“We’re investing in the musicians to keep sharing their music, to keep sharing their poetry for the people they play for, and then those people are going to look them up, and then those people are going to find others, and our work.”
These days, having professional performance videos are an essential tool in a musician’s toolkit. Without them, it can be difficult to impossible for up-and-coming performers to book gigs at local venues and festivals, or to find the professional representation they need. Videos are often required in the submission process. But the burden of entry to even make a simple performance video that represents an artist well can be astronomical for artists just trying to break into the music business. There is no shortage of video channels like Western AF and Gems on VHS that have helped break artists and build careers. But some of these channels have become victims of their own success, making them so in-demand, they can’t possibly facilitate making videos for everyone who wants them. That is where the Las Cruces, NM-based Valley Sessions comes in. It started as a way to entice musical talent to tour through the city that’s located on both I-10 and I-25 just across the Texas border from El Paso. It’s grown into something more. “I wanted to build something that not only brought people into our city—because we had little to no live music come out there—but also something that musicians could afford,” director Ryan M. Robson tells Saving Country Music. “When we’re not being contracted out, I’m out on the road on my own, taking donations to do videos. The more we do, the more we can afford to keep doing them.”
Saving Country Music ran into Valley Sessions while attending Folk Alliance in New Orleans the 3rd week of January. Folk Alliance heard about what Valley Sessions was doing, and brought them to New Orleans to shoot videos for artists. Valley Sessions was able to shoot about 25 sessions over three days at the conference. “It’s not this big studio production company, but the work we’re doing, we’re doing so much with the little we have,” Ryan Robson explains. “Our goal here is to take what we know, put it in this space, and hopefully create something that’s very special to the musicians that they will be happy to be a part of, and happy to promote.”The videos the Valley Sessions specializes in is not for TikTok or Instagram. Ryan Robson comes from a film background and is a New Mexico State University film department alum. Everything comes with a cinematic approach.
“It’s an investment. We’re investing in the musicians to keep sharing their music, to keep sharing their poetry for the people they play for, and then those people are going to look them up, and then those people are going to find others, and our work,” Robson says. “I think sometimes people want instant gratification from video. But what I tell people is these films are for five years from now.”Valley Sessions has done around 135 videos since 2023. During AmericanaFest in September of 2025, they recorded about 35 live sessions in a non-official capacity. Along with recording artists that might be touring through Las Cruces, they are looking to partner with festivals or other events similar to what they did with Folk Alliance. “We work with the budgets of bands on donation,” says production coordinator Tammy Perez. “Our goal this year is to travel more. We have a mobile production.” Though many of the videos are of songwriters, they also have shot full bands.If you want to check out more videos from Valley Sessions, follow them on YouTube. More more, visit valleysessions.com.
Source: savingcountrymusic.com