Kickstarter

Dear friends and fans-

  It is with great pride-swallowing that I call for your help. For nearly three years, my battered, high-mileage van has delivered myself and the various Tough Choices to hundreds and hundreds of gigs, sometimes miraculously. She has served me well, but it is becoming apparent at nearly 270,000 miles (with a bad rear differential, extensive brake work needed, a power steering pump that holds fluid about as well as a coffee filter, serious electrical issues, etc...) that ol' B.B Von Vegas (as she is affectionately referred to) is not long for this world...

  With many recent large expenses (including a new trailer after our last one self-destructed, putting me $6500 further in debt, along with various gear repairs/replacements, merchandise manufacturing, etc.), the finances around here are strained, at best. Like the saying goes, "when it rains it pours." I have always managed to pay the talented (and durable) musicians who have toured alongside me just enough to survive, though meanwhile have barely managed to make a profit let alone break even myself...after selling my land and home, tools, instruments, and even family heirlooms in order to keep The Tough Choices on the road, scrapping copper, piecing together construction work, and odd jobs when not touring are not quite making the bills. I think the beard is the only thing keeping my head above water at this point...

 With the release and swelling success of my debut album "I'll Keep Calling," it is becoming clear that the name J.P. Harris and the Tough Choices will continue to rise up the charts, marquees, and festival rosters in the near future. Just when it seemed like we could never get over that hurdle, it has been made apparent to me that the music I write is truly appreciated by the greater Honky Tonk fanbase at-large. The faith and support so many of you have shown me is unbelievable, and now I really need your help. I have always written music with the most basic emotion in mind: make people happy. Make them dance, make them laugh, cathartically drain their tear ducts to lighten their hearts...I live to bring this to the big stage, to the small-town Honky Tonk, the run- down urban dive. The reality is that if my current van dies, the tour schedule will lie blank for an indefinite time. If that's what the stars have fated for me and the boys, then so be it. Though I sure as hell wouldn't like it that way. I ain't one to beg for handouts, but I don't have a lot of options right now...

 I'm not looking for anything fancy; not a tour bus, nor a luxury-type jobber with DVD players and captain's chairs, or even a brand-new rig. We just need enough dough to find something used with low-mileage, in good running order. Not knowing how successful we will be in fundraising, I have set our goal SUBSTANTIALLY lower than what we actually need, though anything will be more reliable than what we have at this point. Hitting between $10,000-$13,000 is the real goal. Specifically, I am hunting a 15 Passenger Ford E350XLT (with tow package), hopefully with under 90,000 miles on it. I can't thank y'all enough ahead of time for your support and hope we can make this thing happen.

Take care, and keep it country- JP