Crowdfunding Campaigns of the Week: Bird Streets, Sons of Bill, and The Cowsills

In last week’s column, I mentioned that the summer touring season meant a bit of a lull for crowdfunding sites, as artists focus on hitting the road instead of the studio. For that reason, I chose to focus that column on a set of vinyl reissues. While I’m sure I’ll do more in the future, as it’s becoming a bigger thing every day, I didn’t want to leave the impression that a lull in crowdfunding new projects meant a stop. So this week, I’m featuring three new projects from PledgeMusic. While I didn’t plan it as a theme, this week also strays more toward the indie rock/folk pop side of Americana’s big tent.

Bird Streets- Bird Streets
Bird Streets is a name you probably aren’t familiar with as they’re a brand new duo. But there’s a chance you might know its principles as both are well-respected sidemen who have also released some strong solo material. John Brodeur has played with The Suggestions and Maggie Mayday. For Bird Streets he has teamed up with Jason Falkner, a musician and producer who has worked with Paul McCartney, Nigel Godrich, and is currently lead guitarist for Beck. Together, the pair pulls from their extensive indie and power pop history for a set of songs that will be coming in August from Omnivore Records. Backer rewards include signed copies of the album on CD and vinyl.

Sons of Bill- Oh God, Ma’am
Sons of Bill has always been an act that’s a bit hard to classify. They float easily between alt-country and indie-folk on a song by song basis. What remains consistent is their thoughtful, highly literate lyrics, as would be expected from the children of a professor of Southern literature. Their new album, Oh God, Ma’am, promises more of the same. It comes out June 29 and is currently available for pre-order at PledgeMusic. Backer rewards include signed copies of the album on CD and vinyl, an autographed poster, handwritten lyric sheets, and one of Sam Wilson’s Gibson Les Paul guitars from a previous tour.

The Cowsills- New Album
Most of the time when I’m writing about bands from the ’60s, its in terms of a vinyl re-issue. So it’s nice to get to talk about an act who came to prominence during that era releasing a brand new album, and using crowdfunding to reach their audience. Even if you aren’t familiar with The Cowsills by name, you have undoubtedly heard their work if you’ve tuned into a classics station for more than a couple of hours. Both their version of the title track to the musical Hair and their song “The Rain, The Park, and Other Things” are fixtures on oldies stations. They were originally slated to star in the family-music show that eventually became The Partridge Family. While four of the band’s members have died, three of the siblings continue to tour and record. Backer rewards include signed copies of the album on CD and vinyl, a limited edition a cappella hits CD, and a Skype session with the band from the studio.