Produce 2-disc set of the *best* JiTR album :):):)

My name is Jessica Fogle and I love writing songs. And recording them, and releasing them into the wild.

In 2005, I began the slow journey of uncovering my singer-songwriter self buried beneath good student-ism and academia's demands.  Which includes a BA in (classical) Piano Performance, and Dramatic Literature degree (dual major, English minor) from Lawrence University and an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.  These things are fun to say, and were fun to learn, but being a singer-songwriter has been my calling since age 3, with the home favorite "A Nickle and a Shank" (j/k, but we did find those lyrics - I don't know what they mean).  But seriously, I wrote all through elementary school - there's an album on my Bandcamp of actual songs written in childhood if you don't believe me. https://jessicaintherainbow.bandcamp.com/album/childhood

I am proud of this path, proud of the work I've done and am doing, especially the past few years.  As I said, I buried this - due to so many traumas and sad stories for another day - and in 2005 began performing at open mics in Chicago and booking shows.  In 2007, Garrett Lane believed in me and recorded me (for free) and in 2008 Ethan Stoller believed in me and recorded me (for free).  Those albums are here: https://jessicafogle.bandcamp.com/album/du-bist-einen-fogle https://jessicafogle.bandcamp.com/album/melancholy-frog-2 

But this work is not free.  It was a fluke and I was so lucky.  To find help.

That is, I have since invested SO much time and money into gear and recordings, without pay for my work.  Currently it includes a high-quality (ProTools audio, mastered)*covers and originals* song released everyday on my YouTube and Facebook "Jessica in The Rainbow" page.  This is because I write SO much that I haven't been able to focus on recording quality for years now (which is the focus of this final creative challenge - called 444 Hearts).  The past few years have been just about going back to "creativity school" - trying to unlearn some of my hangups that made me afraid to share, or formerly, to put 5-7 years between albums and creative risks.  2017 was writing and sharing 365 songs in 365 days (really wrote about 447 that year, proof is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U9Sl154nTM&list=PLFsdWJGDtAifFKEjoDE6E2envyHKwuQeR ) and 2018 was releasing as many of those songs, plus more, by writing / recording / editing / releasing 12 albums in 12 months (you can check the dates, proof is exhausted-sounding liner notes each month: https://jessicaintherainbow.bandcamp.com/ )  Not to mention a random "52 Dreams" weekly challenge started earlier in 2019, to get myself to work through, systematically, all the busywork and tasks of doing so much work and creating so much content.

I would like to raise $400 by December 19th, 2019 to support this work. These funds will go directly towards a pressing of the album featured on the front page of Bandcamp, in their "New & Notable" section - almost exactly two years ago, "Make-Believe, a.k.a. 365 Days vol. 4".  It is still one of my favorite albums I've ever written, and was made in a weekend (in our home studio, thanks to Bryan Ralph for sharing his gear and mixing a couple songs on it :) It has beautiful album art by Ryan Wyrick, and will be a two-disc set, that will hopefully soothe your soul.   

Please join me in this mad adventure in creativity and healing!

More details on financial commitments and rewards below.


FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS

This fundraiser needs a budget of $400 to create these discs.

With these funds:

I will pay Atomic Discs $275.50 for the pressing of 100 copies of the two-disc set.

$124.50 will be used toward mailing costs for rewards, and packing materials.  

Personally I will take no pay from this fundraiser - all of the cost will fund this creation, and my pay will be the additional discs to (hopefully) sell at a later date and at shows.

However, if I am honest, I have very big dreams and goals - which do cost money, but I have tried to live modestly and fund everything myself (and with the help of my 7 Patrons - thank you, I appreciate you! you can read about patronage here, if you'd like: https://www.patreon.com/jessicaintherainbow this is for the long-term diehard supporters only :)

$400 is the exact amount needed to bring these discs into the world.

But if I raise $600, I will purchase more supplies for DIY materials - discs to press, cardboard cases, printer ink, office supplies that are running low (and that I need in order to keep making merch to sell).

If I raise $800 I will book a small weekend tour next year in the Midwest, to support this work and share this music (which, otherwise, I needed to skip next year due to tight funds, from touring with cloudlight this year).

If I raise $1000 I will book a full week tour, including house shows or wherever you'd like to see and hear me! (*why do tours cost money? because at my level, the amount I make playing at tiny venues and houses, doesn't offset missing a 4-7 day stretch of teaching piano lessons) 

If I raise $1200 or beyond, I will seriously think about how to best invest this money - and am open to suggestions. My hard-drives are almost full, my computer is getting old (but hanging on!), my car needs a tune-up, we need a PR person to help us with some high-quality releases on the horizon, I need to talk with a music lawyer about trademarks and copyrights, there are SO many dreams that cost money.  I would love to present this music to people who need it, on the fuel of hard work and butterflies and feelings and love...but the world is real (despite my imaginings that it isn't sometimes) and any growth in realism, has for me been a growth in creative sharing and output too.

Basically, I can do a lot with very little support - but the more support, the higher quality of content I'll be able to put in the world.

Regardless of how much this fundraiser raises, I will keep plugging away at this musical-spiritual-emotional calling.  Any support given will be deeply wholeheartedly appreciated.  Whether it's $1 or $5 or $25 or $250, you will be making a difference in the quality of my work, and the feeling of being supported in my heart and needed in the world, so thank you <3 

REWARDS

Because the overall goal for this fundraiser is to bring a specific high-quality JiTR album into the world, that will be the main reward offered.  However I just ordered a new batch of t-shirts from Citizenshirt in Grand Rapids: current sizes/colors listed at https://jessicaintherainbow.bandcamp.com/merch And I have a lot of stamps and little cards and would be happy to mail you a personal thank you for your contribution (feel free to request an online thank you instead - if snail mail is not your thing <3)

Any amount: Named recognition for your contribution in a blog post and You will also be automatically added (unless you opt-out) to a newly revitalized mailing list to keep you posted on JiTR events in 2020 and beyond (with a goal of one newsletter email every 1-2 months).

$10: A handwritten thank you note, plus digital download code of "Make-Believe, a.k.a. 365 Days vol. 4".

$25: A physical copy (download included) of "Make-Believe, a.k.a. 365 Days vol. 4" mailed to you, with love.

$40: A JiTR .t-shirt (your choice, please see link above for selection) + physical copy of the "Make-Believe" 2-disc set+code

$75: Two JiTR t-shirts (one for you, one for a loved one?) + copy of "Make-Believe" 2-disc set, PLUS a copy of one of my other handmade discs, with handwritten track titles and doodles by me.  See album options here: https://jessicaintherainbow.bandcamp.com/merch

$100: All of the above awards (in the $75 level) plus a personal gush of gratitude on social media, for your super generous contribution.

$250: All of the above awards, plus I will teach you an hour pop-piano crash course (and send you the first edition homemade copy of my "Piano for Creative People" - a warp-speed piano-based music theory course on how-to play pop songs quickly, in any key (includes all scales, finger numbers, and "chord scales," plus sample songs :) (*with the option to request your lesson in hour-long video private-link format*)

$444: All of the above awards, plus I will coordinate a show in your area, or even at your house! (within a day's drive from West Michigan, if further then let's talk - provided I can arrange ticket sales, I should be able to make it work within much of the Eastern US and Midwest <3)

<3 <3 <3 

Thanks everyone! xoxo Jessica