THE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE MAKING OF AGAINST ALL ODDS
Making a record. Bringing cultures together.
A documentary by Stefano and Alvise Wiel, featuring The Beards.
DoloRiverside is the documentary about the making of Against All Odds, the album by The Beards. It grew out of an international music and cultural project created by Emanuele Marchiori and Massimiliano Magro in their home region, the Brenta Riviera.
Jim Diamond, Aaron “Professor Louie” Hurwitz and Marie Spinosa join the band in Dolo. Villa Concina becomes a recording studio and the surrounding area a meeting place: the making of an album, and the exchange between people, cultures and landscapes, become a film.
The day-to-day work on Against All Odds, inside and outside the studio: DoloRiverside follows the people, decisions and encounters that shape the music.
THE STORY OF THE FILM
The original idea draws on the concept of Buena Vista Social Club: international musicians gather in a place rich in stories and make music a shared experience. Here, that meeting place is the Brenta Riviera, between Venice and Padua. A local band, three American artists and a mobile studio set up in the historic outbuilding of Villa Concina. This is where the documentary begins: directors Stefano and Alvise Wiel follow the making of The Beards’ album, observing the work as it unfolds, day by day.
The film explores different artistic personalities and musical languages. It follows the work on the songs, the influences coming together and the visiting musicians’ discovery of the area: a creative workshop where music also grows through human connection.
DOLO, A CULTURAL CROSSROADS
Beyond the studio, Dolo and the Brenta Riviera offer landscapes, stories, colours and artistic heritage. This is the land of historic villas where wealthy Venetian families once spent the summer away from the lagoon city. The villas and landscape preserve those memories, becoming part of the artists’ experience and an inspiration for the album.
DoloRiverside brings together the making of Against All Odds and a portrait of the area. Its landscapes and architecture become part of a musical and cinematic story intended for audiences around the world.
THE MAKING OF AGAINST ALL ODDS
The multipurpose room in Villa Concina’s historic outbuilding is transformed into a mobile studio. The documentary follows the songs taking shape, the discussions about arrangements and the search for a shared sound between The Beards and their guests.
The music takes shape in front of the camera. Direction, editing and sound recording tell the story of the creative process, preserving its people and places.
A filmmaker from Padua whose work connects memory, place and visual exploration. His relationship with The Beards predates DoloRiverside: in 2010 he directed the video for Bloodless Rake, from the album Mephisto Potato Sauce.
His films include Centri di piccoli vortici (1995), Avevo solo 13 colpi (1996), both made with Lorisa Andreoli, and Nevicava in aprile (2002). Memory and the Resistance in Veneto are important themes in his work.
A musician and sound technician, he brings an understanding of both performance and recording to the documentary. In 2016, he began studying sound engineering at the Pollini Conservatory in Padua.
A guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, he has worked in sound and lighting at the Pollini Conservatory and the Future Vintage Festival. His Erasmus period in Warsaw, from 2018 to 2019, included experience in classical music recording and Foley sound.
He has worked with The Beards since 2005. For DoloRiverside, he helped set up the mobile studio at Villa Concina, bringing experience in recording, live sound, and analogue and digital systems.
His professional experience spans recording studios, small venues, major stages, theatre, radio and television productions. Technical knowledge and adaptability make it possible to work in a space temporarily transformed into a studio.
Project concept and music: The Beards — Emanuele Marchiori and Massimiliano Magro.
THE BEARDS / AGAINST ALL ODDSAgainst All Odds is the album whose creation is documented in DoloRiverside. The Beards work with Jim Diamond, Aaron “Professor Louie” Hurwitz and Marie Spinosa: their meeting at Villa Concina becomes the musical heart of the film.
The entire album is sung in English. The songs tell of people, stories and places: the Brenta Riviera finds a musical voice that travels across borders through The Beards’ Spaghetti Americana sound.
The music of The Beards ↗DOLO AND THE BRENTA RIVIERA
Recording took place at Villa Concina in Dolo and across the Brenta Riviera. The documentary follows the American guests’ encounter with these places, telling the story of their experience beyond the studio sessions.
The villas, the river landscape and the community’s stories make Dolo a cultural crossroads: a place to discover through music and film.
The multipurpose room in the villa’s historic outbuilding houses the mobile studio set up for the album. An eighteenth-century villa, bought by the municipality in 1982, becomes the meeting point for different artistic personalities.
The artists stay in the “pink house”, a historic building associated with the Querini-Stampalia family. The farm, designed around permaculture principles, was chosen in part for Alice and Sandro’s care for people and the environment.
The pink house echoes Woodstock’s Big Pink, associated with Bob Dylan and The Band. The parallel becomes a bridge between American musical history and The Beards’ experience on the Riviera.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK SELINGER
Emanuele Marchiori, from Dolo, and Massimiliano Magro, from Vigonovo, founded The Beards. In 2006, an eighteen-show tour from Atlanta to New York brought their Spaghetti Americana to the United States.
Marchiori combines vocals, piano, drums, organ, banjo, accordion and harmonica. Magro contributes vocals, guitar and bass. Their work also crosses into cinema: with Australian musician Julien Poulson, they recorded the soundtrack for Muskito, a spaghetti western set in Tasmania.
