Adam Levy plays guitar, sings, writes songs, and produces music. You can hear him on albums by Tracy Chapman, Amos Lee, and Norah Jones. Now he’s using Kickstarter to make his new acoustic album, and what’s interesting has been his use of videos. His pitch video shares snippets from friends and fans talking about his work, and he has several video updates featuring people showing their support — some even playing songs for him! You can watch his pitch below, check out a mashup of the video updates here, and support the project here. Below, are some thoughts from Adam about the process of bringing his project to Kickstarter.

The project

My next recording, “The Heart Collector,” will be an all-acoustic solo recording — something I’ve never done before. I’ll be singing and playing guitar, I may overdub a few other acoustic instruments, and three of the songs will have string-trio arrangements as well. I want my songs to shine on their own, without much window-dressing. I want to know that I’m digging deep for the songs, and that I can give them the delivery they deserve. “The Heart Collector” will be my proving ground.

Bringing it to Kickstarter, going it alone

I first heard about Kickstarter last year, when my friend Alex Berger was raising funds for his debut CD “Snow Globe.” His pledges totaled 173% of his funding goal! That got my attention. Then I poked around the Kickstarter site and found some other intriguing projects — not just musical ones. I saw all these creative people working in so many different mediums, with big and small dreams. Scanning other people’s projects got me inspired, and also got me thinking on the specifics of my next project. I knew I was ready to make a new record, but hadn’t yet decided what would set it apart from my past releases. Then it came, in a flash of inspiration: Go it alone! The solo approach will be a perfect showcase for my new songs — many of which are more personal than anything I’ve recorded before.

Coming up with rewards

Coming up with rewards for Backers was one of the most enjoyable aspects of working with the Kickstarter platform. Some of my rewards include: private guitar lessons, house concerts, custom guitar picks, books of photos documenting the recording session (I’m a shutterbug, with my old Canon 35mm), and videos of me covering any song at all. I’ve had backers at every level — from $10 to $1,000. No takers yet for the $2,500 ‘Executive Producer’ credit, but there are still a few days to go! Safe to say, without Kickstarter, I’d still be scratching my head, wondering what to do for my next trick. Now I know, and it’s happening, and I’m having a whole lot of fun in the process.