Hi Everybody! 

With any luck, this will be the last time you hear from me through this particular cyber-channel.  24 Updates later, we have arrived at the satisfactory conclusion of our Kickstarter voyage. 

MOST of you should be enjoying your various rewards packages by now.  There are a VERY FEW of you who have not received yours yet, mostly due to a miscalculation I made when I printed the first run of T-shirts.  I underestimated, and had to have more made.  They were finished this week!! Sorry about the delay! 

So now I'm in Telluride, CO - in the midst of the Great American Road Trip, hiking, biking, and loving life with my special someone.  So for those few of you still waiting for your stuff, I'll be making small post office stops through CO, UT, NV, & CA over the next week.  Keep an eye out.

One last time, I'd like to say THANK YOU to everyone. 

Let's stay in touch,

Kai

HEY everybody!  So if you are reading this email, which you clearly are if you've gotten this far, you fall into one of the following categories: you have pre-ordered my record by signing up at a show, you are one of my Kickstarter backers from cyberspace, or I met you on an airplane or similarly random surrounds, and I promised to send you an email when my record was to be released from captivity.

...which leads me to my next bullet point:

MY RECORD IS TO BE RELEASED FROM CAPTIVITY!

It is currently somewhere in Texas, being printed and pressed into 1,000 beautiful identical versions of itself.  They should be arriving on my doorstep sometime in the next 1-2 weeks.  At which point I will be taking some very serious trips to the post office trying to get them all sent off to the appropriate anxiously-awaiting mailboxes.  To expedite this process, I need to confirm your mailing addresses. 

So please:

If you signed up for the pre-order at a show: I will soon send you a separate email confirming that I have your address correct in my "system".  Handwriting can get a little squirrelly in the heat of the moment, and there are a few p's the could be q's and r's that could be v's.  Please reply and let me know I've got it right.

If you are a Kickstarter Backer: I don't have your shipping addresses yet!  Kickstarter leaves that part up to me.  Please email them to me pronto, at: info@kaiwelch.com.  I have a list of who you are and what your package should contain - just need those addresses.  [For those of you who ordered the "Spartan Pak" or similar, I will send each of you an email containing a download link for the record.  You don't need to send me your mailing address.]

If you haven't yet ordered your copy of "Send It Down", or know someone who'd like to: PLEASE YES DO!  You can now do it all via my website www.kaiwelch.com.  Also, by the end of July, it will be available on iTunes and CDBaby.

Thanks to all of you, for listening and supporting this music.  Hope to see you all again soon out on the road. 

Next up for us is a brief tour of the East Coast w/ mega-wizards Béla Fleck and the Flecktones!  Then Abby and I head for the UK for some festivals as a duo.  Also, Rounder Records is preparing to release the 2nd single from Abigail Washburn "City of Refuge", which will be one of our co-writes called "Burn Thru".  Give your radio station a call and ask the DJ to give it a spin (just like they did in the olden days!).  And always check www.abigailwashburn.com and/or www.kaiwelch.com for more tour dates.

Good health and summer hi-fives all around,

Kai

To all my cherished Kickstarter peeps -

It's been so long!  How've you been?  I know that many of you have by now assumed that the Kickstarter project was a total scam, and that I absconded with your donations to some warm, cheap locale known for its extravagant international parties and lax extradition laws.  I know that many of you have lumped me in with Jerry Falwell and Bernie Madoff.  It's understandable.  It's been almost a year.

But on this day of grand pronouncements, (I'm in a hotel in Raleigh, NC watching Obama talk about Osama right now), I have a grand pronouncement of my own to make.  After almost a year since the Kickstarter project was launched, and after an inconceivable eternity since the record started coalescing, I'm very proud to announce that the record is ... MIXED! 

It's home stretch from here, folks.  Dinner is ready.  The rest is just a matter of getting the dish from the kitchen to the dining room table.  Serving it up, as it were.