The band’s official website ↗Jim Diamond, Aaron “Professor Louie” Hurwitz and Marie Spinosa join The Beards in making Against All Odds. DoloRiverside tells the story of this encounter and the exchange between their artistic personalities.
A producer and multi-instrumentalist from the Detroit music scene, known for his work with The White Stripes. His credits also include The Sonics, The Dirtbombs and Andre Williams. He brings that experience to the sessions with The Beards at Villa Concina.
An American pianist, accordionist and producer closely associated with The Band. He has also worked with Rick Danko, Mercury Rev and Garth Hudson. His earlier collaboration with The Beards had already produced Widmann’s Mansion.
An American singer and Professor Louie’s musical partner, she brings her voice to the collective work at Villa Concina. Vocal harmonies and arrangements become part of the conversation between Americana and the band’s own identity.
During the studio sessions, a four-part radio special was recorded for Professor Louie’s Woodstock Rockin’ Revue, on WKZE: interviews and stories introducing Dolo and the Riviera to American listeners.
The band’s recording history before Against All Odds, the English-language album at the centre of DoloRiverside: from Venetian legends to international collaborations.
The debut, drawing on stories and legends of rural Veneto.
The second chapter in the band’s discography.
With Aaron “Professor Louie” Hurwitz.
With Julien Poulson, for the Australian spaghetti western.
Another chapter in the Spaghetti Americana journey.
The Beards’ anthology.
Vinyl Collector’s Edition (2018) · 2019 edition.
Notes from the making of Against All Odds and the DoloRiverside documentary. From the first songs prepared to the days shared at Villa Concina.
Emanuele and Max prepare thirteen new songs, sometimes working through the night. Meanwhile, the room at Villa Concina is being organised: a temporary studio needs to accommodate the musicians and their equipment. Accommodation for the American guests is arranged at Pecore Ribelli, in Oriago di Mira.
Recording for Against All Odds begins in the multipurpose room of the villa’s historic outbuilding. Some songs draw on the lives of people who lived on the Riviera during the Second World War. Photographs, videos and live streams begin to tell the story of the sessions.
The work is intense: sharing ideas leads to the recording of backing tracks and vocal harmonies for the first six songs. The peace and colours of Villa Concina’s park accompany the search for arrangements. The journal also records preparations for a performance at the Molini del Dolo, to be filmed for the documentary.
The sessions reach thirteen original songs. Work continues on arrangements, vocal melodies and revisions to the lyrics. Gospel, echoes of Morricone, rock, folk and ballads come together. Visits around Dolo and interviews for the documentary are also arranged with Jim Diamond, Professor Louie and Marie Spinosa.
At Ostaria Dai Kankari in Marano di Mira, The Beards, Louie Hurwitz, Miss Marie and Jim Diamond get together to play. The songs include Light in Your Eyes, from Professor Louie’s album Music from Hurley Mountain. The musical workshop continues in the places where everyday life happens.
During the ten days of studio work, a special is recorded for Professor Louie’s Woodstock Rockin’ Revue on WKZE. Four episodes bring together interviews with The Beards, Francesco Fabiano and Jim Diamond, discussing Dolo, Villa Concina, the Riviera, and the project’s musical and cultural roots.
Once the studio sessions are over, work moves on to editing, mixing, and audio and video post-production. Emanuele and Max follow the process with sound engineer Francesco Fabiano and Stefano Wiel: the material from the sessions takes shape as both a record and a cinematic story.
The pandemic interrupts plans to present the project and delays the release of the album, documentary and DVD. We are now working towards an official release between late 2026 and early 2027, to give the project the presentation and space it deserves.
Legends, oral histories, music and images. Traces of a world in Veneto that continues to travel.
Rural Veneto: evocative, sometimes unsettling. The Beards’ songs bring back myths and memories passed down by word of mouth, turning them into a musical world that speaks to listeners far beyond its birthplace.
The story behind Rosteo sensa sangue e altre leggende venete offers another way into the band’s roots: keeping stories alive also means giving them a new voice.
Watch the reel shared on Facebook.
PRESS / IL GAZZETTINOAn article about the project. A subscription may be required.
FROM THE STUDIO / THE JOURNALPreparations, sessions, encounters and work on the documentary.
Articles about the documentary and the international project, followed by reviews and interviews from The Beards’ musical journey.
The project and its co-production with the Municipality of Dolo.
LA NUOVA VENEZIA · 23 OCTOBER 2018Music, cinema and a spotlight on the Brenta Riviera.
CORRIERE DEL VENETO · 2 JUNE 2020The story of the project in the Corriere.
LA PIAZZA · NOVEMBER 2018The project in issue 145 of the Riviera edition.
Links to the original publications and editions, in Italian. Some articles may require a subscription.
The Municipality of Dolo supported DoloRiverside through its patronage and participation in production. Associazione Isola Bassa contributed organisation and logistics, while Pecore Ribelli provided accommodation for the artists.
THE JOURNEY CONTINUES
Press, collaborations and project enquiries
info@thebeards.it