Why Must It Be So is the first song from his forthcoming album, The Ghost of Jim Crow. Throughout it we hear David drilling deep into his socially conscious music. His superb playing on both lead guitar and lush keyboards rockets his storytelling to new heights. Authentic, heartfelt lyrics (from personal experience) make this a profound piece of work.

Why Must It Be So is a powerful lament, without apologies.

Why, indeed.

Aptly, the third lyric video in the series has three in the title. From David Sancious’ latest release, Eyes Wide Open, Urban Psalm #3 features spoken word passages by Dr. Martin Luther King and chanting protesters giving their emphatic points of view.

This tracks features David on a soulful organ and the great Michael Bland (The New Power Generation, Soul Asylum, Paul Westerberg, Nick Jonas) on drums.

Brother Ed Sancious captured gorgeous video to help David convey his message and the feeling of the song. Once again, Storyblocks had footage in their library that proved to be exactly what we needed.

David’s personal take here on the urgent issue of racial prejudice is delivered with a hook-filled tune, giving the listener permission to jam while receiving the message.

Take a look, a listen and think about what he’s saying.

This is the second installment in a series of lyric videos from David Sancious’ latest album, Eyes Wide Open. In the Middle of the Night speaks to some of the things we’re all feeling right now. Isolation. Depression. Loneliness. Maybe even panic.

David’s prowess on vocals and piano is joined by the drums and percussion of the great Will Calhoun. A fantastic sonic team.

Directing long distance presented a bit of a challenge, but the footage that came back from David’s cameras in Hawaii was superb. Thanks to Storyblocks for the tremendous footage that adds mightily to this story.

David Sancious’ take on the pressing issue of racial equality is very personal. Take a look and a listen and contemplate the message he’s sending.

This is a completely different kind of project for us.

We functioned as editors on this lyric video using high quality, evocative stills from Unsplash, iPhone footage captured by the artist himself in Hawaii and type designed to carry Mr. Sancious’ heartfelt lyrics. And by the way, the image of the crowd on the video panel is also from Unsplash by photographer Hasan Almasi. Many thanks.

This music is from David’s latest album, Eyes Wide Open. He played all the instruments, except drums. Adriano Molinari is the man behind the the solid rhythm you hear.

Take a look and a listen and contemplate the message David is sending.

Rigdzin Drolma is a Woodstock, New York native with a unique approach to her young business. Her company, Me3 Bakery is a website-to-door experience. She designs custom cakes to order and creates them in the kitchen of the Kunzang Palchen Ling Monastery (founded by her father). She delivers these one-of-a-kind cakes directly to her clients.

An extensive collection of decorating tools along with years of baking experience allows each of her cakes to be carefully hand-crafted and personally designed.

Ms. Drolma says, “No matter what craft you have, if you’re doing it sincerely, focusing your whole energy on it, it becomes a meditative experience.”

We saw that way of thinking and working being practiced as we captured Rigdzin producing some pretty spectacular (and delicious) cakes.

Gina Maloney. She’s the creative director, designer, producer, and chief magician for Gina Maloney Events. She is the premier planner of top-tier experiences in the Hudson Valley and fans of her events (especially weddings) are vast. Watch what she had to say about what goes into a successful gathering.

Thank you to all the members of the wedding parties seen here.

Thanks, also, to the photographers whose killer images were used here.

We were thrilled when David Sancious and Will Calhoun asked us to produce a sizzle reel for their new musical entity, Open Secret.

This interview was filmed at the venerable Bearsville Theater in Bearsville, New York. For the record, we did not capture the live performances seen here. Robert Fazza was minding the live sound you hear throughout the video. Bryan Pugh executed the crisp mix.

These two world-class musicians use their almost telepathic communication to create music passages effortlessly – sounds that transport the listener to another place.

And we’re all better for having seen and heard Open Secret.

Thank you to The Iridium and Lenny B for their performance video footage.

When Zak Pelaccio gets an idea it’s usually a good bet he’ll follow through with said notion.