And mastering is scheduled for May 16 - SOoo, on the 17th, I will be sending off the masters to the printing presses.  And by the middle of June I expect to have boxes of CD's on my doorstep in Nashville.  Meaning, I can send them to you!  Along with the other treats that I owe you.

  I want to thank you once again for your part in getting this music, these recordings, made.  I couldn't have done it without you. 

XOXO,

Kai

Also, in case anyone is unawares: I do have a web page where I post lots of things. Keep it in your menu bar.

www.kaiwelch.com

xx

Kai

....and here's a song for your patient ears. Mixing is only 6 days away!!

Hi backers!

I know that half of you have started to get anxious, wondering if I'll ever finish the record make good on my campaign promises, as it were. And the other half have forgotten all about me and my quest to make this album.

But I'm here to say - YES! I mean, NO! Don't forget me! And YES this record is getting finished!

As they say, there are good problems to have. The "problem" that has caused delays in my perceived schedule of events is that my other project, "City of Refuge" with Abigail Washburn, has been too damn successful for me to have much free time to work on "Send It Down".

"City of Refuge" came out on Jan. 11 and we have been touring it with a vengeance. It's reception so far has bowled us over with excitement and gratitude. The Boston Globe called it "a modern classic" - woohoo! We just returned yesterday from the U.K., where we had an incredible time stomping around between Glasgow & London, doing perfectly awful British accents and trying not to offend too many audiences. I think we made a lot of new friends in spite of our AWOL manners.

Early tomorrow we head out for a show in Asheville, NC - but THEN we have a week off! During that week I am so pleased to announce that I will be mixing "Send It Down", with the coolest mix engineer in town, Mark Nevers (Calexico, Andrew Bird, Bonnie Prince Billy). It's going to be awesome.

And as you can see, I've included an early stage draft of the proposed cover art. The artist (Lauren Vandervelde) is still working on a hand-drawn ink font for the title & my name which we hope will replace the font you see here.

Our tour schedule for "City of Refuge" gets pretty rabid after this next week, so it's difficult to say exactly when I'll get to master and press the record - but those are both far less involved tasks than mixing. The mixing is the last BIG piece of the puzzle.

I'm also trying to attach a song here, a little snack before dinner, but it's not working. Upload Error 406. I shall investigate further.

In closing, THANK YOU for your patience! "Send it Down" will get sent down. Make no mistake.

Also, in very exciting news, the Abigail Washburn band has recently been added to the lineups of The Bonnaroo Music Festival, and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, both in June. Come and see us!

Thankfully yours,

Kai

Quick definition of terms: "punch list" = a compilation of small, nitpicky items that remain to be done when a large job is nearing completion. "short" = way shorter than it once was.

Have you ever gotten so far down the rabbit-hole of a labor of love that you have no idea how you got there, or even what you set out to do in the first place? Well folks, down at the bottom of that rabbit-hole is where you can currently find ME. I'm down here having a weird party with all of my songs, watching them slow-dance with themselves to their own soundtrack. It's a little bit psychadelic, for sure. It has been a very exciting journey getting here - songs that started as seeds, put down roots, grew wings, took off into the air, mixed their metaphors, produced fruit, got haircuts, etc. etc. - have all finally reached a resting place. Not necessarily a "finished" place - I don't believe I will ever be totally comfortable saying anything is "finished" - but certainly a place where I am comfortable saying "MIX IT AND GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" And this is how I know that I am nearly done tracking the record: I can no longer tell if adding things is making it better. So, for the betterment of all mankind and especially my own peace of mind - I will stop tracking and begin mixing in December!

I have spent the better part of the past month+ doing overdubs whenever I could get the chance. Owner of The Friendly Forest Recording Studio and all-around good person Teddy Morgan loaned me some very classy pieces of gear that allowed me to do a lot from home, which has enabled hours and hours of experimentation and perfectionism - both huge assets in their proper dosages. To him I owe a big thank you. It would have been astronomically expensive to rent for this long; he will definitely be getting a case of Fat Tire Amber Ale from me. Abigail Washburn's glorious voice has made its way into many of the songs, and everything has begun to take on the big lush quality that I'm evidently inclined toward in recording.

