SEND OUR IRISH TRAD MUSIC forged in America BACK to... THAILAND!
The Short Story
As Boston-based Irish music duo Matt & Shannon Heaton, we perform updated and traditional music around the globe. We’ve got four duo CDs to date.
We’re raising money to help record our fifth duo album, “Tell You in Earnest” and then to do our first CD Release concert for the album in... Suphanburi, Thailand.
Wait… What? Thailand?
Before we spent our time traveling to Ireland to play tunes and songs, there was Suphanburi, the Thai village where Shannon spent her first year in college. She was taken in by the Thai music crowd there and learned of the power of being part of a community dedicated to a tradition much bigger and older than any one person. (She also learned to speak Thai fluently. Go ahead: ask her to say something in Thai!)
In February we will bring things full circle round and launch our newest CD in Suphanburi: we’ll play a free concert for our generous community, since that's the Thai way. And to help other kids who are finding their voice through traditional music, we'll send 10% of funds raised to the Thai music and dance program at Bangkok’s Mercy Centre, a home for some of the poorest kids in Thailand.
With your help, we'll take our music back to where Shannon first got the trad music bug. (This time around, we’ll have plenty of mosquito repellent…).
What we need
We’re raising money to defray travel costs. If we reach that goal, we'll up our target amount to cover CD production/manufacture. 10% of the money we raise will go to the Mercy Centre.
What we’re offering
In exchange for your support to unite trad musicians and music lovers across the globe, we also have imaginative, exotic, exclusive gifts of gratitude, including:
MUSIC: CDs, exclusive collections, songbooks, lessons, compositions
KID STUFF: coloring posters, songbooks, CDs, toys from Thailand
EXOTIC THAI TREATS: secret family recipes, Shannon's "Guide to Ordering in Thai Restaurants," Thai textiles, postcards from the Kingdom, field trip to a Thai restaurant with Shannon
More on the new CD:
This Fall, we will record our fifth duo CD, “Tell You in Earnest.” We are calling this a collection of "Dialog Ballads." Basically, each song isa 2-character short play, and the action is driven along by conversation. Some of these conversations are juicy, some are heartbreaking, some are just weird.
When the album comes out in February, we will perform a free CD Release show in Suphanburi for Shannon's beloved mentors and our dear friends. We will talk about the stories in the songs and compare them to favorite Thai stories, demonstrating universal song themes, celebrating cultural differences. Matt will play beautifully and say hello and thank you. Shannon will do the rest of the talking in Thai.
Why we are asking for money:
The tour in Thailand and making the album are considerable expenses; and the special concert in Suphanburi will be a free concert for the community there. Therefore the album and travel costs will not be covered by this gig, or the other gigs we have lined up in Thailand.
So, we need help with recording and travel costs. And while we’re at it, we’ll send 10% of the money to the kids at Bangkok's Mercy Centre. They’ve got a growing Thai traditional music and dance program that Irish music’s own Mick Moloney has helped to build. We believe in the transcendent power of traditional music to unite and empower participants of all levels and ages. And it will be our honor and privilege to offer financial support to the Mercy Centre.
A side benefit of asking for money is that we get to share our story and our process with you. It takes a village… in this case, several! We hope you will be excited to invest in this album—and the CD launch in Suphanburi. With your support, we will build a bridge between three distinct traditional music communities: America, Ireland, and Thailand.
Traditional music really is an international language. This is community-based music, and we are grateful to have the support of such beautiful, diverse communities. Thank you for your support.
Money will help... so will spreading the word!
If this is a lean time for you, we are grateful for any word-of-mouth support! PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY. Spread the word about Matt & Shannon Heaton and our fabulous funding campaign, which will also help the kids at The Mercy Centre!
