New Album
It’s been years since the release of my last full-length album, Ridin’ the Beat. In the meantime, I had the good fortune to record my latest EP, Rediscover, a collection of three songs with accompaniment by an extraordinarily talented seven-piece band. Rediscover is my exploration of the music of the Great American Songbook with new and innovative interpretations. The title is an invitation to all of you who may remember these songs from childhood, but are eager to rediscover their emotional power. I’ve also been hard at work at a group of three new songs that I’ve been recording with much more intimate ensembles, mostly as duets and trios. But that’s not enough; the time has come to expand Rediscover into a full-length album!
Since I completed Ridin’ the Beat, I’ve grown so much. Thanks to the ongoing help of voice teachers like Eric Arcineaux and Dianne Mower, I’ve expanded my abilities as a vocalist and performer, and I’ve also grown as a jazz musician by sitting in and performing with some of the finest players in southern New England. It’s been a wild ride and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.
Now I’m excited to record a whole new album of songs to share this growth with you, but I need your help. I’m launching this crowd-funding campaign to cover the costs of the album, and I want to invite you to become a crucial part of the album’s creation. I appreciate your support and any level and thank you so much for listening!
The Team![]()
Just before Thanksgiving in 2014 (already over two years since the release of Ridin’ the Beat), I headed up to the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, MA to see my longtime bassist and arranger, Dan Prindle, perform a concert in support of his new album. After the show, we were chatting outside when Dan’s friend Nate Christy, an experienced music producer and audio engineer, wandered out onto the sidewalk and joined our conversation. Nate and I hit it off right away and the three of us decided to head over to the late-night open jam over at Bishop’s Lounge. The place was packed and the house band was burnin’! When I sat in with them later that night we had an instant connection. With Dan’s arrangements, Nate’s production talents, this fabulous new band, and my insatiable desire to grow as a musician, I knew that it was time to start a new recording project. This new team finished three songs with high-quality video productions in November of 2015 launching the Rediscover project with a bang! I’m so excited to take the next step forward with this project and expand that three-song collection into a full-length album.
What We Need & What You Get
To complete this album, I need to raise $20,000. Your contribution will help to pay for the costs of producing the album including musician’s fees, arrangements, recording, mixing, and mastering. It will also help to pay for the artwork, promotion, production, and distribution of the album when it is complete.
I have some very exciting rewards to offer in exchange for your contributions: downloads and limited-edition CD copies of the album, a mention in the album liner notes and online, VIP tickets to the album release party, a private whiskey-tasting with me, a cookout at my home in Madison, and much more. I’ll also be regularly updating everyone who has made a contribution on the progress of the album. So, contribute early so that you can be in on the process from the start.
The Impact
How can we even begin to measure the impact of music? Think about what it means for you in your life. Or, think about the impact it would have if there were no more music in your life. I know that is difficult to measure, but I’m sure you can feel it.
You’ll be helping to keep the art of vocal jazz alive. To be sure, there are many great recordings by great vocalists out there already, but the miracle of the jazz style has always come from its immediacy. That immediacy comes from artists’ willingness to constantly reinterpret the classics and to bring new music to light. Without that, jazz becomes a museum piece: beautiful, but no longer a living and active part of the culture.
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In addition, a portion of the proceeds from the crowd-funding campaign will benefit the Save the Music Foundation, an organization that helps to promote music literacy through school music programs. They are dedicated to making music a core component of public school music programs across the country. Music has proven benefits for students from increased academic performance and higher self esteem to creativity and better test scores. Your contribution will truly help to save the music in many ways.
Risks & Challenges
Album sales are down across the entire music industry. WAY down. The great news for listeners is that you can now access almost any music at any time from anywhere. The challenge is that this has driven down the price of music, so it’s harder for artists and independent record labels to recoup the costs of making an album by selling copies after the fact. Instead, independent artists depend on people like you, who love music and want to keep it a living and vibrant art form, to invest in the production of new music. That’s why I’m running this crowd-funding campaign: to help keep this wonderful music alive for all of us!
Other Ways You Can Help
If you’re unable to make a financial contribution, you can still help! Please share this page on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites. Or, you can email your friends or just tell them about our campaign when you see them. Spreading the word is the best way to help me reach my goal. Thank you!
