WELCOME TO MY ALBUM FUNDRAISER!

I am raising money to create my next full-length album. There are a LOT of costs associated with making an album and your help and support makes it all possible. To the right, you will find more information about the project, this campaign, the associated costs, and updates on progress. Just below this paragraph, you will find options for contributing - from a simple donation to album pre-orders, merch and music purchases, private shows and much more! Thank you so much for you support - I couldn't do this without you. 

GOALS AND DEADLINES

Overall Goal: $10,000

Stretch Goal: $13,000

RAISED TO DATE: $5466.27

BACKERS TO DATE: 65

Ongoing deadline: There is no hard deadline for this campaign and it can remain ongoing throughout the creation of this album. Recording and mixing are now complete, but there is still plenty to do with mastering, artwork, and CD and vinyl production - and paying down some of the prior expenses I covered using credit. As of now, I have already spent $16332 on various recording expenses. Crowdfunding has covered about a third of that which has certainly lessened the financial burden but any additional contributions will certainly help me get this record across the finish line without bankrupting myself.

About this campaign

It is so incredibly difficult for an independent musician to create an album. I have never made a full album without some form of financial assistance - be it simply parental help for my first two albums, prior crowdfunding campaigns for Starting Over and Out Searching, or competition winnings for Meadowlark Sessions. Crowdfunding is an effective and reliable method for helping to make these projects possible. As an anxious introvert, I absolute hate asking people for money, but even outside of the financial benefits, I've found the experience always ends up rewarding in the end. The idea is that you are not simply looking for a hand-out, you are offering pre-orders and store in advance of the album - which not only pre-funds the album but also keeps fans engaged with our musical career.

In the past, I have only used IndieGoGo to run campaigns. This time around, I am running the campaign through my own website thanks to a feature from my new website host Bandzoogle. There are many benefits to using Bandzoogle, including integration with my existing website store, but the BIGGEST advantage is that they don't take any portion of the donations. Other crowdfunding platforms take a percentage of the donations, but with Bandzoogle, all money you contribute goes directly to me (minus any credit card processing fees). There are two major disadvantages to doing it this way though. The first is just the lack of name recognition of sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo directing people to the campaign. The second is both a pro and a con - there is no set deadline. This is handy because it allows be to continually crowdfund throughout the album creation process, but takes away the sense of urgency that can make folks more likely to contribute.

Whether I hit the goals or not, this album is going to happen. Without enough funding it will just be significantly delayed and may not end up with the kind of quality and resources necessary to keep my musical career moving in the right direction.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

This will be my sixth album. As my career progresses, my standards heighten. Though editing older unreleased tunes and fleshing out new ideas, I have crafted what I believe to be a fantastic set of songs, for what will be my longest full-band studio release in over a decade. The album will have 10 songs (with potentially 1-4 more released later as bonus content).  I am tentatively calling the album Maybe Magic, which is the name of one of the songs.

Working with Christopher Hawthorn on my last album Out Searching was a dream. It came out exactly the way I wanted to and to me was such a huge uptick in quality from anything I have recorded prior. It was a no-brainer to work with him again on this next record and see how we can push the envelope sonically. We want to make this one sound much bigger and more modern than the last. One drawback to working with Chris this time around is that he has since moved to Philadelphia, so I will need to do a bit of traveling to get this thing done.

The good news is we have plenty of time. With several more covers and a few original singles already scheduled for release, this new album likely won't be out until fall 2025 at the earliest - which is absolutely nuts to think about).

COSTS