Kickstarter

                                    Threshold of a Dream

1974, Memorial Day. I am 16 years old, my backpack is stuffed with overnight gear (heavy 1974 gear!) and on top of that, my downhill skis and boots are strapped to the sides of my pack. I am trudging up the trail in shorts on a bluebird day to ski Tuckerman’s Ravine. Tuckerman’s is an impossibly steep bowl cut out of the side of Mt Washington in New Hampshire. My buddies and I are hot shot skiers at our local mountain, but you ain’t nothin’ till you’ve skied “tucks”. Imagine a giant hand with a giant ice cream scoop taking a giant serving out of the side of a mountain. You get the idea. No lifts, no snack bars, no ski patrol, no shuttle. You hike the steep 3 miles just to get to the base. I pause as I see this guy coming down the trail towards me. “how much further to the bowl?” I ask. “my friend” he says “you are on the threshold of a dream”. Ten minutes later I round a bend and my jaw hits my hiking boots.

I have never forgotten that day or what that guy said. He was sooooo right! Now all these years later I find myself once again trudging up the path. A different path, a different mountain. My pack is loaded with hundreds of gigs, a ton of songs, 3 self-produced cd’s, a small stuff-sack of insecurities I tried to leave at the trailhead, a beautiful supportive wife, and my treasured Gibson J-200 strapped to the side of my pack(in a protective hard-shell case!) I pause as I see this guy coming down the path towards me with a Kickstarter t-shirt on. “how much further to personal fulfillment?” I ask. “my friend” he says “you are on another threshold of another dream”

My third cd, Brand New Day, is done!! I am ten minutes from rounding the bend. My dream on this path is to now have my work professionally mastered and packaged. I have never done that before. For this momentous occasion (for me) I have chosen David Glasser at Airshow Mastering in Boulder Co. The guy has Grammy’s for God’s sake!! With much trepidation, I sent my mixes up to him for review. “very nice job” was his response. Oh my God it feels like I just won a mini Grammy myself hearing that bit of news! Now all I have to do is schedule the date. I live in Santa Fe NM so I can make the 6 hr drive up to Boulder and actually sit in on the mastering session! You non studio geeks may not quite get how amazingly cool that is to me!

For the packaging I am lucky enough to have an incredibly talented graphic designer son named Ian who lives in Seattle. The offering of his talents for the artwork is really another dream come true for me. I don’t have to pay him; he’s doing it out of the love for his ol’ dad. You non parents may not quite get how amazingly cool that is to me! I do however have to pay Discmaker to print the actual copies of the cd.

So that’s it. Ten minutes and $2500 from my dream. It is sooooo doable. Please cross the threshold with me.
Gratefully, your fellow traveler,

Paul Dillon

note to travelers: all funds that exceed the threshold will go directly to the    promotion campaign for Brand New Day.  That's a beautiful thing!