the Lord provides...

Man, it has been a couple crazy days since I wrote last. I got an absolutely incredible response from my last post. Everybody's willingness to step alongside me and this project has just been overwhelming. I'm going to institute a couple of the ideas that came about over the course of the week.

First of all, I have decided to go ahead and offer pre-orders. Basically, I'll have a paypal link setup through my store, and I'll have your name and address and all pre-orders will be shipped a week before actual release. Even selling a hundred or two of these will cover a lot of the upfront costs for the next couple steps I need to take to get the project finished. I'll be offering a few other "goodies" along with the pre-order as well, but I'm still figuring that out, so I'll let you know when that portion of the site is ready and up.

Secondly, a number of people wrote and said they would love to just send me a few bucks here and there to help out, no strings attached. Honestly, I couldn't believe people's generosity, and it's been so much that I haven't been able to respond to it all yet. Due to so many people wanting to help out in that way, I'm also going to put a place up on the site where you can just send a couple bucks via paypal if you want to. That feels kind of weird, but a lot of you asked me to do it, and I'm not going to say no!

A few other random options have been presented to me, as well, and I'm going to spend a few days thinking and praying through them. It really feels like God just woke me up Monday morning and said, "All right, Andy, time to make this record. I'm going to go ahead and get things rolling for you." Honestly, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to so many of you who sent me ideas, encouragement, and have shared with me your desire to help support my music and my family. It really is an artist's dream to have a community of people take such an ownership of them and their creations. Now I just have to make a killer record!!!

It's going to take a couple days to get all these initial options up and running, so thanks for your patience.

Your encouragement really gave me the courage to start calling around and taking steps forward in a lot of directions this week. I've got a great engineer set to mix now. A guy so brilliant I can't believe he said "yes". I've had conversations with my friend Mark, who'll take the photos, and the guys at Portland Studios, who are going to help with the art and layout. Not only is Chip going to make the changes to the site to help bring in some capital, but his company was very generous in helping provide some much-needed ProTools gear for the process. My next step is lining up some musicians for my next session. I'll keep you posted on all of that. Cason and I are going to meet tomorrow and try to pick out the final list of songs. I've got about 20 or so to choose from. I can guarantee that a few of those not chosen will live on in pre-order world. Again, all of this has happened since Monday morning. Really a breath-taking couple of days. Oh, and a few little album production gigs also came around this week, helping to pay the bills while I'm spending what I raise over here on the record.

My life these last eight years of being a "professional" musician have provided overwhelming evidence for God's being a provider. There have been miracle checks, last-minute gigs, and any number of "there's still a little oil in the pitcher" moments, and this week will rank high in that list.

So thank you so much for your prayer, your support, and really, just your excitement for this project. I can't tell you how much it means to me when I get e-mails from people so jazzed about a new record. I'm humbled and honored, and will keep you all posted. Thanks again, and if you get any more crazy ideas in the middle of the night, feel free to share 'em!

Good night.

a serious inquiry

I've been debating about whether to post this for a little while now. I have decided to for two reasons 1) if you read this blog because you're curious about the kind of life us independent artists lead, this will give you much insight, and 2) I think some of you might have some great ideas.

And what is the topic of this most serious thought? Money. Specifically, where can I get some? Yeah, that sounds really weird, I know. Here's the scenario: I'm about halfway through with recording my next solo record. I've gotten about as far as I can get down in my own studio in my free time. The next step is recording drums, then I can come back here to finish up the tracking, and then it's going to go to someone to mix it. To record drums means going to another studio, hiring an engineer and a drummer. Any other parts I want played by someone other than me (keyboards, bass, strings or horns) generally carry a price tag for said instrumentalist and their talents.

I have people lined up to do all these things, almost all of whom are friends and are giving me great deals. The problem: until I have a new record to sell, I can't afford the deals. Catch-22.

Now I know I can get a bank loan or something, but we generally have tried to stay away from debt, and that is really a last resort. I could also sell some gear, but then I'd have nothing to play to make the record.

I have a few ideas of ways to raise some capital to fund the completion of this album, and I'd like to share them with you to see what you think. I also wonder if any of you might have any ideas I haven't thought of.

