Great North Sound Society
Parsonsfield, Maine, a large tract of land sold in the late 1660s by Indian Chief Sunday to Francis Small, a trader from Kittery. This area is known for its farming, its seven sawmills, seven gristmills and a woolen textile factory, which became the most important business in Parsonsfield. The drive out to Parsonsfield was beautiful, fields and woods just everywhere you see. We took the backroads the whole way, passing through Limington until we arrived in Parsonsfield. I was riding in style in a black 2021 Toyota RAV4 which had black leather interior. I normally wouldn’t choose black leather for a vehicle, but after this drive, my opinion has changed. Watch out Berlin City Auto, next time I buy a car, this is what I am looking for!
Who knew that out in Parsonsfield there would be this hidden gem of a farmhouse filled with sounds of soul, rhythm, beats, creaks and cracks. A place where people go to escape from the everyday hustle and bustle to focus on their craft and their creativity.
Photos by: Sam Kassirer
Sam Kassirer, a musician and producer acquired the 200 year old farmhouse for his growing collection of instruments and recording equipment. But, then the house quickly evolved into a music studio, or really a music destination studio. It consists of a four bedroom, two bathroom, an attached barn, and an attached carriage house which has been converted into a 600 square, 16 foot ceiling live room. Artists such as Dietrich Strause, Lula Wiles, and Lake Street Dive have recorded albums in this lovely, quaint farmhouse with Sam leading the production.
I am so excited to kick off this Great North Sound Society Series with Sam himself. Sam describes his craft as making music and helping others make music. “I think I was really lucky to get into music at a really young age and I also was really lucky to know at a young age that it was the only thing I was ever any good at. It kind of just snowballed from there,” said Sam.
Sam is originally from the Boston area and vacationed to Maine at young age with his parents. After many lessons with various piano teachers at age 9, he fell in love jazz music and that passion continues to stick. He describes getting into jazz as “lighting a fire for him.” It was something that made sense to him, and made sense quickly.
“I think that when I started studying jazz music, the concept of improvising, with certain parameters, just really got me going. Using music as a language at such an early age was just so exciting, right? I ended up going to music school in New York and I just joined any band of any style I could get my hands on and it was so exciting. I was in salsa bands and funk bands and a lot of jazz bands. It kept me fresh, I think and kind of kept me objective about all music," said Sam.
I was so surprised to hear how many different genres Sam was interested in and how many bands he has been in. I had to know what genre he really leaned towards. “I feel like most of the music I end up working on falls under the umbrella of Americana,” said Sam.
When Sam was living in New York, he was in many bands. Because of that, he was playing on different records and visiting studios throughout the city. Being in the studios, he began having lots of ideas depending on how the music sounded in that room, but he was not really an engineer at the time. Brian Deck, who produced one of Josh Ritters albums, is the one who really encouraged Sam to get into the “producer world.” In this world, there is a lot you can learn and other things you just have.
As for the farmhouse in Parsonsfield, Sam says the first question everyone asks him is, “how did you find this place?” He wants people to have the experience of, “where am I?” When I was at the house, all I could think about was that it seemed like the best spot to really unplug and escape the hustle and bustle.
“One of the reasons I love this place is that it's so malleable. I think you go into a lot of studios and they have, this is the room where we record vocals, this is the room where we record drums. Recording, like many other art forms, there's so many different ways you can do it. And it's nice to be able to cater the process to the project,” Sam shared with me.
Over the 15 years Sam has owned the studio, the moment that has stuck out the most to him were actually all of his first experiences at the property because he was learning the place along with his clients. His early records he made with Josh Ritter stick out as some of the most memorable so far, as it felt so new and adventurous.
I am so excited to continue this Great North Sound Series by interviewing some of the musicians who have used the space to record their albums: Dietrich Stause, Isa Burke from Lula Wiles, and Bridget Kearnery from Lake Street Dive.
Thank you to Berlin City Auto Group for sponsoring this episode.