Ready, Shoot, Aim...Publicity and my Recording Project

I have been horrible about writing on this blog.... I started the year with grand intentions of actually having some follow through and writing daily, or at least most days. Of course, when I got the chance to launch my recording project fundraising on Kickstarter, I jumped at it! I never realized that it would be like another full-time job.

Writing letters, designing brochures, filming videos, answering interview questions...posting Facebook status updates. For the last 3 weeks I have been honing my "pitch." I have been learning about myself, my craft, my creativity, this is an incredible exercise!

I have reached 21% funded, with 47 days to go! It seems like I have a very long way to go, and a short time to get there, but I was reading last night about 94% of Kickstarter projects that reach 25% funded end up fully funded! That is something I can sink my teeth into. It somehow means 25% seems to be the threshold where you have enough people that want to make the project happen, that they won't let you fail. It is enough to not let yourself fail. I have put so many hours into the project, I don't want to let anyone down!

I have written a Tampa version of a press release, which I will share here! Please check it out... repost this blog... share the project with friends...and most of all, realize that I am really enjoying the process!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information contact: Bryce Westervelt, brycewestervelt@hotmail.com

Available for interview – in studio appearances

Local Singer Receives Special Invitation, Launches Recording Project

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL, FEBRUARY 12, 2010: Tampa Bay area tenor, Bryce Westervelt is launching a campaign to fund a new recording of Franz Schubert’s masterpiece Die schöne Müllerin.

Westervelt has received an invitation from Kickstarter.com to submit his recording project. Kickstarter.com is a website for artists to showcase their artistic endeavors. The website helps artists promote and organize a grass-roots style campaign to fund their project in a way that gives “backers” (whether they give $1 or $100) something in return.

“Fundraising for the arts in this economic environment is tough, especially as an independent artist,” says Westervelt. “Featuring my recording project on Kickstarter lets my donors get a rare behind-the-scenes look at the project from concept to completion. The best part is you don’t have to be wealthy to be a part of something special.”

Donors to the project will receive gifts ranging from exclusive project access and copies of the recording, to having their name listed in the liner notes or having their own personal concert. Project backers also receive one-on-one interaction with the artist through the entire project.

“[I] love the ‘Sponsor a measure’ idea,” Yancey Strickler remarked about the $5 donation level on Kickstarter’s blog. “[Offers like these] are things that entice me to back. Let me share in your story. Let me feel like I played a role.”

Westervelt has set a project budget of $6500 that will cover all recording expenses and must be raised by April 1, 2010, for the project to be funded. If he does not reach the goal by April 1, none of the backers are charged and the project does not move forward.

Westervelt’s long-time colleague, pianist R. Timothy McReynolds will collaborate with him on the project. This will be Westervelt’s debut recording. Westervelt is familiar to Bay area concert-goers for his appearances in recent seasons with Opera Tampa, the Florida Orchestra, and the St. Petersburg Opera. In the last year, his performance schedule has taken him to seven states and Italy performing in various concerts, recitals, and operas.

More information about Westervelt’s recording project can be found by visiting:

http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/brycewestervelt and clicking on the Debut CD Project link.

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Tenor, Bryce Westervelt, is sought after as a soloist with opera companies, orchestras, and choral groups across the nation. His concert repertoire spans over 50 major works, and he has been a featured artist with many groups over the last decade.

Pursuing a career that embraces art song, opera, chamber music, and cabaret, pianist R. Timothy McReynolds is also active as a teacher and vocal coach. He is a full-time Vocal Coach on the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Music.

Kickstarter.com is a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors and explorers. www.kickstarter.com

Bryce Westervelt can be reached by email at brycewestervelt@hotmail.com.

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My Recording Project, Kickstarter Worthy?

Last night, I was sitting in front of the TV, eating some leftover lasagna from the night before and I saw an interesting tease on the local evening news. The tease was about "new website" that was offering "thousands in free money for good ideas." Being a sucker for the words free money and good ideas, I decided to stick around and see what this was all about.

Two segments later I see the story on the news.  The story is about a website called Kickstarter.com .  I won't go into the news item, but it interested me enough to hop online and check out the website.   What I found on the very first page of their site really got me extremely excited.   "Kickstarter is a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers..."

The basic idea behind Kickstarter is give people a way to organize fundraising efforts for their artistic projects.   Well, as I mention in my very first blog, I have three very, very specific projects for the year.   I have been talking about Germany a bit, but I haven't mentioned too much about the other two...the recital tour (which I need to seriously begin to put on the calendar) and the CD.   Kickstarter helps match up investors (as well as your social network) to help you meet your fundraising goals.  

Recording has to this point been a very large dream.  I have several people who have been asking me when I would record.   When I tell people that I meet that I am an "opera singer" they always jump straight to "Do you have a CD?"   I have to always answer, "Unfortunately, no."   One of the huge issues has always been cost.  It is expensive to record.   It is expensive to record it right. I often ask myself, "How on earth am I going to pay for the $5-$15k it would take to make a CD, the right way?  I have very difficult time asking people for any help; people want a CD, but are they willing to help me invest in this project?"   Last night I found a way to do more than test the waters....Kickstarter.

I have three things that I really must do to "set up shop" on Kickstarter, to help me get off the ground with my recording project.

• Settle on specific repertoire - This is important because it drastically affects the budget.  Recording with just piano is less expensive than with chamber musicians or orchestra.  Recording music in the public domain is less expensive than recording music of the last century.  Balancing what I want to record versus what someone would invest in is huge.  I have to define the project.
  
• Establish basic budget  - Once I have settled on repertoire, this will be much easier to accomplish
  
• Develop a pitch - This will include things such as a video presentation of the project, a written pitch, and developing whatever incentives that I will have for my investors.

I couldn't sleep last night, so I kind of worked this through in my head a bit, with the help of the fine folks of my Facebook fan page who I asked a couple of months ago, what type of CD I should record for a debut recording.   It seems fitting that if I am moving to Germany and will be singing more Lieder, that I should revisit Franz Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin.   This is a piece that I first sang in graduate school, and is a cornerstone piece in the Lieder repertoire.   This is also a cost effective piece as there are no royalties, it is just singer and piano, and can be recorded in only a couple of days of "studio time."  It also fits very nicely on one CD.  It also makes for a nice stand alone recital program.

I think the most important thing beyond cost is that  I want to do this with all of my heart.  This is a piece of music that has always spoken to me, since I first heard a recording of Fritz Wunderlich singing it.  It is a piece of repertoire that I can embrace living with for the next several months.  I would love to I think that now I have a deeper understanding today of the raw emotions of the text and the musical style than I did back a decade ago.  I could go on and on, but I will save that for the project itself... 

This all sounds great, right?  One small problem....you can't just hop on Kickstarter to set up your project.  You must have an invite.   So, goal one:  get a pitch ready in the next day or two and get an invite to the site.  I could go directly to the site (hundreds a day do this) and basically be put on a wait list.....or I could get creative.  This is what this is all about, right? Creativity.

I think my project is Kickstarter worthy....now I just have to get someone to agree with me.