Tag Archives: crowdsourcing

Help St. Paul de Vence Make a New Album

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St.Paul de Vence were looking for fan support to make a new album, I was on board, right away. Getting involved in crowdsourcing projects makes me feel like a bit of a producer, and I like the feeling of making music happen. Backers often get the music before anyone else, but if that’s not enough, you can get additional perks. In the case of St. Paul de Vence, I also just really want them to make an album as soon as possible. I wrote of my appreciation for their self-title debut in a previous post. It was an interesting, unique project with a distinctive sound.

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The campaign ends Sunday Dec 22, 9:00pm EST, so act now!

The St. Paul de Vence Kickstarter Campaign is about to enter it’s last week, so if you want to get in on it, you need to do it soon. Earlier this week I interviewed band leader Benjamin Doerr about the plans for the new album. Find out what he had to say and watch a St. Paul de Vence performance below.
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Gallery: Bleu and Will Dailey Wrap up PledgeMusic Tour at BMH

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Will Dailey and Bleu wrapped up their PledgeMusic sponsored tour on Thursday night with a rocking, rollicking, high energy show at Brighton Music Hall, supported by Air Traffic Controller that felt a little like a reunion of old friends. Perhaps … Continue reading →

Interview: Will Dailey on National Throat

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will daileyBoston-based independent recording artist Will Dailey‘s advice to aspiring singer-songwriters is to seek out experiences that you can call on in your work, and “listen, not just to music, but to everything around you.” It seems to have worked for him. He grew up surrounded by music from across the spectrum from Classical to Folk and says it all left an imprint. He exercises the the songwriter’s prerogative to call on whatever styles of influences seem appropriate for the song. The result is songs that are rich and complex, gathered into albums that are varied and full of surprises, refusing to be constrained by the conventions of a narrow style of genre.

Will Dailey and Bleu duet during the last show on the PledgeMusic Tour

Will Dailey and Bleu duet during the last show on the PledgeMusic Tour

A hard working and prolific artist, Dailey has done well for himself since his first self-produced release in 2004, GoodbyeRedBullet, in spite of being repeatedly knocked around by the vicissitudes of a recording industry struggling to come to terms with the digital age. He’s released 4 albums to date, 5 if you count Torrent Volume 1 and 2 separately. Collectively they reveal a songwriter with mastery over a wide variety of styles, and an interest in exploring a wide musical pallet. And while each album has it’s own distinctive feel, each is also a a musical buffet of sorts, with varying musical styles juxtaposed and hidden gems to discover.
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Getting Gracefully from Formal: Eric Himan Tells the Story of his New Album

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Eric Himan

Eric Himan

In 2012 Eric Himan decided he wanted to record an album with a different sound than anything he’d done before. Though the 34-year-old, Tulsa-based, singer-songwriter had already released 10 albums on his own label, he knew that this project would cost a lot of money, so he took to Pledgemusic to raise money for an album to be called Formal. T-shirts were printed with bow ties on them and everything. He recorded six songs,

but wasn’t happy with the results. So what did this guy who’s previously only been accountable to himself on his own label do? He pulled back, retrenched, and started over. The result was no longer called Formal, but Gracefully, named in honor of his grandmother who had raised him, and had died while he was working on the project.

Gracefully is a 12-track collection of original songs, the 8th such album he’s released since his self-titled debut in 2000, and it is different, both sonically and in the way it came into existence, but Eric doesn’t see it as radically so. He rightfully points out that there’s a natural progression between it and the albums leading up to it. He’s been increasingly experimenting with the styles of music on this album, as well as playing with other musicians and, of course, with the piano. On July 7 I had the chance to talk with him in some detail about the album, the frustrations and joys of making it, and the people he worked with. Along the way we also talked about the challenges of supporting oneself as a musician in the industry today, songwriting, and a few other topics.

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