RECAP: Reese Fulmer Duo @ Dorn Space, 5/2/2025

Falling in Love with the Music: Reese Fulmer & Jimi Woodul at Dorn Space

Words and Photography by Penny Piper.

I’ve seen Reese Fulmer before. The first time was at Putnam Place during Wild Adriatic’s album release party. That performance—with the full Carriage House Band—was a 45-minute surge of passion and musicianship that left me intrigued and excited. But what I experienced this past weekend at Dorn Space in Gloversville was something else entirely.

This was intimate. This was personal. This was Reese Fulmer and Jimi Woodul—no band, no lights, no frills—just two artists sitting in front of us, telling stories and sharing songs that made the room feel sacred.

If you’ve never been to Dorn Space, let me paint the picture: it’s a unique, cozy performance space run by Brian and Laura Dorn, along with a group of gracious sponsors. It’s one of those rare venues that instantly makes you feel welcome. For your price of admission, you receive a ticket printed with a poem written by Brian Dorn himself. It’s just one of many small touches that make Dorn Space feel like a home for both artist and audience.

And in that space, something truly special happened.

Reese and Jimi brought us in close. They made us laugh. They made us cry. I watched tears well up in Reese’s eyes as he sang a song he had written about his parents. I learned he’s from Gloucester, Massachusetts—and I learned just how much the ocean lives in his bones.

Reese Fulmer and the Carriage House Band will soon set sail with the Maine Windjammer Association, a legendary fleet of historic schooners that have kept maritime tradition alive for decades along the New England coast. From June 9–14, 2025, they’ll be performing aboard the Schooner American Eagle, a National Historic Landmark built in 1930. This collaboration is more than a gig—it’s a reflection of Reese’s roots and spirit. The sea runs through his songwriting: sometimes vast and chilling, other times soft and sunlit.

And the Dorn performance captured all of it.

Reese’s voice has a smoky, haunted warmth to it, and Jimi Woodul’s harmonies had my jaw on the floor. Jimi’s guitar playing just makes you feel good—there’s something joyful and uninhibited in the way he plays. You can tell he loves making those sounds. And that’s the key, right? If the artist isn’t feeling it in their bones, how can we?

There’s also a wonderful, playful dynamic between the two, full of reverence and mischief. They call each other ma’Lord, which is just as endearing as it sounds, and it’s obvious they’re both completely in love with what they do.

This was a night I’ll never forget. It changed how I hear Reese’s music—I hear it better now. I understand the heart behind it.

Please, keep supporting spaces like Dorn. Keep showing up for artists like Reese and Jimi. Because what they bring to the world is connection, and we need a whole lot more of that.