I got a reminder email in late January about NPR Music’s Tiny Desk competition.
It said the deadline to submit was February 10.
In past years I had submitted these with an iPhone video. This time I had more creative and collaborative aspirations, so reached out to some friends for help.
Still unsure if we had the time to pull it off, I visited my friend Doug Davis’ studio to scope out the video idea with my friend Ryan Jones. The studio is a converted two-story carriage house in a historic neighborhood in Winston-Salem. Originally, I thought we’d record upstairs which serves as the control room for the studio.
Ryan, being a great storyteller and videographer, had a better idea. How about we make a little story out of the process? Over burgers at lunch we talked out the concept for the video and ran with it. It’s a simple story, but works well especially for “Saluda,” a song about friendship.
It starts with me upstairs all alone and then I walk downstairs and join a room of friends.
Something magical happens when we come together.
I think this video captures some of that magic too.
Keep your fingers crossed and say those prayers, because Ryan really wants to win this thing.
If you got friends, though, you’ve already won.