There was even a special moment about two weeks ago, where I listened to everything back-to-back - and for the first time (EVER, in my music career), I decided that I LIKED it. I was, and am, actually HAPPY with these recordings. They represent so much work, dedication, and support - much of which comes from YOU FOLKS.

Graphic designer Lauren Vandervelde has made progress on the album artwork as well, and we should have a cover to display on my website (and probably post here as well) within a few weeks.

Meanwhile, Abigail and I performed 7 shows in the past few weeks, essentially auditioning different players for next year's touring band. In the end we pretty much liked them all, and now we have a real pickle trying to decide who is the best fit. Whoever it is will be accompanying us to Scotland for a festival in January - and we recently found out we'll be playing Austin City Limits Festival and likely Bonnaroo this next year (mark those cel-phone calendars)!

I'll be sending individual messages to each of you over the holidays, requesting your mailing address and other pertinent information to getting your stuff to you. I think the manufacturing of the discs will have to wait until the start of the new year, but as soon as they're shrink-wrapped, they'll be in the mail. Thanks again, everyone!

Gratefully yours,

Kai

"The Prelude" tour dates are booked! We have assembled a crack team (meaning "capable and professional", not "smokers of low-grade cocaine") for September and the pieces are in place for a satisfying tour experience for all. Dates are as follows:

* Nashville, TN • AMA Showcase at Station Inn
Wed, September 8, 2010
* Goshen, IN • LVD's
Fri, September 10, 2010
* Chicago, IL • Old Town School of Folk Music
Sat, September 11, 2010
* Ann Arbor, MI • The Ark
Sun, September 12, 2010
* Bloomington, IN • Lotus World Music Festival
Thu, September 16, 2010
* Vienna, VA • Jammin' Java
Tue, September 21, 2010
* Annapolis, MD • Ram's Head On Stage
Wed, September 22, 2010
* New York, NY • Joe's Pub
Fri, September 24, 2010
* Norfolk, CT • Infinity Hall
Sat, September 25, 2010
* Northampton, MA • Iron Horse
Mon, September 27, 2010
* Boston, MA • Johnny D's
Tue, September 28, 2010
* Middlebury College Center for the Arts
Wed, September 29, 2010

More information is available at www.abigailwashburn.com

I have been recording slowly but steadily these past long summer days with David Vandervelde, and am arranging for a second string session with mad violin-scientist Jeremy Kittel in October.

Also new across my desk: T-SHIRT Design! I'll be making a very limited run, mostly for you backers who pre-ordered them, as I've seen way too many boxes of t-shirts go the way of the mildew in the forgotten basements of the music bizzz.

Also of note, tonight I will be accompanying Carl Broemel (collaborator and co-producer on the record) for the CD Release show of his new record, "ALL BIRDS SAY" - this is a very beautiful chunk of work, Pauls McCartney and Simon would both be proud - Check it out and get a free download at www.carlbroemel.com.

Viva la musica!

Kai

Beloved backers, my board of investors:

It's update time! 3 weeks have passed since the Kickstarter project was successfully funded. It's been nearly a month since we returned from China. Here's the skinny of what's been happening since last we talked:

My sometimes defunct, sometimes high-flying small business, Spaces Home Improvement, has made a comeback worthy of Betty White this past 2 weeks. Analysts like the numbers, and it looks like the company will not be lain permanently fallow, as was predicted. This is for a couple of reasons: 1) I like working. Sometimes. 2) Whether I like it or not, I have to buy things on a daily basis - food, drink, cold air for my window AC unit, etc. And as appealing as it seemed to subsist on my kickstarter donations for about 2 months while doing nothing but snacking and watching back-to-back episodes of HBO shows on Netflix streaming, I decided to do the right thing and keep the record money separate from my life money. So I have buckled down and done a bunch of good old fashioned home repairs! I tiled a floor, trimmed out a little 2-bedroom house, removed and replaced a faulty window, and worst of all, flashed counter-flashed sided and panned a chimney on a 14-pitch A-Frame roof. That last one came pretty close to ending me.

