Kickstarter Update: Week 3
81% funded. $14,641 raised. 198 backers. 7 days left.
We're on the home stretch, but we're not there yet!
In one week's time, my Kickstarter campaign will be hours away from ending, and I'm confident that by then, we will have reached our goal of $18,000. But! Today is not Monday the 13th—it's Monday the 6th. And we've still got work to do.
As I've expressed before, Kickstarters (even successful ones) are inherently nerve-racking. Because of the all-or-nothing model, this album will not happen unless we cross the finish line. But in moments of stress, I pause and remember that over the course of the last 22 days, my vision for There Will Be Surprises has proved compelling enough that nearly 200 people have cast in their lot with it. And though we've yet to reach our goal, we have raised upwards of $15k together to bring a new batch of songs into the world. This outpouring of generosity and support is not lost on me.
Kickstarter Video:
There Will Be Surprises
One of the age-old questions of artists is, "Who is my audience?" In a time of celebrity and platforms larger than any human was ever meant to stand on, many artists never find any satisfactory answer to that question. Kickstarting an album, though, provides a meaningful answer: these people want me to make this album, and they want it enough that they helped me do it. I love that answer because it's concrete, feasible, and sustainable. It's an answer I can hold in my head and heart as I sit on a stool, headphones on and guitar in hand, playing these songs into a microphone.
In the elegantly simple words of Chris Thile, I can't wait to be able to say, "I made this for you."
So thank you for giving to this project. Thank you for telling others about it. And thank you for reading these updates and following along with this story I'm telling. We've got seven days left. Let's make this happen.
Join me at the Local Show!
Tomorrow, Tuesday the 7th, I'll be enjoying the gift of live music at the Rabbit Room's North Wind Manor, sharing the stage with some of my favorite songwriters.
In fact, if you'd like an introduction to these fine folks, I've talked with every one of them on my podcast, The Second Muse. Listen to my episode with Becca Jordan here, Jeremy Casella here, and Son of Laughter here.
At the Local Show, the songs are always excellent and the audience friendly and kind. It's a great place to spend your evening, and if you can't be there in person, you can always catch the livestream on the Rabbit Room's Facebook or YouTube page.
New song from the album: "Hidden"
I thought you might like to hear a new song that I'll be taking with me into the studio next month: "Hidden." I wrote it in August of 2020 with this quote in mind:
"Humans are subterranean-impaired creatures."
—Robert Macfarlane
We've got 7 more days left to bring this project across the finish line.
Let's make it happen! If you haven't backed my project yet, I ask that you would consider doing so—then share it with a friend who loves good music. We can only do this together.