THANKS SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO MAKE THE CAMPAIGN MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN I IMAGINED! I'M TRULY HONOURED!
UPDATE AS OF 5TH NOVEMBER 2014. THE CDS HAVE JUST ARRIVED!! WE WILL BE POSTING ALL THE INDIEGOGO PRE-ORDERS OUT FIRST OF COURSE BEFORE ANY GENERAL ORDERS. TIM, IONA'S WEBMASTER WILL ALSO BE SENDING OUT THE DOWNLOAD LINK TO THOSE OF YOU WHO PRE-ORDERED THAT OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THE ALBUM WILL ALSO BE ON GENERAL SALE THROUGH THE IONA WEB STORE (WWW.IONA.UK.COM) AND BURNING SHED (WWW.BURNINGSHED.COM).
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT OVER THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF. IT'S BEEN GREATLY APPRECIATED AND I CAN'T WAIT TO LET YOU ALL HEAR THE MUSIC THAT YOU HAVE BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE!
Background
Hello everyone!
Firstly, welcome and thanks for visiting my page. I'm very honoured that you've got this far and are considering joining me on this incredible journey! I’m really excited about the material I'm working on for this new solo album.
In some ways it is an album I’ve always wanted to make, which really draws upon the excitement and exhilaration I first felt, listening to many of my early musical heros (Yes, Gentle Giant, David Sancious and Tone, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Curved Air, Hatfield and The North, Deep Purple, Clannad, Mike Oldfield, Keith Jarrett, The Enid, Keith Emerson, Allan Holdsworth, Alan Stivell, Ralph Vaughan-Williams and his contemporaries - the list goes on and on!). It was listening to all these great musicians and composers that first inspired me to become a musician and composer.
This will be my second solo album, the follow up to ‘Veil of Gossamer’ (you can hear extracts at http://davebainbridge.com/albums/veil_of_gossamer).
'Veil' received some incredible reviews:
'To my ears this is the most successful album of this type since Mike Oldfield's masterpiece Ommadawn. Stunning.'
- www.progressiveears.com
'...a sonic masterpiece...Bainbridge has given us what is in my humble opinion one of the best albums ever to be recorded.'
- Chris MacIntosh aka Grandfather Rock, www.tollbooth.org
'Bainbridge's guitar playing is superb; his electric solos conjure Eric Johnson and Allan Holdsworth, while his acoustic technique dazzles, thanks to a remarkable dexterity and the use of unusual tunings.... ....Looking deeper, the music is genuinely touching, possessing a spiritual quality that speaks to the soul and inspires various states of positivity, from peaceful tranquility to breathless exhilaration. Layers of wordless vocals - courtesy of Joanne Hogg (Iona), Rachel Jones (Karnataka), and Mae McKenna - and McKenna's heartfelt renderings of Gaelic hymns (in the original language) lend an ethereal, otherworldly quality to much of Veil of Gossamer.....Best of the year, hands down.'
- www.progressiveworld.net
'An absolutely amazing album, filled with nothing but beauty, beauty we all need in our lives, whether we admit it or not.'
- www.progpower.de
'I fear that my words might not do justice to the haunting and beautiful guitar that opens The Everlasting Hills (part 1); or misses the beauty of the vocals accompanied by Troy Donockley's Uilleann Pipes in (part 2)......Veil of Gossamer is a truly wonderful album combining the best of Iona's Celtic atmospheres along with some splendid guitar work from Dave Bainbridge, and great performances from the assembled cast.'
- www.dprp.net
'Sitting here stunned after my first full listen to Veil of Gossamer, I've not the command of words to convey the true gratitude to Dave Bainbridge for what has instantly become one of my favorite recordings of all time.'
- Kenneth L. Solomon - Progressive Soundscapes Radio
The New Album
So, on the new album you can hear the kind of Celtic, progressive, spiritual, folk-rock influenced soundscapes that have been so much of a part of my work with Iona (see www.iona.uk.com), but also with a larger that usual dollop of what some might term 'progressive rock' type musical adventuring, where the emphasis is on great musicianship, new and classic sound combinations and evolving compositions with plenty of room for my improvisations on electric guitar, piano and keyboards. Definitely not a tribute album, but hopefully something fresh and new, building on the foundations of what has gone past. Music that transports you to another place. Music filled with passion and hope.
