Desert Sessions

The Desert Sessions, a music collective founded by Josh Homme in August 1997 at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California, originated as an experimental project bringing together musicians from the Palm Desert scene. The initial releases were the double EPs Volume 1: Instrumental Driving Music for Felons (1997) and Volume 2: Status: Ships Commander Butchered (1998), followed by Volume 3: Set Coordinates for the White Dwarf!!! (1998) and Volume 4: Hard Walls and Little Trips (1998). Subsequent volumes continued the series, with Volume 5: Poetry for the Masses (SeaShedShitheadByTheSheSore) (1999), Volume 6: Black Anvil Ego (1999), and Volume 7: Gypsy Marches (2001) through Volume 10: I Heart Disco (2003). After a hiatus, the collective released Volume 11: Arrivederci Despair and Volume 12: Tightwads & Nitwits & Critics & Heels (2019), featuring collaborations with artists such as Billy Gibbons, Les Claypool, and Jake Shears. The project’s recordings were issued as compilations of paired volumes, with Volumes 1–2 (1998), 3–4 (1998), 5–6 (1999), 7–8 (2001), 9–10 (2003), and 11–12 (2019). In 2021, art directors Doug Cunningham and Jason Noto received a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for Volumes 11–12.