His team put on his first iteration of Play With Fire in 2014 to loud acclaim. So much so that folks clamored for more, and in August 2018 Team Zak obliged them.

Cooking over open fire was the order of the day and Kris Perry’s massive cooking structures made food and art (almost literally) come together.

This rainy August day did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the people meandering, drinks in hand. From one delicious cook station to the next, partygoers sampled everything from slow cooked pig to pane griglia to paella and on to grilled peaches (among many delicious others).

Every plate served was full of smokey goodness, cocktails were mixed with a secret ingredient – creativity. All was delicious.

When Club d’Elf, the Moroccan-dosed psychedelic dub jazz collective from Cambridge, Massachusetts fired things up, the atmosphere was complete.

Here’s an interesting interview with Zak Pelaccio about playing with fire. (with photographs by Slowfilms.com – uncredited!)

What’s a Calzuro?

It’s simple. Italian-made Calzuro has been providing comfort for many standing professions since 1983. Nurses, surgeons, dentists, veterinarians, artists, chefs, and even bartenders wear these supportive shoes.

When the very creative marketing manager at Ohio-based Calzuro contacted, we were thrilled. She suggested we find three tastemakers from the Hudson Valley and show them telling their stories about their experiences with Calzuro shoes.

We chose an owner of a unique cafe and catering business in Saugerties, New York, a chef and owner of a James Beard Award winning restaurant in Hudson, New York, and a maker of small batch cocktail bitters, also located in Hudson, New York.

Take a look at their stories.

We really enjoyed shooting this story. For one thing, we got to eat the props!

Texas native James Jennings has brought genuine taqueria tastes to Woodstock, New York. His newcomer, Tinker Taco Lab, has created a real buzz. Chef Jennings said this:

“It’s a taco. We have five tacos on the menu and two tamales. You can have a classic taqueria taco like chorizo and potato. You can have carnitas.

With the name, Tinker Taco Lab, I’m trying to stay a very traditional taqueria, while using classic French techniques I’ve learned over the years, and apply them to a taco and kind of do a modern version of things as well. So the idea is to keep evolving, keep changing things, keep having fun.

When you use something local,  something less processed, something closer to the farm, it’s going to be higher in nutrient value, because you’re not over-processing, you know?"

We agree.

Our friend and radio host, Linda Pelaccio got in touch with an intriguing proposition.

She was scheduled to interview Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell (aka The Fabulous Beekman Boys) about their newest cookbook.

Would we care to join her, meet the boys and capture some moving pictures?

Yes, of course we would. And we did.

We have long admired how these two ‘city boys’ have made their spread into a working farm. How they have put sustainable practices into their animal husbandry, their gardening, their beehives and even their recipes. And how they have built such a successful brand around the small-batch, handmade ethic.

Our thanks to Linda Pelaccio for including us in this project. Linda is a culinary historian who writes, produces and hosts her top-rated radio show, A Taste of the Past, for the Heritage Radio Network.

Sarah and Rory Chase are a sister and brother team who are continuing their family dairy business near Pine Plains, New York. Chaseholm Farm.

They are third generation farmers whose relationship to the land is built on principles of sustainable agriculture. They work to create active and healthy soil microbiology so that soil can support healthy plants that can be grazed by cows. 

The delicious milk from these happy cows is then used to produce grass-fed yogurt and cheese. (The farm also produces grass-fed beef and pork.)

Rory Chase returned home to the farm and started making cheese. He then retrofitted a barn his grandfather built in the early 30s to serve as a creamery and an affinage cave. It is where you’ll see Rory in the process of making cheese with Calzuro boots keeping his feet dry.

We were very impressed with the seamlessness with which the farm was run. It’s obvious the division of labor between Sarah and Rory is a natural one. We were so excited to be filming at Chase Farm that we had to return to their store later to stock up on their delicious cheeses.

Can you tell we’re big fans?

Kara Suzanne is a very talented songwriter, singer, and guitar player.

