Summary
Dear friends. Welcome to our Indiegogo campaign to help fund our "HUMAN" album. Sadly, try as we might, we didn't get a grant this time out so we decided to pre-sell the album along with other perks and donations to help pay for it up front. That means you get to help us make this album!
Our band, "STONE POETS", has been together since 2011. Funny how we got together. (This is Cherelle recanting this story). I was in a band with my daughter called "The Jardines" and Marc and Scott were in "Abandon Paris". We were both performing at Richmond Winterfest and backstage Scott asked Marc if he thought I would be interested in writing a song with him that he had started. Marc said, "why don't you ask her". So he did.
I, of course, said yes as I've always loved Scott's voice and songwriting. Marc happened to be in the back room and overheard the conversation and said that we could rehearse at his place because he lived in Port Coquitlam, Scott in Maple Ridge and I in Richmond. So Marc was in the middle! He always jokes that he passed the audition solely because of geography. The rest is history and we've been writing, performing, touring and recording ever since.
This new album, "HUMAN", is our best work yet. There will be 15 songs in total including our last 2 singles "The Great Divide" and "Gleam and Beam". We really wanted to include them on this album as well as a song that we've been playing live for over a decade but never got around to recording until now, "Come Down". We are so proud of these songs.
We can't wait for you to hear what our musician friends have laid down on the tracks. Some of Vancouver's most sought after musicians including Jerry Wong (electric guitar), Nick Haggar (bass), Jeremy Holmes (bass), Liam MacDonald (drums), Jordan Aranas (violin) and Geeta Das (muted trumpet and flute). Of course you will still get our rich harmonies, piano, keys, acoustic guitars, mandolin, harmonica, and percussion. As I write this, we just finished tracking the album and are preparing to mix with our dear friend, producer/engineer, Sheldon Zaharko, who we lovingly call the 4th Poet. Sheldon has worked with us right from the beginning and we love the way he records and co-produces with us. He's the recipient of 2 Western Canadian Music awards for engineering and has also worked on many Juno award winning projects over the years.
We tracked all songs live off the floor; 8 at HippoSonic Studios, 5 at Zed Productions and the 2 singles I mentioned above were done at The Grassy Knoll Studio. Marc also played an instrumental piece on a beautiful 9 foot Steinway grand piano at Monarch Studios.
We really appreciate you pre-buying "HUMAN". If you'd like to contribute extra, that would be awesome as it will help with other costs associated with the project.
What We Need & What You Get
We need a chunk of cash to finish off "HUMAN"... We've got the creativity part covered, but as poor, lowly musicians we don't have the finances to finish this. That's where you come in! Essentially, you're making this album possible. Without you, we'd have a bunch of songs nobody would ever hear unless they booked us for a live show. Please see the "Perks" section to see how you can help out... some cool stuff there, besides just being the first kid on the block to have our music!
The Impact
By pre-buying our album you will help us enormously with our costs up front. It will assist in costs like mixing, mastering, graphic designer, manufacturing, promotions and publicity.
We are so proud of these songs. "HUMAN" is a mirror to the soul, touching on many topics that make us who we are. Music that gives you the feels. There's a little piece of everyone in "HUMAN". We know you'll find yourself or someone you love in one of these songs.
Other Ways You Can Help
We know these are tough times and some people just can't add any outside costs to their budget at this time. If you can't but would like to help, we would love it if you could help get the word out and make some noise about our campaign. How? You can share this campaign with your friends. We would greatly appreciate it and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. There are share tools included in this campaign, likely in the top right hand corner...