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Dylan Sneed
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Hartsville, SC
In early January 2006, adorned in poor-fitting, borrowed business casual, Dylan Sneed slumped in a cubicle of a cold office building in downtown Dallas, TX. Over his short but painful tenure in the machine of corporate America he learned many lessons, but one prevailed above the rest: this was not where he was supposed to spend the rest of his life.
Four years and over 50,000 miles later, Dylan has become a full-fledged road warrior, and is recognized as an "A-list tunesmith" (Darryl Smyers, Dallas Observer). After escaping his corporate confines he began booking national tours the grassroots way, making friends and fans one at a time across the country.
NO WORSE FOR THE WEAR
After finding his audience on the road, Sneed began to find his voice in the studio. The Dallas Observer praised his 2007 EP No Worse For The Wear as “one of the best local releases of the year.”
ALPHABET SOUP
When not writing his own music, Sneed found other ways to stretch his creativity. For every installment of his 2007-08 concert series called "Alphabet Soup," Sneed and several Dallas area songwriters built a unique 10-song set of covers and originals around an audience-suggested word. Each new word began with a randomly selected letter (e.g., "H" is for "Hasselhoff."). Together Sneed and his friends learned and performed nearly 160 songs in 9 months. He still plans to make it all the way through the alphabet.
BRIAN VANDER ARK / KRISTY KRUGER
In 2008 Dylan took on his first work as a sideman for other artists. He toured with Brian Vander Ark (The Verve Pipe) and award-winning Texas songwriter Kristy Kruger, playing electric and acoustic guitar and banjo. He continues to collaborate in this way with artists across the country.
TEXODUS
The end of 2008 brought about the biggest change in Sneed's career so far. On August 31 he packed his few remaining possessions and set off on his last tour as a Texas resident. He called the tour "Texodus," and kicked it off with a synonymous event that featured 9 of his closest musical compatriots from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The long, emotional night was a great success, and preceded three weeks of shows along the way to Hartsville, South Carolina, the small southern town that has become Dylan's new home base.
HOME SWEET HOME
In the summer of 2009 Dylan and fellow Texas songwriter David Ramirez booked two weeks of house concerts across the South and Midwest. The duo called their tour "Home Sweet Home." The songwriters' mission was to spread the word of the house concert format, teaching aspiring hosts how to organize these intimate nights of music and community. Both artists continue to play house concerts across the country today.
For the most up-to-date information on Dylan Sneed, stay tuned to www.dylansneed.com.
Projects by Dylan Sneed (1)
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Recent Posts by Dylan Sneed
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Dylan Sneed
commented on a projectBrandon - you're good. I'm so thankful for your support! Mike - thanks a lot. We're excited to get started.
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Dylan Sneed
Posted project update #8You Did It!
You've pledged 101% of the funds needed to make my new record, Texodus. Wow!
And guess what? We've still got 2 weeks left to accept pledges. Extra funds will go to nicer CD packaging (and possibly a larger order of CDs), equipment rentals, and musician stipends. Pre-order your copy of signed copy of Texodus for a $20 pledge (includes shipping & handling).
I'm so encouraged by your support. We are going to make a great record for you.
Thank you for putting your money where your mouth is,
Dylan
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Dylan Sneed
commented on a projectJim - big thanks to you guys for hosting me. I'm excited about the show. Ben - good talking to you the other day. Teresa - I know! Isn't it crazy???
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Dylan Sneed
Posted project update #7Only 10% Left :)
Friends, family, and strangers, you have blown me away with your generosity and support. The Texodus project is 90% funded as of right now, and we still have over 2 weeks left to accept pledges.
Let's shoot for 95% by this weekend. I think we can do it. That's less than $300, or in other words
1 mention in the Special Thanks section and 1 Tshirt/signed CD combo,
or
15 signed copies of Texodus,
or
3 personalized video messages from the Texodus recording site.
The possibilities are endless, thanks to you.
I'm so proud to be this close to making a record that's funded not by a label, but by true blue music fans. We're working hard getting all our logistics lined up for the big weekend. Please help us reach our goal so we can share this music with you.
Thanks for supporting independent music,
Dylan
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Dylan Sneed
Posted project update #6The Last G
Friends, you've blown me away with your generosity and support. We're so close to the goal. In fact, we've got less than $1,000 to go.
Since we're so close and we've still got 23 days left, I wanted to tell you what will happen in the case that we raise more than our goal of $6,000. First of all, we'll get to keep it. But how will we use the extra money?
Any extra funds will go into three main areas:
Packaging. I've budgeted for a nice, but very simple package for the CD. If we get a little extra money, we can afford to print the lyrics on an insert, and even make the CD case out of more environmentally-friendly materials.
Equipment rentals. We've got a very stripped down set up as of now, but with a little extra money we can afford to rent or maybe even buy some nicer microphones, pre-amps, etc. to give you an even better sounding product.
Musician stipends. As of now the talented musicians who have committed to be a part of this project are offering me their time and effort for just gas money and food. I would love to leave them with a little money in their pockets to show how much I appreciate their time, effort, and talents.
Let's shoot for 90% by this weekend. If you've already made a donation, please share this project with your friends and family. Any amount helps. Let's see how much we can raise!
