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. 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 ClairesMusic & Arts Festival, and Day of the Dead. Dessner is most famous for being a founding member, songwriter, and producer for The National, and Vernon for being the front man of Bon Iver. In 2016, Vernon, Dessner, and Dessner's twin brotherBryce 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 that is collaborative, spontaneous and expressive in nature and where all unnecessary distractions or obstacles that get in the way are removed." 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 From a Safe Harbour. 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.
''Big Red Machine'' (2018)
Big Red Machine released their debut albumBig 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". 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. The majority of the album was recorded in Dessner's shed studio in the Hudson Valley, where Dessner also recorded the 2017 The National album Sleep Well Beast.
