Crowdfunding Campaigns of the Week: Hush Kids and Shawn Mullins

Every week gives a new reminder that autumn is here. The leaves change, the days get cooler, and this week, we all get to participate in the annual ritual of “falling back” to Standard Time. Autumn also brings an increase in the number of crowdfunding campaigns as the summer touring season ends and artists make their way back into the studio. While a lot of recent crowdfunding activity is more of the “pre-release with bonuses” variety, this week I’m taking it back to the roots with two pure crowdfunding campaigns, complete with funding goals.

Hush Kids- Debut Album

I’m more excited about this campaign than I have been for any in a while. I have been a big fan of Jill Andrews for over a decade, tracking her through her period with The Everybodyfields and through her excellent solo material. Now Andrews is going back to a duo, joining up with Peter Groenwald. With two strong songwriters in the band and two strong voices, Hush Kids promises to be a debut album worth checking out. But first they have to make their goal, which stands at 20% at the time of writing but has 55 days left to make it. Backer rewards include “The Winter Bundle”, which includes a Hush Kids knit beanie, a digital download of two Hush Kids Christmas songs, and a coffee mug, a signed vinyl test pressing, and horn charts.

Shawn Mullins- Soul’s Core Revival

I came to the music of Shawn Mullins pretty late to the party, having first heard of him when he was part of Phil Madeira’s Mercyland project. This year, Mullins is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of his breakthrough album Soul’s Core by releasing not one but two albums of re-imagined versions of the songs, called Soul’s Core Revival. One will be a solo acoustic recording and the other will be a full band version with Soul Carnival. Mullins currently stands at 43% funded with over 100 days left in the campaign. Backer rewards include a CD/vinyl bundle, a coffee mug, and a chance to co-write a song with Shawn.