Just wanted to send a sincere THANK YOU to all of you who have contributed to The Whitney Project over the last 38 days!  At 5:14pm last night I reached the $3500 minimum goal threshold of funding, securing the entirety of the pledges for the project!

There are still 60 hours left in the project, which gives me 60 more hours to make this EP even better - please keep promoting this Kickstarter project amongst your friends and family while there is still time!

Yesterday was also the first day of recording for the album!  I've laid down roughly 40% of the lead single from the album, which will be released to Kickstarter backers who have donated at least $5 before the wide release in digital retail stores.  I am hoping to have this out to you by the end of this month, with the official release in mid February.  I am incredibly delighted to announce that this lead single will be the anthemic 1993 power ballad from the movie, The Bodyguard, "I Have Nothing."

Thank you all again for you continued support.  You are all FANTASTIC!!!!

<3 Jim

I cannot thank everyone enough for the support for my Kickstarter project -- I have just a little over ONE week left to raise $1010!!!  You have all been so generous and so excellent promoting my project, and I can't wait to get into the recording studio next week to start makin' some magic!

Keep promoting the link and spreading word - we're closing in on the final stretch here!

<3 Jim

Thank you guys so much!  From everyone's assistance in promoting the link, and sending people to this site to donate, I am only $139 away from hitting $1750 -- 50% of my total, with 3 weeks left to go!

Keep on promoting -- I have another group incentive coming once I hit $2000!  Let's set that goal for Sunday night at midnight!  You won't want to miss this one.

<3 Jim

http://www.casa.org/content/why-you-want-support-jim-diegos-whitney-project

(This was posted initially on the CASA website as a blog post, at the above link.  Enjoy!)

“Be who you are and say what you feel because people who mind don’t matter, and people who matter don’t mind."
       – Dr. Seuss

One of my favorite quotes. In fact, I chose this one to accompany my half-pager in my high school senior year yearbook. These words are ones I’ve tried to live by throughout my formative years, into college, and now today as an adult – my “mantra,” so to speak. Since graduating high school in Kansas, I’ve grown to embrace who I am in all my endeavors, through my academics while in school; through my tasks and duties in my career as an architect and urban planner; and of course, through my passions as a performer.

So it probably comes as no surprise to those that know me well that I’ve decided to pursue a solo recording project. It has always been a dream of mine, ever since I was a little kid, to record something at a professional level. When deciding a common theme for my project, I always kept that Dr. Seuss quote in the back of my head. …Be who you are – something I have never been afraid of doing. In a time when civil rights for all persons has returned to the forefront of the political and ideological rhetoric, and projects such as “It Gets Better” are realized in response to the suicides of teenagers who were bullied because they were gay or because their peers suspected that they were gay, I felt that it was important to be able to contribute my efforts to a cause near and dear to my heart -- being able to empower people, especially young people, to “be themselves” – to discover their self-identity and value their individuality, uniqueness, distinctiveness, characteristics and personality.

This album is a way for me to be able to demonstrate to them that it's "okay" to be different, that it's "okay" to be an individual and not subscribe to the norms of society. Surely, it's not everyday that you'll see a guy tackle an album of songs originally performed by a woman, let alone Whitney Houston. You may ask, why Whitney? In my opinion, her songs have an emotional depth and a musical intricacy, qualities that can be interpreted in many different ways. Not only will I be challenged in those emotional and musical levels, I'll also be attempting to break down barriers of gender conformity myself. And still exude *fierceness* while doing so. (werq.)

Gender stereotypes for young people are becoming less rigid than they have been in the past, but they still remain a pervasive part of popular culture. As an adult, social politics and games are an ever-present part of life. There’s a constant pressure in many circles to be a certain way, act a certain way, live a certain lifestyle. I say... ignore all that. Figure out who you are, what you want, and just go do it. Forget the world and their expectations of you. Life is way too short, and your true friends will support you in what you want to do, no matter how geeky it is. I'm doing it... and I'm doing just fine - while realizing my dream.

Here you guys go! Thanks again so much for spreading the word and helping me get to my first $1000! Keep sharing the link, and again THANK YOU!!!!

It's only been ONE week, and already, $867 has been raised for The Whitney Project!  The arrangements are going very well, and I'm super excited to get these songs going for when I get into the recording studio this January!  Really... thank you all so much, from the bottom of my heart.  We still have a little over a month left to raise up to my $3500 goal, but I wanted to give you all a little extra incentive...

Only $133 separates the amount currently raised from an even $1000 raised.  If the pledge amount gets to the $1000 mark by midnight tomorrow (that means, the cusp of Tuesday/Wednesday, just so we don't get confused), all of you backers will be blessed with a group incentive gift in video form!  What it is?  Well, just get me to $1000 to find out! :)

Over the next day or so, I'll be posting a little "blog" to explain more of my inspirations and motivations for this project.  My hope is that it will bring new light to all of you as to why I've decided to pursue this endeavor, and what I hope it will bring to all of you, and to the world.

All of your help thus far has been extremely appreciated!  Please keep spreading the word, and send people to the following link to donate today: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jimdiegomusic/jim-diego-the-whitney-project 

<3 Jim