INTERVIEW: Finding His Way Back Home — Dmitriy Bolotny of Velvet Earth Farm
Photos by Elissa Ebersold
“‘we were literally stuck in heaven…’ This was one of his first tastes of communal living, surrounded by musicians, playing music until the sun came up.”
Back in June, I had the opportunity to walk around Velvet Earth Farm in Medusa, NY and chat with the owner, Dmitriy Bolotny — this culminated in a venue spotlight for our July print edition. However, there were simply not enough words available in print and the content was too sprawling. Here’s the unabridged version of our chat.
Dmitriy and I had agreed upon meeting at the farm for 6pm. The drive from Albany is not a short one, but it is a scenic one. Cascading through the Helderbergs on state and country highways that take you through both woods and sprawling farmland, I had Dmitriy’s old band, late 2010’s Guthrie-Bell darlings Dirty Paris, playing to get into the mindset. I hadn’t seen Dmitriy in a couple of years, and before that it’d been even longer. I arrived at Velvet Earth Farm around 6pm on Tuesday night, where I met Metroland writer and photographer, Elissa Ebersold. As I drove up the driveway, I noticed several sprinter vans parked in the field turned into the parking lot for the current show season at the farm, which I assumed were vans he’d oddly accumulated. I then parked and was greeted by Dmitiry and his girlfriend, Morgan Hughes, who I would later find has become an integral part of Velvet Earth Farm, and his dog, Sierra.
After we made our introductions and exchanged pleasantries, I suggested that we tour the property, and just kind of chat about things. I was expecting a generic rundown of the comings and goings of things on the farm with the live shows, but I quickly learned that there was much more to this. Listening to Dmitriy, possessing a gift of gab that only a few have, I quickly found myself glued to his story and the background of what led him to this point.
As we walked out into the fields of the farm, what first wowed me was the story of how he bought the farm sight-unseen. Dmitriy purchased the farm and made it his new home, eventually turning it into what it is today, dreaming big and letting the universe take care of everything else. That was tested early however, as there was one point where things potentially looked bleak. “I just bought this place and the (stock)market came down; I didn’t know if I’d have a gig,” he recalled, referring to his job as a financial advisor. Then, one night, he happened across thousands of fireflies fluttering about—at that moment, he felt like the sight was a message from the universe, reassuring him that everything was going to be okay. As a way of paying homage to that moment, he set up a makeshift stage in one of his fields where he now holds an annual performance during which everyone is surrounded by fireflies. The first of these took place last year with Troy-based composer and one of the Troy Listening Room proprietors, Sofia Vastek.
As we made our way back to the venue space, we reminisced about his days in Dirty Paris and his journey as a musician. While that was a time and place in his life that he cherishes for the lifelong friendships he’s forged, it was his time as an understudy of the late, great Capital Region jazz pianist, Lee Shaw that stands out to him the most. She studied under jazz legend Oscar Petersen and went on to teach John Medeski. What it comes down to, as we figured out in that moment, is that Dmitriy Bolotny is part of the Oscar Petersen music tree. Wild stuff, but I digress.
Dmitriy met Lee in her later years, when he was admittedly not in his best frame of mind as a musician. She would challenge him in ways that you maybe wouldn’t expect from a jazz legend, as she was more of a life teacher for him in many ways. “She had the best messages, like [with your] attitude,” explained Dmitriy. “She would put a piece of paper on the piano that said ‘attitude,’ everything is about attitude.” She helped him realize that it's not just about how you play an instrument, but how you use it to make art that moves you. This epiphany came about when she challenged him by asking “are you a jazz musician? What are you?” Dmitriy recalled.
At this point, we had been stopped just outside of the venue space deep in conversation, and when it hit its natural end, we decided to make our way inside so that I could get a more intimate feel of the space itself. Along with our scene change, the conversation changed with it. Dmitriy then started discussing his journey from the van to Velvet Earth Farm. Having grown up in Guilderland, Dmitriy had left the area to live in California in his early twenties, finding a new life that better suited him at the time. After almost a decade, however, LA had worn its welcome and he decided to buy a van, customize it, and tour the country. Like so many, his plans looked a lot different, as the Covid Pandemic was declared mere weeks before his planned departure. This led him to Colorado, where he stayed with former Dirty Paris bandmate and best friend, Thom LaFond. Dmitriy reminisced that “we were literally stuck in heaven; it was so cool.” This was one of his first tastes of communal living, surrounded by musicians, playing music until the sun came up.
As things got safer, he traveled to every corner of the country, eventually ending in Key West, the last frontier of his journey. It was here that he became part of a communal scene of musicians who travel the country to be there during the winter, with artists originating anywhere from New Orleans to Bay Area, California. This community is comprised of people who live on the fringe, who have created a vast community that feels like Greenwich Village or Haight/Ashbury in the 60’s. At this point, Dmitry pointed at a small mermaid cast in metal on the wall in the barn. “This is David Wegman, he’s basically the muse of every Jimmy Buffett song,” Dmitriy proudly conveyed. He then reeled that one back in a bit, just a testament to Wegman being a local folk hero in Key West. Wegman shares legend status along the likes of Jimmy Buffett, and is simply one of the people that makes up this bohemian community, adding to the intrigue, including that of Dmitriy which is part of what inspired him to want to recreate that with Velvet Earth Farm. Not necessarily that he himself would be some kind of folkhero, but rather helping to grow something where folk heroes could be born.
At that point, we wrapped things up and said our goodbyes as Dmitriy was preparing to go cook some veal for his girlfriend Morgan Hughes. Well, what about Morgan? Dmitriy met Morgan in Key West, and she has recently become an integral part of things behind the scenes while Dmitriy takes care of all the ‘front of house’ business as Velvet Earth Farm grows. “She helps so much with the organization, hospitality…everything really” Dmitriy glowed. And about all the vans? I had to ask. It turns out that Dmitriy’s birthday celebration was part of the show that upcoming weekend, and those vans belonged to musicians and artists who he had befriended, who drove from all over the country to celebrate with him and enjoy the show. There wasn’t any kind of disbelief in the things I was hearing, far from it. It still blew me away though, because right then and there I knew what Dmitriy was building was the real deal.