Hello world! My name is Justin Little (aka SHPHRD), and I'm a singer-songwriter here in the beautiful city of Portland, Oregon.
I’ve been making music and performing my whole life: piano recitals, middle school Metallica and high school Dave Matthews cover bands, funk-rock groups, jazz and concert bands, choirs, rock-and-roll college projects and, most of all, many years of songwriting, recording and performing as a solo artist. After pouring everything I’ve learned and experienced into songwriting, into telling stories, into finding the best melodies and lyrics and tone, I now have the opportunity to bring these songs to life, and share what has been in my head and my heart with all of you.
The material has long been ready, and now the producer and musicians are waiting--this Indiegogo campaign is the final step toward creating my first-ever professionally produced studio album.
This campaign is raising funds for my professionally recorded album with Matt Greco, a Portland-based producer and engineer with 15+ years of experience working with both established and up-and-coming musicians. Together, Matt and I are digging into my original material, writing arrangements, and reaching out to local musicians to bring the songs to life.
We’ve been able to cover the costs of recording and producing one song, which is ready for you to check out right here on this page. This first song is called “Tame My Heart,” and it features backing vocals by local singer/songwriter and AMAZING vocalist Margaret Wehr. You can check it out below!
While I was able to fund the recording process for "Tame My Heart" on my own, to create an album of songs of this quality, studio time costs add up quickly. With that said, this campaign can give me a unique opportunity to collaborate and make great art with Matt and his team of professional musicians at the ready. Your donation will cover following costs of my project:
1. Pre-Production: This is where everything starts. Matt and I will start crafting the arrangements for each of the songs that will go on the album. We’ll hold rehearsals to fine-tune the songs, arrangements, and talk through new and exciting ideas for how to approach the recording process.
2. Recording: This is when we enter the studio and start capturing the music and where the songs become what you'll hear on this album. This campaign will play a huge role in making sure we have enough time to capture great performances and pay for the best musicians to join SHPHRD in making his project as good as it can be.
3. Mixing & Mastering: Each track will get mixed to create the right balance between instruments, texture and color that make up a track. As a final step, the album will be mastered from beginning to end, so the listening experience is cohesive and carefully choreographed from start to finish.
And what will you get for your generosity and support? So many awesome things!
I, Justin, am so appreciative and grateful for any support you can lend to this campaign. In exchange for your generosity, I've put together a really exciting group of gifts that are available exclusively through your participation in this campaign.
Check out some examples below and a full list to the right!
It's hard to express how much this project would change my life.
Music has this incredible ability to heal people and unite people, to express feelings that help us feel connected in fundamental human ways. I am, for the first time in my life, feeling brave enough to offer my music up on a professional level to my community as part of that bigger picture.
Music is, for me, fundamentally a collective process--incredible musician friends that have pushed me to be better, my classmates in school and college that were there for all my earliest performances, my family giving me such a wide perspective on different types of music when I was young and providing me with the tools I needed to hone my musical gifts, my brilliant and wonderful wife listening to all the weird ideas I come up with when I'm working on a new song, my kids dancing and singing along as I craft each melody. Music is about community and connection, and I've shared musical experiences with so many people in my life. One of my hopes is that this project helps me find new collaborators in my networks to make more music together.
While I've never made an album of this caliber before, I have worked on many musical projects and have learned so much over the years, all the while deepening my musical focus and practicing, practicing, practicing. With your support, I will channel that consistent work and experience into something new and beautiful that we have made together.
If you're ready to contribute, choose one of the campaign's awesome perks or just click the pink "Back It" button at the top of this page! Every little bit counts, and I'm so grateful for all your support.
If you've got folks in your network that would be interested in supporting me, please help get the word out and make some noise! There are social media share buttons on this page, and please tell your friends how grateful I am for this support.
Thank you so much for checking out my campaign page. I can't wait to share this music with you.