Dream Album
My name is Nate Botsford. I'm a Portland, OR based singer songwriter. From the age of 5 this is all I've dreamed about. For the past 15 years, I've been singing anywhere and everywhere, from starbucks and grocery stores, to parks and streets. These past two years have been huge! Highlights such as opening for artists such as Ingrid Michaelson, Ben Rector, Andy Grammar, Lukas Graham, Ben Folds and others. In 2015 I won the national songwriting competition, Project: Aloft Star which gave me the opportunity to work and cowrite with Pink's Producer Billy Mann.
Because of the success the last couple of years have brought me, I'm in a place where we can take this new album to a whole different level, with your help. I'm so excited about all of these new songs and and cant wait to share them with you. These lyrics came straight from the heart and are written out of real emotions and experiences. By allowing myself to be raw and vulnerable with this album, its my hope that people will be able to relate to and feel the songs more.
I truly believe this new album will be key in launching my music nationally. With your help I will be able to not only record this album in a professional studio with professional musicians, but also be able to promote and tour it all across the US. I will be able to get publishing for the first time ever, which is a huge step in the industry.
What We Need & What You Get
Our ultimate goal is to raise $50,000. We are trying for at least $30,000 of that through this crowdfunder. The cost to record this album will be around $20,000
PLACE: $5,000 This includes studio time (preferably a place we can lock ourselves away for a while to be focused),
CREATIVE TEAM: $12,500This includes the musicians (I have some of the best musicians in the northwest), mixing (I want to hire TEC and Grammy award winning mix engineers to make this compete with the hits on radio), mastering (the sonic fairy dust after mixing), producer (the overseer and creative director of the project),
PRODUCT: $2,500 This includes art/photography (the creative look of the cd), album design (hiring a graphic designer to construct the inside and outside of the cd) and duplication (the printing and replication of the cd's).
$10,000 will go towards promotions including a publicist, social media marketing, and other forms such as advertising, write-ups in papers, magazines, blogs and interviews all over the United States.
The last $20,000 (or anything past $30k) will go towards funding a tour of the west coast and southwest to promote the album and bring these songs to new people and even wider audiences.
Funds will be directed to the recording budget until that is reached then towards promotions and anything beyond that to a tour!
The Impact
I have partnered with an organization called Child Help. Child Help supports kids who have been in abusive homes by rehabilitating them and teaches them the importance of speaking up about abuse. I have been greatly impacted this past year by this organization and a portion of everything we raise will go straight to Child Help.
I could tell countless stories about the impact the last album "Hourglass" had. So many stories of people who found hope when everything seemed hopeless, found comfort in times of loss, and a mix of other emotions. These stories make what I do worth it. Its such an honor to know that my music has made an impact on peoples lives.
Along with that, I've gotten radio play for three of the tracks from Hourglass. One of the tracks "Count to 3" was featured in a Nike promotion for one of their athletes and four songs were used in the behind the scenes of the new movie "New Life" which was released late last year.
Risks & Challenges
The music industry looks almost nothing like it did 20 years ago due to the internet. A lot of that has been good, like the fact that my music can be heard almost anywhere from Spotify to Apple Music and more. The Challenge is that the money that used to be paid to artist for listening to their music is virtually gone and cd sales are nearly dead because of streaming. Terestrial radio was where most people listened and artists were paid .10 cents per spin now streaming sites pay less than .009 cents per play. This means artists don't have the financial resources to continue to make music.......unless we have people like you who believe in me and in the value of my music!
Other Ways You Can Help
Now we know that some people just can't contribute, but that doesn't mean they can't help: Use the Indiegogo share tools and use the hashtag #natebotsfordrecord2017 Help us spread the word.