Greetings from Edinburgh!

Since becoming a duo two years ago, making music together has become our lifeline, our sustenance, our passion. It's just our favorite thing to do. 

We've played in churches, living rooms, coffee shops, bars, weddings, and conferences. We've met and collaborated with amazing people along the way. We've written and recorded two EPs, Together and Give It Away. We've made a transatlantic journey to follow our calling in Scotland.

And now, friends, it's time for something new: our FIRST FULL-LENGTH RECORD! We're calling it This Bell Will Ring.

The good news is that we have a slew of new songs, just waiting in the wings, itching to be recorded and shared with the wide world. The bad news is that we don't have the funding to record and produce these songs as an album. As independent artists, we don't have the resources of a record label to front the bills. What bills, you ask? Let's go through a little cost breakdown.

Recording
We have top-notch recording gear and a perfect space in our flat to use as a studio. However, we want other musicians to be involved in this project (think rich cello lines and bouncy banjo licks), and that costs money. Collaboration is a beautiful thing. But for a struggling musician, so is a full belly.

Production
After all the recording is done and dusted, an album must be mixed and mastered. Our resident recording guru (Ken) will take care of the mixing, but a professional will need to master it. And you guessed it, more money. Mastering is the final touch - the process of tweaking and equalizing and turning fancy knobs that makes a record, well, sound like a real record. It's the polish, the sparkle and shine that makes your ears tickle when you hear it.

Duplication & Distribution
The album's been recorded, mixed, and mastered. Everything is perfect. Now, it's time to get these songs in your eager little hands! For some of you, all that means is a simple online download. But did you know that it actually costs money to sell your music on iTunes? And for those who prefer a more hands-on approach, we make CDs. We'll choose a company, send them our master audio and our lovely album artwork (which could have YOUR name in the liner notes, by the way), and they'll ship us hot-off-the-press copies of This Bell Will Ring. Along with the cost of duplicating CDs is the moolah we'll pay the Royal Mail or the USPS to deliver them to you. See? In the end, it's really all about you.

Promotion
Thankfully, there are plenty of free promotional tools like Facebook, Twitter, and our very own website. But we have other (costly) dreams for promoting this record: producing a video of the recording process, organizing an album release concert in Edinburgh (and maybe even in the states, when we return!), printing materials to advertise the release, and more. 

Rewards
And who could forget the rewards?! When you become a backer of our campaign, you get all sorts of awesome stuff. But since some of you live across the ocean from us, we'll have to pay those lovely government entities once again to deliver the awesome stuff to your door. Don't miss out on custom lyric badges, or this incredible piece of artwork by Edinburgh artist Lou Davis, which masterfully incorporates lyrics from our song "City of Stone."

And all the while, through whole shebang, we'll keep you updated on how everything is going. We'll post videos of new song previews, photos of recording, and news about how your contributions are helping us make this dream come true. (Be sure to connect on Facebook and Twitter for access to these updates.) 

We can't make this record happen without your help, and we hope your world is a better place because of the music we make. From the deepest depths of our hearts, THANK YOU!

With love,
Ken & Casey