This is an exciting week! I have a goal to be 50% funded by the end of the week on my PledgeMusic Campaign. I am currently at 36%. Hooray! We're getting close! If you pledge to my new album online by Saturday, May 5th, you will receive a FREE PASS to a private concert with me, hosted by Sammy's Cafe.
Also, A CONTEST! If you re-post one of my Instagram buttons on IG (below) and use the hashtag, #pledgemindy, you will be entered to win a lunch date with me, you, and a friend at Sammy's Cafe in Provo or Salt Lake City, UT, plus $100 in credit at Sammy's cafe! I can't think of anything better than scarfing an entire plate of sweet potato fries with you by my side.
Nope. That's not all! 30% of all pledges to my new album will go toward funding this year's Rooftop Concert Series. This is all one big love fest of giving through music and community. Read about an exciting new announcement about the Rooftop Concert Series on CJane's blog today! Your clue word is "broadcast." I'll sign off by offering you this beautifully filmed video to bring you up to speed on what's happening in the studio here in Nashville as I make my new album.Made by the talented, Jeff Yeats. www.pledgemusic.com/mindygledhill
When I was small enough to hide in cupboards and squirm through the nooks and crannies of the old blue house of my childhood, I would find refuge from my existence as one of nine children in a closet underneath the spiral staircase. Climbing the rickety shelves of the closet in bare feet, I would always find a cassette tape recorder with a rectangular shaped lo-fi microphone attached to it. There was a special cradle for the microphone on the recorder and I loved to repeatedly pull the microphone out and then click it back into it's proper place. But even more than that, I relished flipping on the "power" switch and singingdirectly into itwhile pressing my mouth to the grill. The buzz created by the distortion tickled my lips while an electrified sense of joy ran through my body from sun-kissed head to dingy little toes. Fast forward twenty-some-odd-years and not much has changed. When I step into the iso-booth in the studio, I feel the quietude and safety that is my childhood closet under the spiral staircase. It is me and the microphone. The vibration. The electrified joy from head to toe. My heart nearly leaps from my mouth in the form of sound waves. The waves cause the microphone's diaphragm to vibrate. The microphone captures and transmits my vibrations into an electrical signal. The signal travels a path through a cable to a computer sound card where it is converted from analog into digital code which is then sent to the computer's recording software. The digital signal is decoded and then sent back to the device's sound card which converts it back to an analog signal, read by your speaker system and emitted as sound waves that are processed by your very own ears.
Note that this electrical signal started it's journey in my heart. It IS my heart, traveling through my mouth, changing from one form of energy into another until it reaches you. Understood in code, then decoded, and recoded. It is my spirit speaking to your spirit. Mine is a converted heart.
I love recording music! Enjoy a little summary of what I've recorded and meet my guitarist, Joe Corcoran! I'm embarking upon a two week break from the studio right now, but I'll be here in Nashville with my boys climbing trees, chasing fireflies, and eating fried okra. You can follow the adventures here, on Facebook, Twitter, Vine and especially, Instagram! I love Instagram. (@mindygledhill). To pre-order the new album, visit www.pledgemusic.com/mindygledhill. Thanks for following along!
Last Friday, I did the most vulnerable thing of my entire music career to date: I launched a PledgeMusic campaign. What is that? you ask. PledgeMusic is a platform for crowdfunding, much like Kickstarter, but specified for musicians. And what is crowdfunding? you ask. Crowdfunding is where you involve the people who support you in the creation of your product—in my case, my new album. It's actually a brilliant way to pre-sell your music, but even more than that, offer your listeners some truly unique ways to be involved. For example, in exchange for my fans' contributions, I will send them my album a week before it releases, I will call them and sing them to sleep, take them to lunch, teach them how to write songs via Skype or in person, take them shopping for a day, invite them to sing a duet with me on stage, and so much more. These are things that I normally wouldn't have available for purchase. It's also an incredible way to create momentum and awareness surrounding a new album release. Additionally, I've made it so that 30% of my campaign will go toward funding the Rooftop Concert Series to support my local music scene. Any time you put yourself out there, there will be naysayers. Trust me. I live in a world of putting myself out there. One person commented: In my opinion if Mindy wanted to record another album she should have had the money upfront, not beg from her fans for it. For those of you who may be confused about what this campaign is all about, allow me to spell it out a little more clearly and be vulnerable, yet one more time. I have paid for the recording of my album, up front, with my own money that I have set aside for three years. (Although, I do not see anything wrong with bands raising money to pay for an album up front if they don't have it). I am an independent artist. This means that I fund my entire career. I pay for the recording, I pay for CD duplication, album design, web design, my band members' pay checks, travel costs for touring, music videos, and the list goes on and on. The contributions of my fans will go towards all of the extra expenses beyond the album recording, that it takes to thrive as a musician. In a beautifully symbiotic way, my fans will allow me to have a wider reach by making more videos, touring more and meeting them face to face through this very campaign. Don't think for a minute that I'm not deeply grateful for this or that I'm not working my tail off to create new music to share with all of you. I'm really proud of this music and I stand by it unapologetically. I can't wait to see how it brings us together. Thank you so much for allowing me into your lives through music. Pledge HERE. Watch this amazing TED talk by independent artist, Amanda Palmer, who raised 1.2 million dollars for her music through crowdfunding:
I've never done anything like this before. And I must admit that it drums up that same feeling inside of me that one gets when they're about to plunge into the deep end from off of the high dive at the community swimming pool. Scary and exhilarating all at once. But I don't want to live on the steps of the swimming pool for the rest of my life. I'd love for you to be a a part of my album as much as you want to be. In return, I want to do some things for you that I've never offered on such a personal level to my fan base before. (Confession: The term, "fan base, " makes me all kinds of uncomfortable. I think of my following as my friends. And many of you are just that). Just think: We could find ourselves in the middle of a glowing room of candles in your home, among your family and friends, me pouring out my soul to you in a private and intimate setting. We could spend the day together digging through treasure troves untold of the best vintage clothes money can buy. I could even call you on the phone and sing you to sleep. These are just a few of the lovely things I'm offering as part of my Pledge Music campaign. Also, 30% of your contribution will go towards supporting my local music scene through helping to fund the Rooftop Concert Series. Hip-hip, HOORAY! To join in on the making of my new album, visit: www.pledgemusic.com/mindygledhill.
Writing and recording an album is HARD WORK! Hard, but in the most fulfilling and beautiful way possible. I hope you're enjoying all of these glimpses into the behind-the-scenes moments of the recording process. I so appreciate you sharing these videos with your followings. Sending you all my love from the studio here in Music City!
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