Big Red Machine
In 2008, Dessner sent Justin Vernon an instrumental sketch of a song called "Big Red Machine" for the compilation album "Dark Was the Night". At that point, the two had never met. Vernon wrote a song to it, interpreting the Big Red Machine title as a heart. After 10 years, the pair formed a band called Big Red Machine, and on August 31, 2018, released a self-titled album. The record was produced by Vernon and Dessner with longtime collaborator Brad Cook and engineered by Jonathan Low primarily at Dessner's studio Long Pond in Upper Hudson Valley, New York.