Crowdfunding Campaigns of the Week: Tim Easton and Nils Lofgren Go Non-Traditional

While crowdfunding sites are a great way to raise money for a new project, they have become so popular that sometimes just releasing a new album isn’t enough to make you stand out from the crowd. So in this week’s edition of Crowdfunding Campaigns of the Week, I’m going to take a look at two non-traditional campaigns from roots musicians. Each one takes the musician out of his comfort zone, with the use of a unique recording method and a fully improvised and recorded jam.

Tim Easton- Bristol Sessions

With the resurgence of vinyl as the only growing physical medium of music, it’s become trendy for roots artists to record their new album in mono. Enough so that just doing a mono recording isn’t enough to stand out anymore. Tim Easton, long a fixture on the Nashville Americana scene and someone who has never been afraid to take chances, has pulled a Spinal Tap on the mono recording thing and turned it up to 11. His new album Bristol Sessions is not only recorded in mono, it’s recorded directly to lacquer. Using a vintage lathe located at a studio in Bristol, VA, Easton recorded the album the way legends like Robert Johnson did, playing and singing while the needle cuts directly to acetate. Easton is aiming to raise enough funds to transfer the album to limited edition vinyl and a portion of the money raised will go to the charity Leave Out Violence. Backer rewards include a hand painted vinyl jacket, guitar strings used to make the album, and a Skype lesson from Tim Easton.

Nils Lofgren- Blind Date Jam

Nils Lofgren is best known as guitarist for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame backing band to Bruce Springsteen, The E Street Band. Springsteen’s ever evolving set lists and “Stump the E Street Band” segment of his tours keeps the band on its musical toes, so it’s not too much of a surprise that, when he goes solo, Lofgren sets himself the challenge of full improvisation. The result is Blind Date Jam. Available as a video download, Blind Date Jam is simply Lofgren and some friends gathering with no rehearsals, discussion, or setlist. Fans see it all unfold organically, as Lofgren throws out ideas, chords are briefly discussed, and then they launch into the songs. Backer rewards include access to Lofgren’s solo back catalog, signed handwritten lyric sheets, and a signed copy of Lofgren’s long out of print tribute dvd.