Are we losing the ART OF LISTENING to music? I have created a record that makes it easy to remember. And I am creating a LIVE experience to coincide with this release.

HELP ME FUND THIS NEW RECORD / LIVE MULTI-MEDIA EXPERIENCE and

 SUPPORT THE SLOW LISTENING REVOLUTION 

We live in a fast-paced, multi-task world which is changing the way we experience music. As a digital immigrant I long for that intentional listening experience– the choice to just sit and listen to music. It's a challenge. Most of us have grown accustomed to music as background, and on shuffle mode. Or we stream song after song, often not even listening to an entire song before moving on to the next one. I miss the Long Play (LP) album, a shared experience between listener and the musicians' artistic vision– a sonic work. That is why I am making a vinyl LP of my new song cycle.

Because not everyone has turntables, I am also making this new music available in DIGITAL format, with the hope that the coinciding album release and this discussion will entice listeners to experience this record as one piece. 

Records are making a come-back. People are openly discussing the challenges of living fast-paced lives. These ideas about listening asks for your interaction in my new blog series called, "Are You Listening?" which has caught the attention of, and is now being published by 'Innocent Words Magazine.'

This project needs monetary support to bring to reality

Without the old model of record label support, the artist is now label, manager, booking agent, fundraiser, promotions person, etc. And with music being offered for free on the internet, we artists need to humbly ask for support from fans, and family and friends in order  to fund the making of the music we all benefit from. This is where you come in!

DETAILS:

Element 115 (Uup) is a song cycle, which means a series of songs written in the same time period that uses one theme. I use subtle melodic, harmonic, lyrical and rhythmic themes throughout to link the songs. This music is meant to be heard from start to finish in one sitting. 

"I don't often get to produce artists whose vision is so crystalline, so utterly void of pretense. Gretta's art is difficult to describe because it so succinctly defies description…each of these little paintings, hung together in a row and viewed unobstructed, constitute a bright and cloudless world unto itself, oddly alien yet familiar in a way that invites the viewer to bathe in its warmth til sunset, and then come back the following dawn for more. This record has found a home in my head and refuses to move out. And that's just fine by me." -KRAMER

Element 115 (Uup) is about love. The songs portray an arc, not quite story– an emotional journey through the age-old odyssey of falling in love, getting dumped, and the subsequent things you tell yourself during the ascent back to some sort of stability and self-respect. The title is taken from a Super Heavy Element (SHE) new to the Periodic Table. Its compound explodes in the nanoseconds that the atomic particles meet. The analogy to personal attraction and relationships– which is also chemical seems fitting.  Before you can begin to comprehend the value of the element, it is gone. Because it is short-lived does not make it meaningless.

To coincide with the record release I am producing an elegant, multi-media live performance with a 10-piece chamber / rock orchestra and beautiful accompanying images.

Link: TICKETS ON SALE NOW

YOUR DONATIONS WILL GO HERE:

• 12" vinyl LP manufacturing of the song cycle ($2,000)

• Visual artist and production costs for vinyl and digital cover art ($1,000)

• Musicians' fees for rehearsals and performance ($3,000)

• Video artist creates accompanying images to the live performance ($500) 

• Video taping and editing of performance  ($500) 

• Bare bones PR costs related to release: posters, outreach ($500)

* I am accepting donations past my goal for reimbursement of expenditures associated with the recording (thank you credit cards).

WHY YOU SHOULD TRUST THAT YOUR MONEY WILL BE SPENT WELL?

I am a working, mature artist who thinks big and delivers. I am proud to say that I have conceived of and completed many large artistic endeavors over the years. If you do not already know my work please visit my website for detailed accomplishments. 

WHAT I NEED AND WHAT YOU'LL GET: 

• Check out the Rewards  ("Perks") that I have put together and hope will make you happy. 
  
• You know that your donation will go directly toward paying professional artists to bring this music to you and others.
• I've spent several thousand dollars of my own money toward completing this record. It's humbling to ask for your help, and your assistance is crucial to completing this nearly finished project. (When embarking on this project I was working with a record company and I spent money that I expected would be reimbursed, but the record company went out of business shortly before the release.)

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN BE INVOLVED:

I know that not everyone can help with $ and there ARE ways you can help! Please help me get attention to this campaign by posting the link to your Facebook/Twitter/Instagram accounts, and/or send the link via email to your friends and associates who believe: 

RECORDS MATTER! 

MUSIC MATTERS! 

SLOW LISTENING MATTERS!