Annelise's Album Dream

My name is Annelise, and I am asking if you would join me in my musical journey!

How Can You Help?

1. Please consider contributing to my EP album (miniature album) recording project fund (recording starting summer 2016). The cost to pay the studio musicians, the producer, the engineer, for mixing/mastering, and for studio time to record 6 songs will be about $10,000. That is a lot of money for a young married couple to come up with by themselves! This is why we are asking for your help! Each contributor will receive a free copy of this album once it's completed and my eternal gratitude. After all, this album cannot be created without your donations! I encourage you to read below more in detail about this process, my dream, my goals, and why I am asking for your help!

2. Share this Go Fund Me link with your Facebook friends, with a comment from you that you know who I am, and that this is a legitimate request for help.

3. You can watch my Youtube videos, because views truly count when being considered by those in the music industry. Another important consideration for them is artist Facebook page likes. Below are links to both my Youtube page and my artist Facebook page. I would greatly appreciate your help in getting those numbers up!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk8Hlh2if0mlSpTMq7E1mLw

https://www.facebook.com/annelisewalley/?fref=ts

4. If you hear that I'm performing in your area, please come out, and bring your friends too!

     For those of you that do not know me, I am a singer/songwriter. I was born in Jackson, TN and raised there and in Auburn, AL. God has given me an undying desire and passion to make music that can be used to do His work in some way. I began vocal training at age 5 and guitar at age 11. When I lived in Alabama, I was very active with my music career. I got to open for artists like Travis Tritt, play festivals, restaurnats, bars, and travel back and forth to Nashville on a regular basis for training, recording, and performance opportunities (performing at the Bluebird Cafe twice was a highlight for me!). Several years have passed since then, and I've married my high-school-sweetheart (Parker Bess, ILA local 1804-1), moved to New Jersey (about half an hour from NYC), and am finishing up my college degree here. For the last year, I've been adjusting to my new life here in NJ as a wife. I've joined our new church's praise band, performed at several venues around our area, and been busy taking courses at my new university (I should be graduating in less than a year!). I am where I am supposed to be, with the wonderful man I am supposed to be with. But that burning in my heart to do something great with the musical gifts God's given me continues to grow and grow. I know that I will never be satisfied with myself until I have been heard in the way God created me to be heard. 

     About two years ago, I was awakened from my sleep by God speaking to me directly in a dream. I have never heard God's voice so clearly as I did that night. After he spoke, I wrote down His words before falling back asleep. What He said to me was, "If you are not heard, then My purpose has not been done through you." I know exactly why I am on this Earth. But I cannot fulfill my purpose without help. 

     Over the last few years, I've been songwriting and growing. I've been training my voice with a vocal coach nearby in NYC, performing when I had the opportunity, auditioning for vocal competitions, recording Youtube videos, and patiently waiting for God to use what I was bringing to Him for His glory. But all I found from my efforts was discouragement. I began to feel washed up, like my passions and my gifts were going to waste. Then my mom (who knows all) brought an idea to me that felt more right than anything related to my dream has felt in a very long time. She suggested that I record an EP (a miniature album) of my latest originals, which would give me the materials I need to be heard, heard by friends, heard by fans, heard by those in the music industry. I recorded a full album when I was sixteen years old, but I am now almost 22, and that album from nearly 6 years ago sounds drastically different than how I sound now. The songs on it were written by a young teenage me. Although good for my age at the time, they do not show how my writing has matured as I have. It is time for me to record something new. It's time for me to put myself back out there, laying what I have at the Lord's feet for Him to use in whatever way He desires. 

     So, what is the purpose of this Go Fund Me account? I want to raise the money necessary to record an EP album with the same Nashville producer who recorded my debut album at 16; she is incredible to work with, geuine, pure-hearted, truly wants what is best for me (which is difficult to find in the music industry) knows me well, and has the ability to bring out my best sound. The money I raise will be used to pay the musicians, pay the recording studio for their time, pay the engineer, pay for mixing/mastering, and pay the producer. Nothing will hinder us from finding a way to make this step in my dream a reality. 

     Many of you reading this have supported me in my musical journey before. I cannot thank you enough for that support! It has helped get me to this point. I would not be here without you, and I will not get any further without you. With a very humble and grateful heart, I am asking for your donations to my recording fund. I am not recording this EP for money, not at all. I likely won't make much of anything off of it. I am recording this album to give out to those who will listen, to fans, to friends and family, and to those in the music industry who can take my God-given dream to the next level. Without a new recording, I am stuck, unable to progress, unable to be heard in the way God created me to be heard. I am absolutely confident that with your help, I can make something of this passion in my heart, that I can do what I was created to do. If you will kindly donate, I will freely give you a copy of this EP album once it's complete. After all, it would have been greatly because of you that it was recorded!Every person who donates will have my eternal gratitude, and I will never forget that it was you who helped me achieve my life purpose! Any amount can help, $5, $20, anything! I will need to raise this album fund by May 2016, and I have no doubt that the Lord has the ability to help me reach that goal in time! 

     I cannot promise that this album will bring about the results I desire, although I truly hope it will! But I can promise that it has a purpose and will be used exactly as God desires it to be used. And I can promise you that it will feed my soul, because I will be doing exactly what God has told me I am here to do.

Thank You From The Bottom of My Heart,
Annelise Walley Bess