On the Radar: Projects from Jason Ringenberg, Leigh Nash, and More

The fall crowdfunding market has been robust enough for the past couple of months that it has allowed me to “theme” these columns, pulling together projects from similar artists or styles. This week, I’m going back and picking up some projects that I passed over before, but are no less worthy of attention, including one from a Texas songwriting legend, one from an Americana Lifetime Achievement honoree, and a third from an artist who dived into the Americana scene as a solo artist after spending the early part of her career as a Christian pop hitmaker.

Adam and Chris Carroll – Two Album Projects
The term “musician’s musician” is one that gets thrown around too often, but it’s hard to think of an artist that fits the term better than Adam Carroll. The Texas-based songwriter is hardly a household name, even among roots music fans, but his songwriting is respected enough that artists like Hayes Carll and James McMurtry contributed to a tribute album for him in 2016. Carroll last released an album of his own in 2014, Let It Choose You. He plans to change that in 2019 with not one but two albums that are currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter. The first will be a solo effort while the second will be the first duo album with Carroll and his wife, Chris, who released her own solo debut, Trouble & Time, in 2014. Backer rewards include signed copies of one or both of the CDs, a one-hour Skype songwriting session with Adam, and VIP tickets to the album release show in New Braunfels, Texas. 

Jason Ringenberg – Stand Tall!
I try to maintain a certain level of journalistic remove when choosing campaigns to feature here. This not only ensures I’m bringing the most noteworthy campaigns to you regardless of my personal musical tastes, but also that I don’t spend my entire paycheck on new releases. But as soon as I saw Jason Ringenberg was crowdfunding his latest solo album on IndieGoGo, the first since 2004’s Empire Builders, I knew I was getting the wallet out. Ringenberg’s band Jason & the Scorchers was a critical part of my musical childhood, as it was for many Nashville kids in the ’80s. The band was awarded an Americana Lifetime Achievement Honor in 2008 for their pioneering cowpunk sound. Ringenberg’s solo work hasn’t exactly been prolific, but it’s been uniformly good to great. Ringenberg is going back to his roots for this album, recording it around the old Southern Illinois college campuses where his pre-Nashville career began. Backer rewards for Stand Tall! include a signed copy of the CD (sorry purists, but there doesn’t appear to be a vinyl option), an exclusive “front porch recording” of any song from Jason’s career dedicated to you, and a handwritten lyric sheet.

Leigh Nash – Untitled New Album
While Leigh Nash’s music career began in Texas, not far from Adam Carroll in New Braunfels, her best known work came after she moved to Nashville with her Christian pop band Sixpence None the Richer. The band found crossover success on the pop charts with the 1998 hit “Kiss Me.” Since leaving the band, Nash has become a frequent collaborator on the Nashville scene, joining Fauxliage with members of Front Line Assembly, performing on an album by Los Straitjackets, and becoming involved in Movement Nashville, a group promoting music beyond country in Nashville. Nash’s new, currently untitled solo album is crowdfunding through PledgeMusic. Backer rewards include signed copies of the album on CD, vinyl, or a vinyl test print; a Skype music lesson; lyrics to your favorite Nash song on a special photo print taken by Nash; or a private house concert.