Forging musical partnerships in inspiring locations

A recording project from the Netherlands has introduced a novel way to record music showcasing collaborations between new artists from different parts of the world. Every two months, In A Cabin With invites one or more Dutch musicians to travel to an inspiring location somewhere in the world—a farmhouse in Sweden, a wooden house in northern Thailand or a church in Ottawa, for example—to write, produce and record an album in collaboration with some of the area’s own musicians. The recorded material is mixed and mastered in an Amsterdam studio, and an upcoming artist and/or graphic designer is invited to design the album artwork. Several of the artists involved in the sessions have subsequently been offered their own record deals. The CDs are distributed by V2 music and can also be ordered through the In A Cabin With website. Best of all, the concept comes with a generous side of free love: all the In A Cabin With albums are also available as free downloads. One to emulate outside the Netherlands, harnessing the talent of upcoming musicians or other artists? (Related: Free accommodation for visiting creatives.) Spotted by: Marc Frencken