Crowdfunding Campaigns of the Week: Daddy and Dolly Parton

Crowdfunding campaigns are a great way to raise money for a new album or tour. But sometimes, they’re also a great way to tie an album or tour to fundraising for a cause. While charitable fundraising is more prevalent on sites like GoFundMe, some musicians also choose to tie a portion of their album sales to a cause they believe in. So in this week’s edition of Crowdfunding Campaigns of the Week, I’m going to feature two albums that involve raising money for something other than just music.

Daddy- New Album

If you’re a fan of Americana or roots music at all, you likely already know Will Kimbrough or Tommy Womack. Both have been fixtures of Nashville’s rock and Americana scene since the ’80s and both have collaborated with numerous other artists through the years. Kimbrough and Womack’s band together, Daddy, recorded a new album earlier this year at Blackbird Studios. But now the urgency to get the new album out is greater as Womack is facing yet another taxing and expensive battle with cancer. I’ve highlighted fundraising campaigns for Womack here in the past, but this one is about a straightforward as it gets. Buy the new album. No frills, no extras, Kimbrough isn’t even hosting this campaign on one of the major crowdfunding sites. All of the money goes directly to Daddy. Kimbrough offers both Paypal and mail options. Daddy’s songs are always fun and the new album should be a blast.

Dolly Parton- I Believe in You

You’d be hard pressed to find a female artist in Americana, or most male artists for that matter, who haven’t been influenced by Dolly Parton. Her list of country standards is longer than practically anyone in the industry. She also has a reputation for being one of the most charitably minded artists in the world, donating millions to various charities over the years. One of her, and my, favorites is Imagination Library. Imagination Library provides free age-appropriate books to children from age birth to five. Imagination Library has distributed over 100 million books.

Parton has recently recorded her first ever children’s album, with a portion of the money going to Imagination Library. The album’s 14 songs are all originals, including a re-recorded version of Parton’s hit “Coat of Many Colors” and a spoken-word version of the same song. Backer rewards include a hand-written lyric sheet, a postcard from Dolly, and a life-size Dolly Parton wall cling.