CROWDFUNDING RADAR: Three Projects that Offer Lessons and More Perks

Being a professional musician is tough. For every one who can make a living through albums and touring, there are thousands who have to supplement their income with other kinds of work. In some cases, these musicians turn to teaching for that extra income. So it’s no surprise that lessons are a fairly common part of crowdfunding rewards packages. They provide the kind of high-dollar perk that can push a campaign over the top and give the personalized experience that’s important to any good crowdfunding campaign. This month, I’ve got three campaigns with a teaching element, some musical and some not.

Mary Bue- The Wildness of Living and Dying (click here to view campaign)
A carjacking in late 2020 left award-winning songwriter Mary Bue with a load of trauma and some serious uncertainty about her fellow human beings. What came out of that trauma is The Wildness of Living and Dying, Bue’s forthcoming album, her ninth. Bue is raising $15,000 through Kickstarter to fund the release and promotion of the already recorded album. But Bue isn’t just a musician. She’s also a certified yogi and her available teaching perks pull from both. You can get a single yoga class or eight week course as a backer perk. You can also get a 60 minute “Creative Consultation” to discuss whatever interests you about the life of a professional musician. Additionally, you can get the album in digital, CD, and vinyl formats. Other perks include vinyl copies of her last two albums, handwritten lyrics, a cover song, and Bue’s green Premier guitar, signed.

Courtney Hartman- With You (click here to view campaign)
Former Della Mae guitarist and Americana Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year nominee Courtney Hartman found her musical life changed after the birth of her first child. She found the concept of being a good parent and a full-time musician daunting and the music industry as a whole didn’t offer much help. So, after some time spent as a birthing doula, Hartman began the process of creating her new album by writing to a number of successful musicians who were also mothers, leading to some great collaborations on her new album With You. Among Hartman’s writing partners are Anna Egge, Sara Siskind, Tift Merritt, and Dawn Landes. She also features special appearances from Meritt, Phil Cook, The Nunnery, and Watchouse on the album. Hartman is raising $30,000 to release her new album and promote it. Teaching perks for this campaign include a 3-session guitar workshop, a songwriting mentorship involving three 75-minute songwriting sessions, and an hour-long “creativity chat.” The album is available in digital, CD, and vinyl formats. Other perks include a digital download of unreleased instrumentals, a Zoom concert featuring some of Hartman’s collaborators, handwritten poems, perennial seeds gathered from Hartman’s plsnt nursery, and the chance for Hartman to write an original song for you.

Ian Fisher- Go Gentle (click here to view campaign)
Ian Fisher is a Missouri native who splits his time between homes in Canada and Vienna. He’s also a veteran crowdfunder, having funded three previous albums on Kickstarter. For this album, Go Gentle, Fisher found inspiration from his late mother. Now he’s running a $10,000 Kickstarter campaign to get it out into the world. The teaching aspect of this campaign comes in the form of songwriting lessons or, for the more experienced, collaboration. The album is available in digital, CD, and vinyl formats, the digital arriving early. You can also get backer perks that include a signed seed paper postcard, handwritten lyrics, a cover song of your specification, custom artwork, or a house concert.