Kickstarter

Update 1/4/2013: Album Recorded

We've just finished the record! I'll be adding a new track below each day between now and the end of the campaign.

Bonus Outtake: Mr. Potato Blues

Thursday's Song: Can't Get on Board

Wednesday's Song: We Stayed in the Mountains

Tuesday's Song: Buy a Congressman

Monday's Song: Come What May

Sunday's Song: Tortoise Shell Blues

Update 12/25/2012: Giving Back

We will donate $1 from every CD sale and 5 to 10 percent from all other merchandise sales. These donations will go to the following charities that are working to improve conditions nationally and globally: 

Against Malaria Foundation - Distributing malaria nets in the developing world to prevent infection. Their effectiveness in preventing disease and premature death has made them a top-rated charity according to GiveWell and Giving What We Can. 

Appalachian Voices - Protecting the air, water, land, and people of the central and southern Appalachian Mountains.

Earthjustice - Advancing environmental protection through the courts and in communities for more than 40 years.

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth - Mobilizing communities to stop mountaintop removal in Eastern Kentucky.

Move to Amend - Building a movement to amend the constitution so that a) corporations are not considered people, and b) money is not considered speech.

Oxfam - "an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Together with individuals and local groups in 94 countries, Oxfam saves lives, helps people overcome poverty, and fights for social justice."

For these and similar organizations, I also plan to make myself and my songs available for fundraising, rallies, protests, and publicity campaigns.

My hope is that these efforts will play some small role in moving these initiatives forward.

Introduction

Left and right agree on fewer and fewer things in this country. But there's one big thing both sides see eye to eye on -- we're in trouble. 

I was born in Leslie County, Kentucky, in the heart of the Cumberland Mountains, one of the poorest -- but most beautiful -- regions in the country. My mother is a coal miner's daughter who was educated in a one-room schoolhouse until ninth grade. My father was raised by Methodist missionaries just a few country miles away. Though I was raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, I spent a lot of time in Leslie County growing up, and it felt as much like home to me as Knoxville did. Still does. 

I've written songs on and off since I was nine. After college I moved to Nashville, released a five-song EP in 2004, and played a lot of gigs in Nashville and in surrounding cities. Seven years later I moved to Washington, DC to focus on environmental work. That work, what I've seen here, and what is going on in the places I come from -- and throughout this country -- have reignited my need to create. I wanted to lend my voice to the chorus pleading for a saner path forward. 

Over the course of this year I've written more than enough songs to fill a full-length album, which will be my first. This record is an attempt to bridge the world I came from and the world I inhabit now. If we can somehow achieve that as a society, I believe we can find a way out of the darkness together.

The Album

I am deeply concerned about the future, particularly regarding rising inequality, the environment, and legitimized corruption in our government. I believe these are things we have to address with a sense of urgency.  

I have written about all these issues -- either directly or indirectly -- for this album. In "We Stayed in the Mountains," I've written about the effect that the natural gas boom is having on families in central Appalachia. Preceded by timber and coal, natural gas is the latest extractive industry to undermine people's ability to maintain healthy lives there. 

"Buy a Congressman" takes us back to coal country, where a wealthy coal CEO reverses a slow business cycle by funding and befriending sympathetic politicians.

"More" is the title track. That one word captures so much about what drives not only the behavior I've described above, but all of us. We have insatiable urges. Combine that with advanced technology and terrible things are possible. We have to learn restraint, and fairly quickly I'm afraid. It's a very tall order.

Other songs, such as "Can't Get On Board," "Come What May," and "Freedom Train," are of a more personal nature, but are nonetheless variations on the central theme. 

And yes, "These Hills," which is featured in the video at the top of this page (click on the big picture of me), is also included.

I booked studio time in Nashville in the first part of January, and I assembled a first-rate team. I recorded at the Bomb Shelter, which is where the Alabama Shakes recently recorded their album. Andrija Tokic, my engineer, also engineered the Shakes' record. My band is Dave Roe on bass, Matt Combs on fiddle, Chris Scruggs on steel guitar, and Micah Hulscher on piano. These guys have toured and/or recorded with everyone from Johnny Cash to Doc Watson to Elvis Costello to the Harry James Orchestra. I'm thrilled to work with a group with this range and depth of collective experience.

Where You Come In

After 25 years of writing songs it's finally time for me to record a full studio album back in Nashville. But breaking even on this project will be difficult in an industry with decreasing opportunities for steady sources of revenue. 

That's why I'm asking for your help. If we can raise $6,000, that will cover the cost of bringing the album to market. But to really make this project a success, I need to build a successful promotional campaign, which will require additional resources. That's why I'm hoping that we can raise that first $6,000, then keep on going.

Thanks for Your Help

Whether you contribute a dollar or $6,000, there is no irony in the statement that you will have my undying gratitude. If you have any questions about this project, do not hesitate to email me at info@gbparker.com.

You can visit my website at gbparker.com to listen to some tunes, watch some videos of me performing in noisy venues, and read one of history's funniest spams.