Thanks for your support,
Dylan
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Dylan Sneed
commented on a projectHaha, thanks Paul. Forgot about that one. Now you've got the wheels turning.
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Dylan Sneed
commented on a projectThanks for the support Michael!
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Dylan Sneed
commented on a projectBob, thanks so much. Teresa, great to hear from you and John. Ah, Beck. Thanks for the support, my friend.
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Dylan Sneed
Posted project update #5T-minus One Month
So far, so good, friends. You've pledged over $3,700 to Texodus. And for this, I'm extremely grateful.
I figured this would be a good time to share some news about the record. Even though we're not recording until April, we've already been putting in lots of hours in preparation for the big weekend. Here's some of the latest news:
* Last week I had a great pre-production meeting with Judd, the producer, in Nahsville. Basically, we played through all the songs that may go on the album and talked about arrangements: from what kind of instruments we want on each track, to the overall feel of the record.
* The week before that I attended the Folk Alliance music conference in Memphis, where I saw Jonathan, the guy who's going to mix the record. He told me he's got a good feeling about this project. And he's the type of guy you believe when he says something like that.
* Also, last week I touched base with Nathan, a fiddle player from Winston-Salem, NC. He had approached me earlier about wanting to play music with me. I told him about this project, and he's decided to join us in April. The addition of Nathan is going to open up many sonic possibilities!
I know I probably sound like a broken record, but let's take the momentum we've got and finish strong. If you've already made a pledge, please share the link to my Kickstarter profile with your friends. If you haven't made a pledge yet, please consider what you can afford and act today. You can pledge as little as $1, and every dollar helps, believe me. Let's see if we can get to 75% by the end of this weekend.
Thanks for supporting independent music,
Dylan
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Dylan Sneed
commented on a projectKatherine - great to hear from my friend across the pond! I hope I get to play for you again soon. Jeven, Michelle, Sophie, and Ruby, I love you guys. Yes, looking forward to April. Your generosity blows me away. Dylan
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Dylan Sneed
Posted project update #4Halfway There!
Even in my post-Folk Alliance under-the-weatherness I'm tickled pink to tell you that we've reached 50% on our pledging goal for Texodus. Very exciting stuff. If we give another 10% each week from now until funding ends, then we'll reach our goal no problem.
Here's how close we are to making this record:
150 signed copies of Texodus
60 CD/Tshirt packages
30 personalized video messages from the Texodus cabin
12 mentions in the Special Thanks section of the liner notes
6 private house concerts
3 10-year passes to Dylan Sneed shows
2 Executive Producer credits on the CD
I know we can do it. Who knows, maybe we could even record the song I just wrote last night!
Thanks for supporting independent music,
Dylan
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Dylan Sneed
commented on a projecti miss you, too, curtis. thanks so much for the generosity and support!
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Dylan Sneed
commented on a projectThanks JP, Adria, and Mitchell. I'm excited, too.
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Dylan Sneed
Posted project update #3By The Numbers
You guys are great! We've got almost a quarter of the funds pledged and still 44 days left. Don't stop now. Please share with your friends.
Here are some ways it could happen:
919 pledges for a personalized thank you card. That's a lot of stamps!
460 pledges for a early-release digital copy of Texodus.
230 pledges for a signed physical copy of Texodus.
92 pledges for a signed copy of Texodus and a special Kickstarter-pledgers-only t-shirt.
46 pledges for the CD, t-shirt, and special video message from the Texodus cabin. Wow, that's a lot of videos!
19 pledges for all of the above, plus a spot in the Special Thanks section on the CD.
10 pledges for all of the above, plus a private house concert
5 pledges for all of the above, plus a 10-year pass to Dylan Sneed shows!
2 pledges for all of the above, plus fancy schmancy Executive Producer credits on the CD.
Who knows how it will happen? I'm excited to find out.
Thank you all for supporting independent music,
Dylan
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Dylan Sneed
Posted project update #2New rewards announced!
Dear Kickstarters,
Believe me when I say that I know that $20 is $20. You may really like my music and want to donate, but you just haven't felt you could justify the expense of a whole Andrew Jackson to show your support. I understand.
This is why I've just added two new rewards for donating to this project. For a $5 donation, I'll send you a personal, hand-written thank you note that will include one of my favorite Coen Brothers' movie quotes, such as "Mark it 8, Dude," or "Son, you got a panty on yer head." For a $10 donation, you'll receive a digital copy of the album before the official release date. So if you're more into MP3s than CDs, you can go this route.
I hope these new rewards get you excited. Remember, you can easily share this project with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and your website or blog. Just use the handy-dandy sharing tools beneath the video on the project home page.
Thanks for supporting independent music,
Dylan
http://www.dylansneed.com -
Dylan Sneed
Posted project update #110% Funded!
Wow, you guys, this is amazing! It's only been a little over 2 days and you've already donated over 10% of the goal. If we can keep this up, we'll make the goal in just 20 days--less than half the time I've allotted for the fundraising. The sky's the limit here, so please keep telling your friends, family, hair stylists, dog groomers, etc. about this project. Kickstarter makes it easy to share with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, email, and your personal blog or website, so please do, and we'll reach the goal no problemo!
Thanks for supporting independent music,
Dylan
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Dylan Sneed
commented on a projectThanks so much friends! I can't wait to get started.
