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Chris Griffy

CROWDFUNDING RADAR: Campaigns Supporting Roots Music and Related Creative Causes

CROWDFUNDING RADAR: Campaigns Supporting Roots Music and Related Creative Causes

Music is a very small part of the crowdfunding landscape. For example, the high-water mark for funding for a music campaign on Kickstarter (Amanda Palmer) is just over $1 million. Just last year, fantasy author Brandon Sanderson raised $41 million for a series of four novels. Technology, games, television shows,

CROWDFUNDING RADAR: 3 New Projects as Summer Yields to Crowdfunding Season

CROWDFUNDING RADAR: 3 New Projects as Summer Yields to Crowdfunding Season

As the end of summer, and the summer outdoor touring season, heads toward its end, bands begin turning their thoughts toward their next album. As a result, there's an uptick in crowdfunding campaigns this time of year. This week, I’m highlighting projects from two roots music veterans

ALBUM REVIEW: Jill Andrews Writes Songs Across Time for ‘Modern Age’

ALBUM REVIEW: Jill Andrews Writes Songs Across Time for ‘Modern Age’

The sound of a cassette tape slipping into a boombox and the click of the record button begins Modern Age, the newest release by Jill Andrews. That throwback sets the tone for an album full of nostalgia for the simpler days of childhood, but also a rumination on the effects

CROWDFUNDING RADAR: Campaigns from Wild Ponies, Rod Picott, and Kyshona

CROWDFUNDING RADAR: Campaigns from Wild Ponies, Rod Picott, and Kyshona

When I featured three smaller campaigns in last month's column, I hadn't intended to counterpoint it this month with three higher-profile (and higher-dollar) campaigns. It just happened that three artists who are well-known in the roots music scene, especially to attendees of AmericanaFest, launched campaigns at

ALBUM REVIEW: Molly Tuttle Keeps Moving on 'City of Gold'

ALBUM REVIEW: Molly Tuttle Keeps Moving on 'City of Gold'

On City of Gold, the second album from Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway, wanderlust is a central theme, as are its consequences, both positive and negative. Tuttle’s stellar band, Golden Highway (comprised of fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, mandolinist Dominick Leslie, banjoist Kyle Tuttle, and bassist Shelby Means), backs her throughout

CROWDFUNDING RADAR: 3 Small But Mighty Campaigns for Summer

CROWDFUNDING RADAR: 3 Small But Mighty Campaigns for Summer

Summer is the slow season for crowdfunding campaigns. With artists touring the festival circuit or just playing outdoor shows, most aren't thinking about an album until fall or winter. But in some ways, summer is my favorite time for crowdfunding campaigns because it lets some of the smaller

ALBUM REVIEW: Ben Harper Wanders Wonderfully on ‘Wide Open Light’

ALBUM REVIEW: Ben Harper Wanders Wonderfully on ‘Wide Open Light’

The Wikipedia entry for Ben Harper lists eight genres he's associated with. A stylistic nomad, Harper roams freely on his new album, Wide Open Light, finding a genre to fit the needs of the song rather than writing a song to fit a genre. Wide Open Light was