I have also played music. I had the pleasure of joining Bobby Bare, Jr. at the Music City Roots Concert Series, held at the famous Loveless Cafe Music Barn, and broadcast live on WSM 650 a.m. (the grand ole' opry radio station). Legendary DJ Eddie Stubbs MC'd the event from his podium, and chili and cowboy boots were advertised live in between sets. The chili representative was a bubbly vixen in a cutoff jean skirt, bared midriff, and spring-break-Daytona-Beach style cowboy hat. Only in Nashville! The excellent sirs Tim O'Brien and Jim Lauderdale also graced the stage that night.

Later that week, I played a triple-header at our local neighborhood place of debauchery, the 5Spot. I played a set backed up by many of the players who will be on the record, then Abigail Washburn and our China band did our thing for the 1st time in Nashville, and finally Bobby Bare Jr. closed out the night with loud fun music. I never left the stage, and was nothing more than a carcass by the end of the night.

The next morning, after a solid 2 hours of sleep, Abigail and I dragged ourselves to the airport to head to Philadelphia to play a private show for the lovely Asplundh family of Bryn Athyn, PA. They were incredibly generous Kickstarter backers, and funded a huge part of my record in exchange for our performance there. The weekend could not have been more pleasant, and we hope to see you again soon Kurt Jenn & awesome offspring!

I have only enjoyed one day in the studio in the past month, due to scheduling challenges. I had 3 days booked early on, but Kenny Rogers decided to do a vocal duet with some hot young country chick, and apparently Kenny's whims take precedence over my life. The one day I did get to record was extremely fruitful, though - it was my first day in a new studio, bringing the tracking count up to 4 separate locations. This new spot is great and I plan to do a lot of the final overdubs there, mostly on the strength of its owner/operator - Indie maestro David Vandervelde (Secretly Canadian Records; www.myspace.com/davidvandervelde).

I also went to the dentist, had a bunch of cavities, had to go back to the dentist, and wrote a song with the mighty Kym Warner of the Greencards, which I will include here in primordial demo form for you to check out. Listen closely and you can hear the cicadas of the August evening outside. I like the tune, and am considering making room for it on the record - any votes yay or nay will be given apt consideration. I have also made progress on the record artwork front, which is exciting - sort of like putting a face to the name.

THANKS BACKERS! With much to look forward to,

Kai

So it's officially official - thanks to you, my kickstarter project was successfully funded on July 31. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE SHOWING, y'all - THANKS SO MUCH!!!

Here's a nice live shoot of Carl Broemel (who is playing guitars and helping produce on the record), and an ace band doing a song at Lake Fever Studios in Nashville. That's me playing keys and singing the super high girl part. It's an honor to be in such good company with this band.

Carl Broemel "Carried Away" from Tugboat Productions on Vimeo.

So much time in the van.... The mind begins to lose its grip.

Everybody loves a "making-of" vid. Almost as much as we love "sneak-peaks", "behind the scenes access", "exclusive first-looks", and "bloopers reels". This is a little of everything.

Everyone enjoy -

****AND IF YOU THINK OF ANYONE WHO HASN'T BEEN INVITED TO THE KICKSTARTER, PLEASE DO - 3 DAYS LEFT!!!*****

I have successfully purchased 30 pair of mongolian bomber goggles, after intense international negotiations. You gotta play hardball with these Chinese businessmen. We finally settled on a fair price, and he didn't even charge me extra for riding his bicycle across Beijing to meet me with 30 pair of goggles in his satchel. I have his card, if anyone would like to start an import/export operation.

Back in the States on Monday! Back to work on the record!

Thanks backers,
Big love from Beijing,
Kai