Who are Hands of the Heron?
We are a songwriters' collective from Bristol. We've been playing together for a while now, and we thought it was about time to make our second album... which is why we need your help.
With two busy festival seasons behind us, we've reached a place where we feel ready to record a full album of new original material, and we've been really honoured to receive an overwhelmingly positive response from audiences all over. As people seem to ask for recordings of our new songs after every gig, we can't think of a better way to spend the winter than capturing our harmonies and song-stories to share with you all next year.
We are, and have always been, a completely independent project. It's really important to us that we own our songs outright, so we'll release the music ourselves. It's a costly process, and we can't create this project without support from our community of listeners and friends.
What We Need & What You Get
Budget
We are aiming to crowdfund £5,000 to cover the cost of recording and mixing, including studio space and producer fees, with some funds also going towards release costs. To realise the full potential of this album, the total cost would be £7,000. The closer we get to this figure, the deeper we can go into this process.
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Why are we making this album?
We sing of the beautiful, often painful, process of raw self expression we have each been through in the last few years. Some of us have been overcoming serious physical and mental ill health, and all of us have been learning to play and sing without fear.
We've been performing in this line up for almost 18 months, learning how to co-write, creating space for each other in the most vulnerable moments of the songwriting process, and experimenting with song arrangements to find our own identifiable sound.
As a predominantly female group, we have been told often that our live performances have inspired other fledgling songwriters and musicians to develop their craft. We're really proud of that, and hope that by recording this album, we can spread those ripples a bit further.
Risks & Challenges
Of course, making an album isn't easy. We've done it before, and it is a tricky, time consuming process... but it's worth it.
The biggest challenge for us will be getting everything done in the limited time our studio budget allows. We're aiming to record twelve tracks with our wonderful producer in a professional studio space.
We don't want to cut corners on the sound. We want to move through the process as efficiently as possible whilst still channelling the authentic emotions behind the songs.
What else can you do to help?
If you can't support us financially, don't worry. Money is only part of this process. We also hope that making by this album we'll get our name and songs out to people that haven't heard us yet.
It's also incredibly helpful if you can share this page, the campaign video, or any stories you have about the impact our music has had on you, live or otherwise. We can't do this alone!