In the summer of 2009 she brought her gang (band) upstate to record an album she named Parlor Walls.

They decamped to Dreamland Recording, near Woodstock, New York where in a little over a week produced and recorded a whole album’s worth of songs.

The result is a strong Americana album with much memorable music that you can check out here.

With our cameras in tow, we tagged along and captured what you see here. We’re happy we did.

Forrest Pritchard is a farmer and an author.

We sat down with him on a beautiful Friday afternoon and for almost an hour he regaled us with his farming knowledge, stories at the center of his farm, and how Smith Meadows has flourished in the real food world.

The next day we met Forrest at the Arlington, Virginia Farmers’ Market. We were amazed at the vibrancy of this market. Smith Meadows has its fans. Boy, do they. Just as he was putting the finishing touches on his market set-up, his first customers arrived. But they weren’t just buyers, you could tell these were friends.

Forrest Pritchard brings relationship farming to the markets he attends and his customers seemingly can’t get enough. He's a local hero serving up local flavors.

We think that’s a pretty good definition of sustainability.

We recently re-discovered this story, produced a few years back.

Staying in Louisville, Kentucky at the 21c Museum Hotel, we were happy to share a delicious meal at their farm-to-table restaurant. The name of the restaurant is Proof and at the time of this video the Executive Chef was Michael Paley. (He has since moved on to helming kitchens in Austin, Texas.)

We had a nice conversation and he invited us back. The next time we were at the hotel, we brought the tools of our trade.

The cameras were set, the lights turned on, Chef gave us his time and we listened to his story.

This portrait of Proof and its hardworking people is the result.

We decided to shoot our interviews with Ashley Mayne and Chris Regan at Sky Farm in the dead of winter, a time when farmers tend to be more contemplative, and definitely more relaxed. They have had time to review last year’s growing season as well as plan for spring planting, and with a blanket of snow on the ground, and mostly free hands, it’s the best time to get inside a farmer’s head.

We arrived on a brutally cold March day, the snow glistening under a sunny, cloudless sky. After we made them trudge around the farm in the slippery snow with their dog Louka several times, we went inside to warm up and to talk with them about their collective life at Sky Farm.

As Chris made lunch for the four of us, we set up for their interviews. After a delicious meal we heard Ashley and Chris talk about growing, their inspirations and aspirations, and why they do what they do.

These are two very smart people.

It was a simple recipe: begin with superb ingredients, add innovative chefs and allow, no insist, they all play with fire.

On a gorgeous, sunny, Sunday afternoon in the Hudson Valley, Zak Pelaccio, chef/co-owner of Fish & Game, invited the Northern Chef’s Alliance to cook collaborative courses for one great cause.

He along with his partners, Jori Jayne Emde and Kevin Pomplun hosted the event Play with Fire on the bucolic Fish & Game Farm near their celebrated restaurant in Hudson, New York.

And the fires were smoking hot!

John Medeski worked the Hammond B3 masterfully and surprise guest, Amy Helm, (with her scorching band) killed it.

And then, it got funky. Real funky.

Cooking up a storm on behalf of the FarmOn! Foundation, chefs from the United States and Canada teamed together to prepare some outrageously delicious small plates.

Check out this list of chefs playing with fire:

April Bloomfield and Jeremy Charles 

Matt Jennings and Rob Gentile 

Sean Brock and Derek Dammann 

Jamie Bissonnette and Lee Cooper 

Zakary Pelaccio, Jori Jayne Emde, and Kevin Pomplun and Matty Matheson 

Francisco J. Migoya 

FarmOn! Foundation is the brainchild of Tessa Edick.

It’s a collaboration of professional farmers, educators, influencers, supporters, nutritionists, students, and community leaders invested in the future of local agriculture and supporting local economies.

So it’s easy to see that all this was for a very good cause.

Chefs on fire, indeed.

Every community should be so lucky to have a market like the Rhinebeck Farmers Market.

