator on Taylor Swift's studio albums Folklore and Evermore, both of which contended for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2021 and 2022, respectively, with the former winning the accolade.
Day of the Dead is the twenty-fifth compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Featuring fifty-nine exclusive recordings of covers of Grateful Dead songs by a number of independent artists as a tribute to the band, the compilation was released on May 20, 2016, as five CDs, a limited edition vinyl LP box set, and as a digital download. John Carlin, the founder of the Red Hot Organization, was the executive producer for the album. The members of The National first performed with Bob Weir at his Bay Area studio in 2012 as part of the Headcount benefit The Bridge Session. The group's budding friendship with the Dead cofounder pushed them to record the massive Dead tribute.
Big Red Machine is the debut studio album by American musicians Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon as Big Red Machine. Dessner is most famous for being a founding member, instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer for The National, and Vernon for being the founding member and frontman of Bon Iver. The majority of the album was recorded in Dessner's shed studio in the Hudson Valley.
"Peace" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. She wrote the track with its producer, Aaron Dessner. The song is taken from her eighth studio album, Folklore, which was released on July 24, 2020, through Republic Records. Swift has named "Peace" her most personal song on the album.
"Exile" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, featuring American band Bon Iver. It is the fourth track on Swift's eighth studio album, Folklore, which was released on July 24, 2020. "Exile" was written by Swift, Joe Alwyn, and the band's frontman Justin Vernon, with production by Aaron Dessner and Alwyn. Republic Records sent "Exile" to US alternative radio stations on August 3, 2020.
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions is a 2020 American documentary concert film directed and produced by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on Disney+ on November 25, 2020. The documentary is set at Long Pond Studio, an isolated recording studio in a forested area in Hudson Valley, New York; Swift performs all of the 17 tracks of her eighth studio album, Folklore (2020), whilst discussing the creative process behind the songs with her collaborators Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff. Swift made her debut as a film director with the documentary, which is her fourth film to be released on a streaming service, following the releases of The 1989 World Tour Live (2015), Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018), and Miss Americana (2020).
Evermore is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was a surprise album released on December 11, 2020, via Republic Records, less than five months after Folklore, her eighth studio album. Evermore was a spontaneous product of Swift's extended collaboration with her Folklore collaborator Aaron Dessner, mainly recorded at his Long Pond Studio in the Hudson Valley.
"Willow" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her ninth studio album Evermore (2020). It was released on December 11, 2020 by Republic Records as the lead single from the album. "Willow" is a chamber folk love song making use of several metaphors to convey the singer's romantic state of mind, such as portraying her life as a willow tree, over picked guitars, glockenspiel, flute, strings, and percussion.
"Dorothea" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It is taken from her ninth studio album, Evermore, which was released on December 11, 2020, via Republic Records. Written by Swift and its producer Aaron Dessner, "Dorothea" is titled after the subject of its lyrics.
"Coney Island" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift featuring American band the National. It is the ninth track on Swift's ninth studio album, Evermore (2020). She wrote the song with Joe Alwyn, who is credited under the pseudonym William Bowery, and producers Aaron and Bryce Dessner. Republic Records sent the song to US triple-A radio on January 18, 2021, as the album's third and final single.
"Marjorie" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the thirteenth track of her ninth studio album, Evermore (2020). As a tribute to Swift's late grandmother and opera singer Marjorie Finlay, the song features bits of advice that Finlay offered to her granddaughter and touches on Swift's guilt over not knowing her maternal grandmother to the fullest. It incorporates slow-burning synthesizers, strings, and samples of Finlay's operatic vocals.
"'Tis the Damn Season" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, taken from her ninth studio album, Evermore (2020). Written by Swift and its producer Aaron Dessner, "'Tis the Damn Season" is a folk song instrumented by a finger-picked electric guitar and programmed drums. Narrated from the perspective of a female character named Dorothea, the lyrics detail her returning to her hometown in Tupelo, Mississippi, where she encounters her former lover, knowing the rekindled relationship will inevitably end. "'Tis the Damn Season" is a counterpart to fellow track "Dorothea", which gives the former lover's point of view, addressed to the titular character.
How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last? is the second studio album by American indie duo Big Red Machine, which consists of musicians Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon. It was released on August 27, 2021, via 37d03d and Jagjaguwar record labels. Dessner stated the album is built around themes of childhood, familial dynamics, and mental health. He cited The Last Waltz, the 1978 live album by the Band, as an inspiration for the record.
"Renegade" is a song recorded by American indie band Big Red Machine featuring American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on July 2, 2021, by 37D03D and Jagjaguwar. It was serviced to US triple-A radio on the same day as the third single from the band's second studio album, How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last? (2021).
"Nothing New" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift featuring American singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers. Swift wrote the song in March 2012 and produced it with Aaron Dessner for her second re-recorded studio album, Red , which was released in 2021 through Republic Records. The track is a guitar-led folk and alternative rock tune about anxieties over romance and growing up.
"I Bet You Think About Me" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift featuring Chris Stapleton. Swift wrote the song with Lori McKenna in June 2011 and produced it with Aaron Dessner for her second re-recorded album, Red . Republic Records and MCA Nashville sent the song to U.S. country radio on November 15, 2021, as a single from the album.
"Happiness" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was the last track she wrote for her ninth studio album, Evermore, which was released on December 11, 2020. Produced by co-writer Aaron Dessner, "Happiness" is an ambient ballad set to a church-inspired organ. Its lyrics are about a narrator finding happiness after divorce.