Crowdfunding Campaigns of the Week: Taarka, Lenore, Jalopy Records

While there are multiple sites that cater to crowdfunding campaigns for musicians, it seems that, more often than not, the albums featured in this space come from PledgeMusic. This isn’t surprising since PledgeMusic is the one service that caters only to music, not to technology or games or charity as other sites do as well. So in this week’s edition of Crowdfunding Campaigns of the Week, I decided to intentionally spend some extra time with one of the other sites, Kickstarter, to bring some roots music gems that might need a little more digging to find.

Taarka- Fading Mystery

My first encounter with Taarka came about like many of my first encounters with bands, as part of a bill at the Americana Music Festival with another couple of acts I wanted to see. Being the last band on the lineup (the headliner slot at most festivals, but the “I’ve got to go to bed” crowd emptying slot at Americanafest), the people left to see them at The Station Inn might have been scattered but they received a show they wouldn’t soon forget. Now Taarka is crowdfunding their seventh album, titled Fading Mystery, through Kickstarter. This is the group’s first stab at crowdfunding and they’ve brought along some friends to help. The band’s own David Tiller will produce, with mastering by David Glass and album artwork by Skin Wars winning painter Natalie Fletcher. If fully funded, the band also plans to release at least two videos. Backer rewards include an advanced digital copy of the album before it goes on sale to the public, a signed copy of the album artwork, and instrument lessons from members of Taarka.

Lenore- Self-Titled Debut

Portland’s Lenore, consisting of Joy Pearson and Rebecca Marie Miller, may be a brand new band, but they aren’t brand new to the music scene. Both ladies have enjoyed careers lending their vocal and instrumental talents to other groups such as The Mynabirds and the High Water Jazz Band, the pair found themselves individually experiencing some challenging life changes and a happenstance meeting through mutual friend Pokey LaFarge led to a band. Now they’re taking to Kickstarter to fund their first record together. Backer rewards include merchandise bundles, a custom “Lenore” scent, and a chance to have Lenore record a cover song, from Beyonce to Journey “no song is off limits”, according to the reward page.

Jalopy Records Seven Inch Subscription Service

Subscription boxes are all the rage these days. Whether you’re into comic books, board games, snacks, or even dog toys, there’s probably a subscription box for it. So, with the revival of vinyl, it’s probably no surprise that the vinyl subscription box is becoming more and more popular. Jalopy Records, home to noted artists like Hubby Jenkins, Clifton Hicks, and Gato Paloma, has gotten in on the action too with a seven inch subscription service. They will release a new seven inch album every four weeks and subscribers through Kickstarter can have all. Backer levels include an all-digital subscription for those who want the music but not the physical media, as well as various vinyl subscription packages that come with extras like patches and mixtapes.