On cool summer and fall mornings, neighbors meet, visit, and shop. Shoppers get to know the people who produce the fresh, delicious food and in turn, the farmers connect with the folks that will be nourished by their efforts.

It truly is the new town square.

Stunning goods, knowledgeable and friendly merchants, and an appealing location in the middle of the village help make this market attract weekenders and locals alike.

Pointing our cameras at this specatular farmers market was a real pleasure. If you're ever near the town of Rhinebeck, New York on a Sunday in season stop by.

She’s one of the giants of food writing. Betty Fussell is the author of 12 books, ranging from biography to cookbooks, food history and memoir.

She is a noted expert on the history of corn. She has written extensively on the subject and devoted two books to corn: The Story of Corn and Crazy for Corn. In her autobiographical book, Kitchen Wars, she discusses not only cooking and its importance to her life, but details of her personal life.

We spoke with her in a wide-ranging conversation at her Greenwich Village townhouse only weeks before her move to California.

It was a privilege to spend some time with her.

We teamed up with food writer and photographer Peter Barrett to produce a pilot for a web series, focusing on the intersection between food and music.

And we’re calling it Barrett Cooks.

This video features Peter and world-renowned keyboardist, John Medeski. Music fans might recognize the name ‘Medeski’ from any number of his bands, musical hook-ups, and side projects.

This episode finds the boys tramping up a Catskill mountain to forage for the great springtime pleasure, ramps and then to the kitchen to prepare a veritable Feast of the Ramps. Peter and John really show the versatility of the flavorful ramp. Deliciously.

Peter has this to say at the end of the video:

"Meals should be a celebration. Real people making real food for themselves and their families and their friends. The key to good cooking is to be passionate about it–to care about what you’re making and to care about the people you’re making it for."

That just about says it all.

Ron Silver is plainspoken when explaining the mission at his restaurant, Bubby’s. Considering so many people define real food as “food your great-grandmother or grandmother would recognize”, it seems fitting that Ron is so insistent on sourcing locally produced goods for the restaurants he named after his two grandmothers.

He puts into daily practice what he adamantly preaches.

Bubby’s is a downtown, downhome restaurant with locations in Manhattan’s Tribeca and Meatpacking District neighborhoods. The folks here are sourcing from local farms and purveyors, creating a comforting atmosphere and putting real food on each and every plate. There’s an in-house butcher breaking down whole animals for use in the restaurant. Ron told us one pig would, in one way or another, make an appearance on nearly 650 of his plates. Specific attention is paid to acquiring what Mr. Silver calls the “commodities” – bacon, eggs, milk, cheese and butter — no industrial crap-ola for Bubby’s.

Sounds like they’re pretty committed to real food, doesn’t it? Their legion of contented, well-fed fans is proof positive that Bubby’s is doing amazing things.

On most days, sounds of cocoa beans being picked, roasted, pounded, melted and molded ring out from Scott Witherow’s East Nashville Olive & Sinclair chocolate factory. While the noise emanates from its various sources, strangely, the work goes on with quiet efficiency.

Scott has said he always knew he wanted to do “something in food.” In London, after earning a Le Grande Diplome from Le Cordon Bleu and cooking in some big time kitchens there, he began a professional romance with the idea of working with chocolate. He found his way back to Nashville, began to experiment with the process of turning beans into bars, got his ideas together, and formed Olive & Sinclair. In just a few short years, Olive & Sinclair has gained a terrific reputation for producing authentic chocolate in an authentic way

When we were there to shoot this story, the chocolate making process was in full swing. It was amazing to see how (without many words being exchanged) the folks in the shop worked together. We especially loved at the very end, how the finished bars were being perfectly hand-wrapped and numbered with a rubber-stamp. Handmade, indeed.

We want to give Scott and his team (which includes his mom handling local deliveries!) all the props in the world for hewing to the small batch line. Olive & Sinclair and their Southern Artisan Chocolate is another great example of food folks doing great work.

To learn more and to see all of Scott’s delicious products, visit oliveandsinclair.com