I wrote an album's worth of songs over the course of the summer, which makes me want to record an album.  Making albums with other musicians is really fun, and lots more people listen to those albums, as opposed to the solo acoustic ones, all of which makes me want to record an album with other musicians.  But time in a studio and taking musicians away from their day jobs to make a record involves expenses, and there's no money to be made in this sort of endeavor these days.  So that, combined with the fact that my rent is covered for next month, leads me to this crowdfunder.

This is a crowdfunder for an artistic project, an album of songs, that has the prospect of being heard, but no prospect of paying for itself, even after years of streaming on Spotify to 5 or 6 thousand monthly listeners.  It has the prospect of a long life on all the streaming platforms, and the prospect of playing a role in doing what music can do, in inspiring and educating a lot of people of all ages, wherever English is spoken and there is internet access.  This is true of just a simple solo acoustic recording, if made professionally.  But it's much more true of a bigger sort of project.

So, it's up to you -- as usual in the strange era of crowdfunded album projects and free streaming platforms.  

Whether you are personally a fan of simple solo acoustic projects or bigger undertakings, my hope is that by making a more produced album, the messages within the songs stand a chance of being further amplified.  Given that they are mostly songs about ongoing political developments, present-day political prisoners, ongoing court cases and ongoing environmental crises, I think they are messages worth amplifying.  I've made primitive recordings of the songs with my phone, which you can find in the Broadsides playlist on my YouTube channel.

This crowdfunder will be active until mid-September, by which time I'll make a plan for making a record.  Where it happens, how many other musicians are involved, and how much time will be invested by them into the project will depend on response to this campaign.  My tentative plan is to make time for this project to happen later in the fall, in Ireland.

Regardless of the scope of the project, when the recording is done, in whatever form it takes, it will be shared as a download with anyone who contributes to this campaign, as well as with my CSA members.  (Eventually it will also be put out to pasture on Spotify, etc.)

Other special rewards for donations I'm offering:

• $100  I'll record the outgoing message for your voicemail
• $250  I'll do a concert in your living room
• $500  I'll write a song on a subject of your choice and include it on this album (or your money back!)

If this project goes well, then all of the above rewards may quite possibly happen in three-part harmony, with fiddle, bass and bodhran.

Whether or not you're able to donate to this crowdfunder, if you can share it with people who might, this would be immensely appreciated by me, and hopefully by others as well.

I’ll be live in concert from my living room in Portland, noon Portland time, on Sunday, September 1st, on my YouTube channel (and in the window below, once it's live). The show will feature new material that you definitely have not heard before, as well as a review and discussion of songs that should be part of my upcoming album.