Crowdfunding Campaigns of the Week: Celebrating the Live Album

There is a beauty in live albums that I love. The best ones, Cheap Trick at Budokan, Frampton Comes Alive, or Jason & The Scorchers’ Midnight Roads and Stages Seen are sometimes the most raw, capturing songs from one or two shows in their entirety rather than cherry picking the best songs from an entire tour. A good live album can bring a touch of the energy and electricity of a concert performance to your living room. This week, I’ll be featuring crowdfunding campaigns for three new live albums. One is an archive release from a classic rocker while the other two are new releases from roots musicians.

Kenny Loggins- Live at Rock n’ Rockets 1998
Kenny Loggins is one of those artists you either love or hate. Even the genre labels he gets tagged with often seem slightly passive-aggressive; yacht rock, lite rock, adult-oriented rock. But there’s no denying Loggins has amassed a collection of hits across his solo career and his time with Loggins & Messina and that he has been a successful touring musician for over four decades now, proving he has given the people who do love him enough concert energy to keep them coming back. Now Loggins is preparing to release a concert album from his 1998 performance at Disney’s Rock n’ Rockets festival. This is a PledgeMusic Direct pre-order, meaning it’s just the album release with no extras provided.

Richard Hawley- Live at the Devil’s Arse
Richard Hawley is an artist who has never reached significant mainstream notoriety, but possesses the musicianship to be highly regarded among his peers. This has led him to some interesting collaborations with the likes of Arctic Monkeys, R.E.M., and Pulp. His music, pulling heavily from the ’60s rockabilly of his native Sheffield, UK, has twice been captured live at Derbyshire’s Devil’s Arse Cave. Hawley performed there the first time in 2008 and then returned in 2017 for another show. Now both have been captured as a two albums aptly named Live at the Devil’s Arse (the 12 year old in me would have taken advantage of the cave setting and gone with Live IN the Devil’s Arse). The PledgeMusic campaign offers the album on CD and vinyl of each show separately or in bundles, as well as a Pete McKee art print.

Christa Joy- Untitled Live Album
Christa Joy has been slowly building a fan base on the East coast with her blend of classic country, folk, and Americana music. Now she’s preparing to release an as of yet untitled live album recorded in Vermont and Massachusetts. Joining her to fill out her sound are members of two other area bands, Walking Ghosts and Franklin County Sweethearts. I caught this campaign late, so there are only a few days left to pledge at her Kickstarter page. Backer rewards include copies of the live album and her most recent studio release, an intimate “invite only” house concert, and the chance to have Joy cover a country song of your choosing.