It's Holiday time for many, and while the crowdfunding landscape slows down during this month, there are still a few artists who launch campaigns in the giving season. In some ways, it's a great time to launch as you have less competition for funding dollars and you can also catch those people looking for a creative gift for their loved ones. While a crowdfunding gift might not give you a physical present to place under the tree, it does offer an opportunity for the giftee to receive their gift later in the year, when you're not competing with all the other presents. This month, I've got three gift-worthy campaigns perfect for a stocking-stuffing IOU.
Jill Sobule: She's Gonna Sing! You're Going to Listen! Documentary (click here to view campaign)
While she never received the mainstream success of many of her peers, Jill Sobule was beloved by roots music fans. Songs like “I Kissed a Girl” and “Too Cool to Fall in Love” showed a keen songwriting eye for detail that endured until her untimely death earlier this year. At the time of her death, Sobule was working on an autobiographical show called F*ck 7th Grade and her friend and filmmaker Tom Ropelewski was filming rehearsals. Now he's taking some of that footage as well as archival footage, interviews, and unreleased songs to make the documentary, She's Gonna Sing! You're Gonna Listen! The campaign has already hit its initial $40,000 Kickstarter goal and is now in stretch funding territory, with stretch goals bringing even more unreleased songs. Campaign perks include the film in digital and DVD format, a t-shirt and tote bag, a signed movie poster, and a livestream discussion with the director and some of Jill's friends.
Emily Portman- The Dominion of Spells (click here to view campaign)
Sheffield, UK's Emily Portman is best known as an award-winning bandleader and songwriter who tours with The Furrow Collective and as a duo with Rob Harbron. While she's released three previous solo albums, The Dominion of Spells represents her first solo album in over a decade. It's an album of original tunes that harken back to the old ways of her home, with selkies, fairy queens, and fox-women making appearances in her folk ballads about contemporary issues like PMDD and misogyny. The album is already recorded and Portman is hoping for an early Spring release. Her $10,000 Kickstarter campaign is to cover mastering, manufacturing, and promotion of the album. Backer perks include the album in CD and vinyl formats. You can also get an album book with original illustrations and Portman's retellings of the stories behind the songs, a digital copy of the album delivered before release, a singing lesson, and a songwriting workshop.
River Road- Over the Moon (click here to view campaign)
Formed in 2022, the trio River Road is a study in making seemingly divergent things meld. They call their brand of music “contemporary-trad,” honoring the traditions of traditional folk with a contemporary energy. They also describe their style as “major-melancholy,” telling sad and sometimes wistful tales in with an upbeat and energetic instrumental flair. Now they're crowdfunding their debut album Over the Moon, a collection of thirteen tracks of original compositions. They've already blown past their initial Kickstarter goal of $10,000 and their initial stretch goal, so now they're into even further stretch funding territory, all the better to pay off the mounting bills associated with any record project. You can get the album in digital and CD formats. Other backer perks include stickers, a choice of two album t-shirts, sheet music of all the songs from the album, a three-minute video shout out to someone for a celebration of your choice, and a chance to join the band for a three-hour rehearsal and an evening playing for a contra dance.
Comments ()