Karen Jonas (photo by Domenic Cicala)
A few months ago, I wrote about how important vinyl is to the crowdfunding business. One of this month’s featured artists inspired me to write about it again. This artist, having reached their initial crowdfunding goal, set a stretch goal to press vinyl of the new album. It’s something I’ve seen increase as vinyl has re-emerged as the dominant physical media format. Artists who may have thought vinyl was out of their price range suddenly find themselves fully funded and stretching toward a vinyl release with additional funding. This month, all three of my campaigns are prominently featuring vinyl as a perk.
Joy Clark – Tell It To the Wind (click here to view campaign)
Clark’s campaign was the one that inspired me to focus on vinyl this month. Having reached her $25,000 funding goal for her new album with over a week to go, Clark excitedly announced a $7,000 stretch goal to go toward pressing Tell It To the Wind on vinyl, something she says she’s dreamed of her whole musical career. The Louisiana-based musician is known to many as the guitarist in Allison Russell’s Rainbow Coalition band, but Clark has received acclaim for her own songwriting prowess. While the vinyl isn’t currently on her backer menu, you can get the album on a signed CD. Other perks include a “digital goody” such as voice memos Clark often records on the road, a personalized video, a virtual listening party for the album with a live Q&A, and a meet-and-greet opportunity at one of Clark’s shows.
Karen Jonas – The Rise and Fall of American Kitsch (click here to view campaign)
Before “Americana” was formalized as a musical genre, it was used to described nostalgic items or settings, things that were uniquely American. Hot dogs, apple pie, baseball, and the like. For Karen Jonas, “Americana” comes in the form of kitsch: plastic flamingos (which she dedicates an entire song to on her new album), Elvis on velvet, porcelain religious icons. And, of course, lots and lots of vinyl, preferably played on a huge cabinet-style record player. So it’s no surprise that the Kickstarter campaign for her album The Rise and Fall of American Kitsch features a vinyl option as a backer perk. You can also get the album in digital and signed CD formats. Other backer perks include a pair of autographed plastic flamingos, a tiki-themed listening party, limited edition studio chart books, and an autographed pink flamingo ukulele.
Anni Rossi – House on the Seaside (click here to view campaign)
Anni Rossi is going all-in on vinyl to help propel her $5,000 Kickstarter campaign across the finish line. The album isn’t being offered on CD and only in digital format as a companion to the vinyl release. It’s been over a decade since Rossi released her last studio album and, in that time, she has fallen in love with a musical instrument custom-made for her that she calls a “viola-tar.” The four-stringed instrument mixes the strumming abilities of the guitar with the familiarity of the viola that Rossi trained on. In addition to the vinyl, which is a part of every backer level, perks include a digital download of Rossi’s complete discography, a download of unreleased demos and voice memos, a custom cover song of your choice, and a personalized 90-minute “musical mentorship” with Rossi.
