What a week! Dan and I spent 2 more days in the studio. There was lots of singing from me, a bass part by Eric Holden, all manner of fun things from Dan, and then Susan came in and sang a really cool part on a tune called “Middle of My Chest.” She even added a “doot doot doot” line that totally works. What a blast.

I’m listening to an unmixed version of that very song that Dan sent over right now, and this might sound weird coming from the writer of the songs, but I am so impressed with the trajectory of this album. It’s different. It is folk, pop, rootsy, rock, electronic. All of those components are on the album thus far and all of them speak to various facets of my musical passions. Dan is really outdoing himself on producing these songs, and I am lucky because he knows me so well and he gets the vision of what I want to do with them.

What do I want to do with these songs? This is where I gratefully acknowledge that my Kickstarter is 111% funded right now. AMAZING. Dan gets paid for his hard work, Emily gets paid for her (what I am sure will be amazing) artwork, copies will be printed, all that goodness.

Since we’re OVER-FUNDED, however, it’s giving me new goals. Since I could not be more thrilled with the sound of this album…I can say with complete confidence I think some of our larger goals can actually do something here. One of the discussions Dan and I had before starting was placements…meaning I want these tunes to be in TV shows and movies. Grey’s Anatomy has kind of been our go-to example because they pick a lot of folkies and songwriters, but overall it’s making Dan angle his production to that type of sound. It’s a little more pop, it’s got some edge. It’s still 100% me, but these songs have things to do so we’re dressing them up nicely.

One of the things I’d love to do with the overage money is get a membership to TAXI, which is how a lot of placements happen in this business. I’ve not done it before and now is the time with these new songs.

I’d also love to investigate a publicist for some promotion. These songs can be on the radio, and getting reviews and write-ups would also help this whole operation be a success. TAXI is $300 for a year’s membership and while I have not found a publicist yet, campaigns can be $1000 up to well, a lot of thousands depending on length and the publicist. A stretch goal on Kickstarter would be $9200 to cover those things and KS fees. And REAL stretch goal would be $10,000 because that’s a great number.

I’m putting this out there because if you’re on the fence of not pre-ordering and just waiting to get the album when it comes out, having this pre-order money will take these songs a long ways to finding a bigger place in the world. I have never been so dang confident about something that has come out of my mouth.

Here’s the link to the Kickstarter. Pre-order for as little as 5 bucks, tell your friends, be a part of what I hope is a long, successful journey for these songs!