Where I'm Currently At
So far almost everything on the album has been recorded and played by me at my own studio (keyboards, electric & acoustic guitars, bouzouki, percussion, programming etc). I already have some superb contributions from some great friends and amazing musicians -
Troy Donockley (Nightwish / The Bad Shepherds) on uilleann pipes and low whistle,
Simon Goulding (The Bee Gees, Robbie Williams, Ronan Keating, Julian Joseph etc), on bass on one track,
Martin Nolan (Iona) also on uilleann pipes,
Frank van Essen (Iona, Dew, Barbara Dixon etc) on viola on one track and
Joanne Hogg (Iona) on vocals on one track.
What I Need
This is where I need your help! I have got to the stage in the recording where I need the funding to finish it and make this the best possible album I can.
And there is only 60 days to raise the funds!
My minimum fund-raising goal is £15,000, which will cover the bare bones of studio time, mixing, mastering, session fees, artwork, manufacturing the album plus Indiegogo’s fees, bank charges and postage for pledges. Any extra capital raised beyond this campaign goal would go towards valuable publicity, distribution.
If I am able to raise this in 60 days, I’ll be able to finish the album and make it sound the way it should. Indiegogo is a fan–funded, word-of-mouth platform. So please tell a friend and help spread the word!
With adequate funding, I’ll be able to pay for expenses like:
- MUSICIANS
I have some amazing musicians and singers lined up to appear on the album - some of the best in their particular genres - to replace my programmed guide parts and taking the music to the next level. As well as those who’ve already contributed parts, they include:
Collin Leijenaar (Neal Morse band, Affector etc) on drums,
Randy George (Neal Morse band, Morse, Portnoy and George, Alan White etc) on bass,
Frank van Essen - string ensembles, solo violin,
Todd Reynolds (solo artist) - virtuoso violinist,
Sally Moulds (Lord of The Dance, daughter of Kerry Minnear of iconic band Gentle Giant) - vocals,
plus several other great singers - names to be revealed in forthcoming updates - and a great classical cellist.
- STUDIO TIME
(including for the drum recording, which I can’t do in my small studio)
- PRODUCTION
(including money to cover the months of work I’ll be spending to finishing the album)
- MASTERING
- ARTWORK
if we can raise the funding, the legendary Ed Unitsky is going to doing some incredible, visionary artwork, which I hope we can use far beyond just the album cover.
- MANUFACTURING
- DISTRIBUTION
- PROMOTION
What You Get
You can pledge as little as £2 (about $3) , and you can pledge as much as you like. There’s a range of rewards (see column on right for details); everything from signed cds and vintage Iona posters to a concert / music lesson by me at your house!
It is a blessing for me to be able to create music I love and am passionate about, with total creative freedom. Without any record company backing I couldn’t do it without your help. That's one of the reasons it's taken so long to get going on a second solo album. But now things have changed and you, the listeners, can contribute in a direct and tangible way to helping create the music you'd love to hear. Any amount you can give, no matter how small, will help me to bring this album to life. Thanks so much for helping me to make it happen, I can't tell you how much your support means to me!
Risks and Challenges
With making an album, especially one with a number of busy guest musicians from several different countries involved, the logistics can be quite complicated, so the main risk is not getting the album out by the target date (end of December 2013). But already a lot of the groundwork on the tracks has been done - many of the most complicated guitar and keyboard parts are already in the bag, and the album is gradually taking shape. Having produced many albums over the years (all of Iona’s albums plus numerous albums by other artists from the UK, Europe and as far afield as Israel), I feel it is an achievable goal. I am also well known and trusted by many in the music industry so I will make sure that every penny raised is used wisely on making the album the best it possibly can be.
If we don't reach the funding goal I will still get the album out, but would have to compromise on things like the artwork, publicity and possibly some of the guest musicians.
Other Ways You Can Help
Even if you can't contribute financially, you can support the project by getting the word out and make some noise about the campaign:
*directing people to the Indiegogo page,
*sharing the campaign video,
*letting your Facebook friends know,
*emailing your database,
*telling music magazines / websites about it,
*writing to the prime minister,
*chaining yourselves to the railings of 10 Downing Street whilst displaying 'New Dave B Solo Album' placards
(ok maybe not the last two!). You can also use the splendid Indiegogo share tools!
Links
http://davebainbridge.com
http://iona.uk.com
http://facebook.com/DaveBainbridgeMusic
PLEASE NOTE: Contributions ARE accepted worldwide. Exchange rates will be applied automatically upon payment. For approximate rates: USD multiply by 1.53 / EUR multiply by 1.17. All others, visit www.gocurrency.com.
If you live outside the UK, please add extra for shipping (amount is noted under each perk).
