ABOUT SHIRA E 

Hello wild & beautiful people! My name is Shira E & I am a Brooklyn-based musician, poet & visual artist. I play electro-soul through the roaring mouths of electric guitars, a sampler, & nutritiously thick beats. I've released albums independently for a decade & opened for TuNe-YaRdS, Coco Rosie, & Mirah. Music is what connects me to the hearts of strangers. There are times when I am writing a song that I am sent soaring, weightless, into utter aliveness. 

I have been ferociously & independently producing art on my own for over 10 years. While that’s meant an intimacy with my fans that is heart-nourishing, as well as complete control over my sound, it has also meant limited resources, lack of funding for production, promotion & shipping, & often, compiling CDs on my bedroom floor.

As an artist, I am in so many good ways never satisfied. From my core I feel a whisper: evolve. In the last year, I have taken numerous leaps, from learning a brand new instrument, to writing a new record swimming with sounds I had only dreamt of, to recording my first studio album “Shouts & Sparks” decked with the care & glitter it deserves.  

The album is done, & it shines. “Shouts & Sparks” is 7 bold tracks from the ocean floor of my chest to the tippy-rooftop of my imaginings. It is experimental & gentle with its raw. 

I have no label. I need your help to get “Shouts & Sparks” printed & produced. I need your push to send me on my first solo cross-country tour (2 months from East to West & back) to promote this music. I want to reach you, to sing to you in your living room as well as the ballrooms, in every city you desire. This tour is a step into the life I dream of, a life as a touring artist; it’s a commitment to push myself further than I’ve ever gone before.  

ABOUT THE PROJECT

I need to raise $8,000 to put “Shouts & Sparks” in your hands & to send me out on the road. So much goes into making a record. I worked with the incredibly talented James Zaner of Blue Jay Studios & I am buzzing with pride at our collaboration. Now I just need the funding to print, produce, ship, & promote the album independently.

I also worked with the incredible photographer Alessandra Genovese & the unparalleled visual artist & designer (& cousin!) Daniel Benayun on album art. What they've created is so delicious, so hot air balloon bright. I need to pay Daniel for his incredible promotional design, which includes posters & a limited edition art book of my poems & drawings.  

To tour this great country requires funding. There are endless expenses on the road from lodging to gas to renting necessary transportation. But just imagine: a $40 donation fills the gas tank from Cincinnati, OH to Ann Arbor, MI. (Check out the map above to see where your donation could send me!) You will be adding shows to my tour, putting wind in my sails & launching me for two brilliant months on the road.

ABOUT THE PERKS

Art guru Daniel and I have brewed up an array of shimmering treats to thank you for your financial support of this project. Everything from 2-sided signed posters, to a limited edition art book of my poems alongside never-seen-before drawings (with a personalized fortune right from Shira E’s pen to you), to a “creativity party” on Skype where we can dance & share a dream or two, to an unforgettable, intimate house show in your city!

Every single donation, of any amount, is truly appreciated & will be put to good use. In etymology, to inspire literally means “to fill (the mind, heart, with grace)” & “to prompt or induce someone to do something” &“to animate with purpose.” So often it is the artist that is seen as the inspiration, but within these definitions we can see the living symbiosis of giving. Your donation will fill me with grace, prompt me on my path, & enliven me with purpose & (literal) direction, as I head out on the open road with a sonic spark in my hands.  

This is it! Where I say, "just one more thing." Tell your friends. Tell your co-workers.  Dance to my tunes in the street. When people honk, yell "It's Shira E's fault!" Tell your lover, in every language you speak. Whisper it, Tweet it, post it on Facebook, spread the word. Know that your actions and love reverberate. This is one very large culmination of my life's work, and I just can't go it alone. This is where i say please, and I say thank you. And mean it from the bottom of my toes. 

Yours in spirit,

Shira E

IN OTHER WORDS

“Throughout my career no other artists has inspired me to create art more often than Shira E. No other artist has inspired me to fill up the rooms of my own echoing heart more often than Shira E. I can’t imagine better medicine for this world than her music. Supporting this project is building a lighthouse!” - Andrea Gibson, poet

"Shira E is a new type of artist. Or maybe it’s a very old type. It’s a style that I’m sure is going to take over the future. She is a generator of all media. Words, songs, clothing, movement, moments, she is an engine of these things and more. She is creating a world for herself and the rest of us to inhabit. A new universe seemingly brought from nowhere, which has appeared to have been there all along, as if by magic. I’ve heard people used that word, magic, in reference to Shira E many times. I think it couldn’t be more literal. Sometimes you meet someone or hear something and you understand in the animal way why the word magic was invented and the proper use of the tool that is that word. We made up the idea for magic just in case something like this happened. The laws of the universe need to be continually bent to make allowance for the continuance of the universe and that’s what Shira E does for us. She does all this while making it seem effortless, an act of humor, an act of joy. I truly believe that she is a genius.”  - Brian Ellis, Author of "American Dust Revisited"