CROWDFUNDING RADAR: Vinyl Reissues from Jolie Holland, Roots of a Rebellion, and Anna Ash

The cornerstone of many an artist’s crowdfunding campaign is the vinyl release. Since vinyl is the only medium that hasn’t been all but killed by streaming, having a signed vinyl release, and sometimes a limited edition or vinyl test print as an option, is an easy way to get backers to pledge at one of the higher-dollar tiers. But vinyl is an unreachable goal for some young or regional artists, who can’t front the money for printing or can’t guarantee sales at a volume that makes a run of vinyl affordable. That has led to the rise of a small but growing corner of the crowdfunding world: the vinyl reissue campaign. Sometimes these campaigns promote vinyl editions of early albums in an established artist’s career. Others are vinyl pressings of newer releases that have gained enough steam to make vinyl financially viable. This edition of Crowdfunding Radar features three vinyl-focused campaigns.

Jolie Holland – Escondida (click here to view project)
Unlike many artists who do vinyl reissues, Jolie Holland had label support when she released her album Escondida for ANTI- in 2004. But the musical landscape was different then. CD were still the biggest music medium and vinyl was mostly considered something sought by collectors. So now Holland is raising funds to reissue Escondida on vinyl for the first time, and she is forgoing the traditional crowdfunding sites to run the campaign through her own page. Holland has an impressive variety of rewards available for backers in addition to the regular, signed, and test print vinyl editions. You can also get a tarot deck, an Escondida postcard mailed from the road, a call from Holland to tell you one of the many ghost stories she has collected over the years, or the 1947 Epiphone guitar Holland used during the original Escondida tour.

Roots of a Rebellion – Shapes of a Soul (click here to view project)
The combination of jam, reggae, roots rock, and dub that makes up the sound of Roots of a Rebellion has won them a significant regional following around their home base of Nashville, eventually leading to small stage appearances at major festivals like Bonnaroo. But when they released their newest album, Shapes of a Soul, in May, they took the next step, landing at No.1 on the Billboard Reggae charts. The resulting publicity and increased profile has led the band to go back to the well to give the album the vinyl release they always wanted but couldn’t afford. As they say in their Kickstarter campaign statement, “vinyl ain’t cheap and peace n love ain’t paying no bills.” Since this is, in essence, a pre-order campaign, the backer rewards are limited. You can get a signed or unsigned copy of the album on double vinyl, as well as a version that includes a digital download of alternate acoustic versions of the songs from Shapes of a Soul.

Anna Ash – L.A. Flame (click here to view project)
The Kickstarter campaign for L.A. Flame, the third album from California-based folk rocker Anna Ash, is really a full campaign as the album has only previously been released in digital form, but Ash is leaning heavily into the vinyl aspect of it. Fully self-produced and self-financed, Ash has found a label, Black Mesa Records, to manage distribution. She has set a modest $4,500 goal, essentially the price of pressing the vinyl, with any overages going toward paying off the debt incurred in the original production. Because it hasn’t gotten a physical release yet, this campaign contains all of the usual formats to get the album; digital, CD, and vinyl. Other backer rewards include a 7-inch vinyl single, a digital download of demos from the album, and a solo or band house concert.