I grew up and live at Frog Holler, my family's organic vegetable farm near Brooklyn, Michigan. My dad was a prolific songwriter and there was always music in our house. My family performed together and my brother Kenny and I played out as the King Brothers as kids. I've been playing and recording on my own for the last 25 years and have produced five CDs of original compositions.
So far all of my CDs have been self-produced and recorded in my home studio at Frog Holler. I have been working on my present CD for several years, laying down tracks when I found time from my farming responsibilities. But it's been taking too long - I felt like I needed fresh technical and creative input to get me to the finish line.
The idea of getting recording and musical support was very different from my usual go-it-alone style and budget. A good friend and local music supporter reached out to help me move things along. We decided to take the project to a professional recording studio and bring in some of the area's top musicians.
This CD has new material plus some songs I have been performing for the last few years. I believe the new "ears" at Willis Sound, along with the stellar musical contributions, will give my songs new energy and actually make it possible to finish!
I've set a goal to raise $8,000 to cover recording, mixing, mastering, replication, production, studio time and musicians--lofty but achievable with the help of all the wonderful people I've met through music and the farm. This is a "flexible" campaign so whatever is raised will go to cover costs. For now I'm fronting the funds to get the project moving.
There are several unique "perks" being offered. In addition to the usual (download or CD of the finished product) you can get my entire back catalog on CD or download, a weekend pass to Holler Fest (the August music festival at Frog Holler Farm), a credit for fresh vegetables from our stall at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market, a recording session in my home studio and even a house concert with up to 30 of your friends!
We're also having a special kickoff concert at Barry Lonik's barn ("Rancho Tranquilico") near Dexter on Saturday, August 4. My shows there over the years have been outrageous fun! Tickets for that are just $10 and available at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/user/manageev...
This is my first experience with crowd-funding and I really appreciate your support and encouragement! Please share this page, Facebook posts, emails and flyers with your friends!