The first idea is to pre-sell copies of the album. You send me fifteen bucks today, in April when the record comes out, you're the first to get it. The downside of this is that I would have to pre-sell around at least three or four hundred to really knock it all out. That's not a crazy number at all, but having nothing to offer for six months is a hard sell. I don't know if there are that many people willing to do that. The upside is that I could maybe offer an extra disc to pre-sellers or something. A few extra tunes, maybe a free ticket to my next show in your area, something else you think of... This is a pretty strong option, though, I would just want people to know they weren't throwing their money away. Is it trustworthy?

The second idea is to try and get a grant from a foundation or corporation that supports independent arts. I'm working on this with a few different places, but it's a slow process. Anybody know of anything like that?

The third is to book a few small venue acoustic concerts as sort of fund-raisers for the record. No cover, but please give generously to help cover the costs. Probably awkward. Just an idea. You might have a better take on this.

The fourth is the old standby: the never-failing bachelor auction. "Two thousand dollars for my cousin Dean! Going once, going twice!!"

The thing is, it's not really that much money, but this lifestyle tends to be pretty month-to-month and part of putting out a new record is to hopefully get ahead a few months, you know?

I hope this doesn't come across weird. It's really just an obstacle I've got to get around, so why not be honest about it? Thanks for any input you might have, and here's hoping you love the record when it does get done.

And this has nothing at all to do with the subject, but its just amazing..

fat croc

Sunday Night

We had a couple great shows this weekend. The first was in Maryland. We had a sold-out crowd who was really into everything. A bunch of the caedmonscall.net folks were there as well. We were having a good time just telling stories and cracking up in between songs. Probably annoying to people who payed money to hear us play SONGS, but hey, a good time's a good time...

We only got a few hours of sleep that night, and had a long day the next day before we actually got to get ready for our show in Wheaton, IL. We played at Wheaton College, where I actually applied and got turned down years ago. For some reason, divine I'm sure, I tried to get into the conservatory. I had to audition, which meant I had to read actual written music, which means I failed miserably, since I can barely read one note at a time. Anyway, I had a good time informing the crowd that instead of me paying Wheaton College to be there, that day, for me to be there, they were paying me. It was pretty fun. We were all wiped out, but I thought the show was really fun, and we had a good time. I played "early in the morning" and Josh, unbeknownst to me, slid up on the organ and came in at the ending. It was beautiful and a really exciting sound. He is a seriously talented musician, and I forget about that sometimes when we just play the same songs all the time.

My mom came to the show, too, which I really appreciated. She came with a couple from church that she's become friends with, and we got to have dinner together before the show. She wasn't feeling too well, so it was all the more special that she drove two hours each way to see me play.

Tomorrow I have a couple of meetings and will get back into finishing the mixes for Jake Randall's project. I've listened to most of the iTunes songs you recommended Thursday, and will leave my thoughts on them in another day or two. Thanks again for everybody who came out to the shows this weekend, and to all who said hey. It really is wonderful to be reminded again that people actually care about you, and the music you create. I don't take it for granted. Have a great week!

Thanks for the Tunes

Thanks everybody, for the song suggestions. I downloaded the first ten that were available on iTunes (sorry Magic Fingers) and that I didn't already have (Robbie Seay). If you gave me more than one suggestion, I just went with the first one. I'll listen to them this weekend, and post my thoughts next week. Here were the ten:

1 Allison Moorer - Melancholy Polly
2 Casting Crowns - Stained Glass Masquerade
3 Iron and Wine - Freedom Hangs Like Heaven
4 Israel Kamakawi'ole - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
5 Nickel Creek - Doubting Thomas
6 Bubblecraft - Pilotdrift
7 Mae - Suspension
8 Jamie Cullum - High and Dry
9 The Features - Blow It Out
10 Hem - Pacific Street

And I was going to get the Arcade Fire song that Mark Whiten suggested, even though it would have meant eleven songs and it wasn't his first, because I've wanted to hear them, but that song wasn't available on iTunes.

I'll be in Maryland and Wheaton, IL this weekend, so we should have some fun shows. My mom is coming to Wheaton, so if you are too, cheer loudly for everything I do. Make her proud.

Need Your iTunes Help

So now that I have my computer back, and have to travel again for a few days this weekend, I'm realizing that I haven't heard much new music in a long time. So I need your help. Here's the plan:

I'm going to spend ten bucks at the iTunes store tonight. You will pick the songs. After I listen to them, I'll leave my thoughts on each one. Each person gets to offer one song. Leave it as a comment. I'll buy the first ten songs posted that I don't already own. So even if there's more than ten songs left, feel free to add another suggestion, I might get to it. I'm looking forward to the new tunes...