Life After Kickstarter

This past Saturday (well, very early Sunday, actually), I completed my very first Kickstarter campaign. And, I am happy to say that our project was successfully funded! One of the "bands" I'm heavily involved in, Restoration Project, needed to raise funds–$10,000, actually–to cover recording and production costs for a new EP series. Firm Foundation will be a collection of remade Sunday School songs, featuring familiar melodies but with additional lyrics and new music. We are so, so happy with how our campaign did, and we'd consider it a success on every level.

Last plug before I get to the meat of this post: Even if you missed our Kickstarter campaign, you can still pre-order our Firm Foundation series in the resproj.com web store. The first EP drops in November; the second in summer 2014.

So what's it like to complete a successful Kickstarter campaign?

Three things come to mind when I think about our work and what it means:

1. It's Just Beginning. Maybe you'd think that there would be a respite for project creators after a successful campaign; but the truth is, instead of getting easier, the work gets harder. I expect the next 60 days to include a plethora of sleepless nights as I work to complete these recordings well before Christmas.

2. Obligation. I have to tell you, I was blind-sided by this: the feeling of obligation I have towards all those who have pledged towards our campaign. I don't want to let anybody down. I want these to be great recordings, great songs, and I want to finish them on a really, really tight time table. I want these songs to be as good as I seem to make them out to be.

3. Gratitude. So many people gave so generously. I am grateful to them, and I am grateful to God for placing his hand over our campaign and bringing in the necessary funding. It makes me hopeful for the future, too, that we could, potentially, successfully do this again in a year. On that, we'll see...

Thank you all for your continuous support of my music. I do hope these new recordings will make you proud to be a part of this work.

Donate Now! Restoration Project Kickstarter Campaign

I'm in a songwriting collective. We write, record, and sing new and old hymns. We're called Restoration Project. Less than 48 hours ago, we launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to record and produce our next EP series. You should donate. Here's the link to our project:

http://kck.st/13SvBmM

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Tubes, Family, and Christmas

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Merry Christmas everyone!

I do hope you've been having a wonderful time in between two of my favorite holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas, obviously). It's been a busy time for me and my family, and I see no signs of a slow-down any time soon - even over school break.

Tonight, my family is going to see the tree lighting in downtown Geneva. It's the kick-off of the annual Santa Lucia Festival. Apparently, she's a Swedish saint who gives out cookies. Awesome. We're gonna try to score a few sweets and watch Santa (not a saint) light this big tree outside the Courthouse on Third Street. (If I ever have another daughter, I might pull for the name Lucy.)

Next up...

What happened last week:

Eleanor, my 15-month-old, got tubes put in her ears. If you're not familiar with the procedure, it's fairly simple, but for a *musician* dad, it's intense. Read about it HERE. It's called a "myringotomy". I'm emotionally drained right now and kinda depressed. Hoping tonight will help.

And what's coming this week:

Two huge recording projects from some friends - one new, one old. Gonna be a lot of work - probably 4-5 full, 8-hour days in the studio before Christmas, but well worth it. I'll be doing tracking and mixing for both recordings.

And last of all:

I've had the weight of the next Restoration Project album on my shoulders for a few months now, with little forward progress. I've started tracking, but haven't really felt "right" about any of what I've done so far. I plan to bring in a couple of friends from Redeemer Fellowship to kind of get some fresh energy and perspective on things.

Gonna be interesting. Gonna be hard work. But I was just reminded again of a belief that I have long held to:

I want to be known as an individual who, by God's grace, has pushed the limits of human capacity - to live, to love, to create.

I look forward to the release of the next Restoration Project album in Spring 2013 and hope it breathes new life into our world.

More Press for Fundamental!

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Wheaton Leader Newspaper printed an awesome article about my latest record. Check it out HERE. Booyah.

New York City Here We Come

If you think I've been MIA for the last three weeks, you'd be right. So where have I been and what have I been doing? Simple. I've been spending most of my time recording at the Dragon Room (the name I gave to where I do most of my producing). The result? Eight new songs for a new record with a little side-project that I have called Restoration Project. I haven't tallied up all of the hours I've spent on it in the last three weeks because, frankly, it doesn't really matter. I knew from the start that I'd spend as much time on it as it would take. The album comes out April 10th, and you all should come to the release party. Get the details HERE. So there you have it. It's time for a vacation. I leave for NYC with my wife and son tomorrow morning.

Long Saturday

I finally feel mostly recovered from this past Saturday. From 9 AM until 5 PM, I was recording with The City and Restoration Project at the Dragon Room. Then, at 6:30 PM, I packed up my gear for a performance in Elmhurst, IL, at Cuvee Cellars. I arrived back home at 11:45 PM. Long day? I'll say so.

Saturday was a super-productive session, recording cello for two songs, for two different records coming out in the next four months. "Jump" is a song that I wrote, and The City decided to record a down-tempo version of the song - quite obviously different from the version found on my new solo album, "Fundamental." The other song, "O Love Divine" will be on ResProj's upcoming April release. Thank you so much, Jason Young, for your hard work on these parts. You were great!