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Recording On Wax Cylinder! -- Rootchie Tootchie & The Ragtime Shepherd Kings

We are raising money to record an album of obscure songs from the turn of the 20th century on wax cylinder in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Recording On Wax Cylinder! -- Rootchie Tootchie & The Ragtime Shepherd Kings

Recording On Wax Cylinder! -- Rootchie Tootchie & The Ragtime Shepherd Kings

Recording On Wax Cylinder! -- Rootchie Tootchie & The Ragtime Shepherd Kings

Recording On Wax Cylinder! -- Rootchie Tootchie & The Ragtime Shepherd Kings

Recording On Wax Cylinder! -- Rootchie Tootchie & The Ragtime Shepherd Kings

We are raising money to record an album of obscure songs from the turn of the 20th century on wax cylinder in Nashville, Tennessee.

We are raising money to record an album of obscure songs from the turn of the 20th century on wax cylinder in Nashville, Tennessee.

We are raising money to record an album of obscure songs from the turn of the 20th century on wax cylinder in Nashville, Tennessee.

We are raising money to record an album of obscure songs from the turn of the 20th century on wax cylinder in Nashville, Tennessee.

Timothy Findlen
Timothy Findlen
Timothy Findlen
Timothy Findlen
1 Campaign |
Nashville, United States
$2,816 USD 65 backers
70% of $4,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

ABOUT US:

Timmy Findlen is a ukulele player based in Nashville, Tennessee.  He is the former bandleader of Over A Cardboard Sea: Portland, Maine’s premier ukulele novelty act. When in Maine, he plays in The Vododeyos, a ukulele duo with Joel Eckhaus, with whom he also builds and repairs ukuleles.  He also likes ukuleles.  He currently plays electric bass with the honky tonk group J.P. Harris & The Tough Choices.  See his work with Over A Cardboard Sea.

Lindsay McCaw has been playing American old time music for over 15 years. She performs music and calls dances around the country.  McCaw plays fiddle, banjo, guitar, accordion and piano.  She is also part of several theater and puppet companies, including her own, called The Dolly Wagglers.  She has won several musical distinctions such as two-time winner of the Minneapolis Jug Band Contest and four-time first-place winner of the Sheffield Field Days Fiddle contest. See her work with the Dolly Wagglers and The Corn Potato String Band

Matt Bell is a guitarist from New Orleans, where he is the bandleader and arranger for Bustout Burlesque, a troupe that recreates 1950’s style nightclub entertainment at the House of Blues.  In 2012, he received a Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies from The University of New Orleans, and he now works exclusively as a musician and teacher of the guitar and lap steel.  Learn about Bustout Burlesque.

Aaron Jonah Lewis is a multi-instrumentalist, performer and educator. He has won awards at the Clifftop Appalachian String Band Festival, including First Place Neotraditional Band in 2008, and at the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, including First Place Bluegrass Fiddle in 2007, and he has performed at major festivals from the US to the UK and from Italy to Finland. Lewis has appeared on dozens of recordings from bluegrass and old time to swing jazz, modern experimental and Turkish classical music projects. He has taught workshops at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow and at the English Folk Dance and Song Society in London. He also plays and teaches banjo, mandolin, guitar, and bass and is currently based in Detroit, Michigan.  Go to his Website.

Joy Patterson is an Artist, Musician, Foley Artist, Clown and Mr. T impersonator living and working in New Orleans.  Her mastery of the kazoo and washboard are rumored to exist, and her fashion sense impresses the world via her Etsy Store.

Martin Fisher is the Curator of Recorded Media Collections at The Center For Popular Music at Middle Tennessee State University.  He has a B.S. in Broadcast Communications with a minor in Music from the University of Tennessee.  His work includes preserving, maintaining and augmenting the Center's sound recordings collection, assisting researchers in locating and obtaining copies of recordings, and conducting acoustical wax cylinder recording demonstrations as part of the Center's outreach program.

WHAT WE ARE DOING:

“From the first recordings made on tinfoil in 1877 to the last produced on celluloid in 1929, cylinders spanned a half-century of technological development in sound recording.  As documents of American cultural history and musical style, cylinders serve as an audible witness to the sounds and songs through which typical audiences first encountered the recorded human voice. And for those living at the turn of the 20th century, the most likely source of recorded sound on cylinders would have been Thomas Alva Edison's crowning achievement, the phonograph.”

--Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project; Donald C. Davidson Library, University of California at Santa Barbara

Our mission, and our passion, is to perform the weirdest songs from the early days of tin pan alley on the format on which they were first recorded--wax cylinder.  Since there are very few people in the world that can accommodate such a desire, we are forced to congregate in the vicinity of one Martin Fisher, who has expertise in this field.  Acoustic microphones are odd contraptions when compared to today's hi-fi recording innovations. Take, for instance, how Mr. Fisher directs a band--not with headphones and the careful placement of a microphone, but with a doctor's stethoscope applied to a felt-lined horn.  We move around the room as he listens, following directions such as, "Back up two feet, and sing louder--did I say sing?--I mean shout!"  

We all share a love of antiquated pop tunes, and we are asking for a chance to record them in the only medium that does them justice.  These old songs give a voice to a bygone era and reflect the attitudes of their time, and no matter how silly they seem they are historical documents of their time.  We aim to mine the zaniest and most obscure songs from the early 20th century and record them for a new audience to underscore both the absurdity and importance of popular music in American history.  


OUR BUDGET:

Our budget includes $400 for each member to help with travel expenses to and from Nashville, with funds for plenty of wax cylinder blanks (on order from England), studio time, rehearsal space (and a place to sleep), and supplies for artwork and the packaging of the recordings.

Travel Expenses (for 5):  $2000

Wax Cylinder Blanks (25):  $500

Studio Time:  $500

Album Artwork:  $500

Rehearsal Space / Rent:  $400

Photography (Tintype): $100

TOTAL:  $4000

If we do not reach our goal, we're going to do it anyway.  It will hurt us quite a bit in the old pocketbook, and might take another year to finish, but we believe in this project enough to the point where we'll make it happen no matter what!  However, If some of you feel like bringing the donations above our goal, we will use the money to help fund a tour in which we perform these songs live!  Since we are all professional musicians, we are always busy and always broke.  Any extra money would allow us to plan a series of performances to showcase our take on the numbers of yesteryear.  Thank you to all of our family and friends!  We appreciate your support! 

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Choose your Perk

Download Code

$15 USD
You will receive a download code enabling you to listen to all of our recordings
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
36 out of 200 of claimed

Artwork with Download Code

$50 USD
You will receive a hand made wood cut of the album art with a download code enabling you to listen to all of our recodings
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
14 out of 100 of claimed

Poster, Artwork, Download Code

$100 USD
A giant woodcut commemorating the event, album art, and download code.
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
9 out of 50 of claimed

A Song, Everything Else

$1,000 USD
We will record a song about you or someone you care about, digitize it and send it to you! amaze your loved one! Plus a signed poster, album art, and a download code!
Estimated Shipping
August 2014
0 out of 10 of claimed
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