Kickstarter

It's been a long time coming.  Even after dedicating my entire life to music, performing in hundreds of live shows, and writing over a thousand original songs in a wide array of genres, I am yet to have one finalized studio album.   But in all honesty, I've been waiting for the right music and the right time.  It's important to me that the music is something that people can really appreciate, that the style of music on the album is consistent, and that there would be absolutely no filler material whatsoever.   I've had the opportunity to perform these songs in a wide array of places including overseas in Shanghai, China and Frankfurt, Germany.   From the audience's enthusiastic responses to the material, it's clear to me that my tireless work has paid off and the time and the music is finally here.   Of course, this style of music is in no way mainstream, and even if it was, with the state of the music industry it would be nearly impossible to get the financial backing of a record label.   Thankfully I live in the greatest time in history to be a musician, the age of the Internet!    With your support, we can make this dream a reality and create an album as the first complete product of all of my hard work these many years.  One of my favorite parts about it, is that these songs will finally be able to be heard the way that they were meant to be, in a pristine mastered final product.   And if we can raise enough and get the word out there, we can reach out beyond the genre and put Neo-Classical music in the spotlight.  This will allow the style to get more of the attention it deserves, and hopefully take a step in the direction of getting all of the incredibly talented Neo-Classical musicians on tour to share their amazing music with the world.   Of course this is an expensive venture, so I've carefully figured out a few different ways to do it that would fit different price brackets.  

Initial Goal - $5,000 - Full Album Digital Release:

The initial $5,000 would allow me to finish recording all of the tracks for the album, have them sent off to be professionally mastered and then to be released on the online digital market.   I would only be able to do a limited run of the physical copies in this price bracket, mostly focusing on the rewards for pledgers.   Of course this includes all applicable fees to Kickstarter and Amazon.  Unfortunately, $5,000 doesn't go very far in the production of a studio album, but I have done the math and I can definitely make it work.   

Stretch Goal 1 - $7,500 - Full Album Digital/Physical Release:

Here we can also do a full print of physical CD's, and hire an artist to do original album artwork.  This will also allow me to do a very small online promotional campaign for the album to get the word out.  It may not seem like a huge difference from the first goal, but it is.   Physical CD's would make it possible to release the album in the proper way.  Among other benefits and the fact that this will help me realize a childhood dream (fingers crossed!), I will be able to solicit record stores and online retailers to carry the album,.

Stretch Goal 2 - $10,000 - Full Release and Promotional Campaign:

At this bracket we would not only be releasing a professionally mastered full length studio album on the digital and physical markets with original artwork, but we will be able to do a full online promotional campaign.  I can hire a marketing professional to work closely with, to put together a cost-effective promotional campaign. Producing an album is great, but the amount of albums that have been produced only to sit on the shelves and never get heard is staggering.  The promotional campaign is key in getting the word out there so that the music can be heard.  There are a lot of loud voices out there, and it's pretty tough to be heard unless you have a little bit of money to spend.  But more importantly, this would be a big step in putting Neo-Classical music in the spotlight and would help not just my own campaign and career but other Neo-Classical guitarists and musicians as well.  Getting the word out means that new listeners of all ages will be exposed to the genre for the first time.   Once they are hooked, they will want more!  And so their own search, and that of the friends they share it with, will begin.  

Stretch Goal 3 - $20,000+ - Full Release, Promo, and Tour.

A full release of the album and a U.S. tour to promote it.  This would allow me to hire a tour manager, and set up a tour of performances around the country.  At this level, it really depends on how much we raise to how big the tour can be.  More money, will mean more shows and better venues.  It will also mean better promotion which means bigger audiences and turn outs.   Again, this would spread the word about Neo-Classical music to new listeners.  And most importantly, I can bring in other up and coming Neo-Classical artists to open for the show in their respective hometowns.  Hopefully creating a bigger audience for them to play to on a regular basis.  

Stretch Goal 4 - $75,000+ - Full Release, Promo, and World Tour.

This is the Holy Grail to me. This is something that I have been working towards since childhood.  A full length studio album, released in the right way with distribution and a world tour to promote it.   If we could do this, it would be a huge step for all instrumental guitarists of the genre.   This style of music has a solid following in the U.S., but nothing like it does in other nations around the world.   By achieving this goal, we would make news by bringing Neo-Classical into the global spotlight.   This would be a major victory both for Neo-Classical and instrumental musicians alike.   This would also allow me to hire a talent scout to find local up and coming Neo-Classical players in the tour stops around the world to open for the show.   Bringing more Neo-Classical and instrumental musicians like myself into the spotlight.  [Musicians who have pledged to any tier $300 and above will be looked at first as potential opening acts.  Just let me know that you are a musician and that you are interested.]  This may be a long shot, but if we can rally up Neo-Classical/Instrumental guitarists, musicians, and fans together we could make it happen!   Let's let the world know that Neo-Classical and modern instrumental music are forces to be reckoned with!

And now for some video game metal!:

Closing:

I'd like to personally thank you for checking out my Kickstarter campaign.  I'm not going to lie and say that without pledges my dream will not be able to come true.  The truth is, I have committed myself wholly to it and, barring an unforeseen tragedy, I plan to eventually achieve these goals one way or another.  However, this will allow me to get things started and make it much more possible for me to make an impact.  Even more than that, your pledge will show me that you believe in what I'm doing which means more to me than anything else.   It is a difficult path to walk alone, year after year, and any support means the world to me.  You have my promise that I will never give up and I will always strive to better myself as a musician and put my heart and soul into everything that I do.  And your pledge will allow me to share it with the world. 

Dan