Chris Griffy

The old saying goes ‘it's not what you know, but who you know.’ Even though talent still holds sway n roots music, it’s still nice to have a friend in the business you can turn to. That’s doubly true if you’re crowdfunding. Having a well-known

I have a lot of places that I find new roots music, whether that be press releases, the album review offerings here at No Depression, or as openers for other roots acts I already know. But one of the best places for me to find new roots music is at

Last year, Kickstarter released the option for creators to opt into what they are calling “Late Pledges.” While Kickstarter still retains its “all or nothing” policy for creators (wherein if they don't meet their goals by the funding deadline, they get nothing) Late Pledges gives successful funders a

When you see as many crowdfunding campaigns in a month as I do, you notice trends in the backer perks. In addition to the obvious album pre-orders, you will almost always find merch like t-shirts, hats, and koozies on offer. Handwritten lyric sheets also tend to be a popular offer.

Most months, Crowdfunding Radar has a theme; some subgenre of roots music I want to highlight or a type of campaign or backer perk that makes for a good crowdfunder. This month's batch of three couldn't be more different. From a re-issue by a folk and

Typically, I'm unfamiliar with the artists I cover in this column until I run across a campaign that looks interesting and spend some time on YouTube. Considering many crowdfunders are regionally-known acts who are releasing their first or second album, this isn't surprising. But there are