Help Me Record 'I Am A Sunflower'
WAVES OF CHANGE: Songs for All of Us
Hello dear family, friends and community:
Do you ever feel like the world is spinning faster and faster these days, and sometimes you’re not sure where the ground is, or which way is up? At times, does it feel like there is just more and more stress to deal with in everyday life, maybe sometimes too much? Is it overwhelming?
I am feeling some of those feelings right now as I write this letter to you to ask for your support in what I believe is one of the most significant musical projects I have ever undertaken. As I write my songs, meet with the producer, plan the recording, and start to figure out how to fund the work, so many things are coming up.
I am feeling echoes of very deep, powerful emotions and challenging experiences that came to me several years ago as I learned to come to terms with my path in life – as an artist and a change-maker. I rode the turbulent waters of my own experience, sometimes with what felt like only a small, rickety old boat, and miraculously came out the other side completely transformed.
Now, 10 years later, I am ready to share these experiences (and the wisdom I have gained) with you, in the form of songs. Songs have always been the best medium for me to share my stories and my feelings about my life, and about life itself. I am hoping that the songs help to guide and inspire you through some of your experiences, and through some of the challenges and changes happening in our communities and in our world.
Whether you feel turbulence in your own personal wellness, that of your family or community, or whether you sense it in our ecosystems, financial or political systems, I feel that these are all inextricably linked. You can’t have wellness in one area without the other. I see turbulence and stress all the time in my work with children in the schools. We need a sea-tide of change, which I feel deep in my bones, is already happening.
I plan to record 7 songs for all ages this fall. The working title is ‘Waves of Change: Songs for All of Us’. For me, waves represent so many things. When someone waves to you, they are saying hello, welcoming you to be part of something – it is a peaceful gesture, and a universal symbol. Waves are what I have been learning about in my studies in Mindfulness: as humans we are all waves in a larger sea of humanity….we often believe we, the waves, are separate from the ocean, but in fact we are all connected – the waves and the ocean are one and the same. For me, waves also represent birth. When someone, or something new is being born, the contractions come in waves. Sound also comes in waves, or vibrations. I feel these vibrations in my body when I sing. It feels good.
I would love to hear your reactions to this title, and any suggestions for other possible titles. I love to collaborate, and welcome your feedback and ideas!!!
The 7 songs for all ages are designed to inspire wellbeing in individuals and in our communities. Music brings us together. Now, more than ever, I feel we need this beautiful glue of togetherness, to help fill in the gaps, reconnect us with ourselves, with each other, and with what is most meaningful in life. We seem to have strayed from many of these things in our fast-paced and stress-filled modern lifestyle.
In order to record these songs, I will launch a crowd-funding campaign this spring, to reach out to the broader community for support in realizing this project. In order to launch a crowd-funding campaign, I need to create a video that will explain what the project is about, why I am doing it, and the support that is needed. I also need coaching and support to help guide me in what will be my first major crowd-funding campaign.
The video will feature a rehearsal with myself, and a group of musicians – we will be playing the song I wrote called ‘I Am A Sunflower’….it starts like this:
'I am a sunflower, I am a sunflower, I am a sunflower…
When your love shines on me I grow. When your love shines on me I grow'.
#IAmASunflower
Jerry (producer) and I have been working hard on the song and I can’t wait to share more of it with you when we record the video!!!
I am reaching out to you for help to launch this campaign.
Before I launch the campaign, I need approximately $3, 500.00 to pay for:
-a videographer
-recording studio to record a sample of one of the songs that will be in the project
-x4 musicians to record the song with me
-a coach to help me plan and launch the campaign
I thank-you from the bottom of my heart for being with me, either in spirit, or by offering material support of any amount to help get this project off the ground. Below is information about gifts I would love to offer in thanks, as well as a list of musicians who have already agreed to join me on this adventure, by lending their incredible talents.
With so much love and gratitude XOXOXO Marni
www.move-n-music.com
**GIFTS FOR YOU**
-the following pledge guide will likely change once I begin the official crowd-funding campaign, but I would like you to know where my thoughts are now, and the ways in which I would like to express my gratitude to you for your contribution: (and I welcome your ideas and feedback on these as well! Thanks so much! J )
Pledge 25$ or more = 1 CD signed + mailed directly to you before the release date
Pledge 50$ or more = 2 CDs signed + mailed directly to you before the release date
Pledge 100$ or more = 5 CDs signed + mailed directly to you before the release date
Pledge 300$ or more = 5 CDs (signed + mailed) + Private Individual Yoga or Mindfulness Session
Pledge 500$ or more = 8 CDs (signed + mailed) + Private Family Yoga or Mindfulness Session
Pledge 1000,00.00$ = 8 CDs (signed + mailed) + Private House Concert featuring songs from the recording + Free Family Private Yoga or Mindfulness Session
Marni recording scratch vocal and guitar track at Lou Natale's studio with Jerry Brodey. Feb 20, 2017.
Musicians Supporting This Project:
Here is a list of the musicians who have already agreed to contribute their talents and gifts to this project:
Producer - Jerry Brodey is a mentor, musician, playwright, storyteller and a co-founder of the award winning nonprofit, Community Builders Youth Leadership. With two Juno nominations under their belt, he has recorded six Kim and Jerry Brodey family CDs with legendary folk and blues producer and musician Ken Whiteley. Acres of HeartLand was his last solo album produced in 2012 by his son Oliver Johnson.
Banjo - Frank Evens - Carving his own path, he developed a passion for Old Time Appalachian music, making regular excursions to festivals and competitions in the United States, eventually placing second in the banjo competition at the Clifftop Appalachian Stringband Festival (2011). Frank is a pillar of Toronto’s old time and bluegrass scene playing with a wide circle of musicians including the Slocan Ramblers.
Strings - SHELLEY COOPERSMITH, a Toronto-based musician, has toured and/or recorded on violin/fiddle, mandolin/mandola, guitar and vocals with such artists as Sylvia Tyson, Tamarack/Alex Sinclair, Cameron Family Singers, Joanne Mackell, Donné Roberts, Kyp Harness, Mr Rick’s Tin Pan Jazz Band, Michelle Rumball, and Chris Staig and The Marquee Players. Shelley plays music ranging from folk, country, rock, blues, swing/jazz to an international mix of world cultures.
Guitar - Brian MacMillan is a Canadian folk musician and film composer from Toronto, Ontario. He has received the Colleen Peterson Award from the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals for his work and is a two-time Ontario Arts Council grant recipient. His records “Shine” "Gone to See the Morning" and "Let the Darkness Go" are available on his label, bmacmusic.
Bass - Carlie Howell is a Manitoba-born, Toronto-based performer, composer, and educator who weaves together her experience with jazz, blues, classical, folk, pop, rock, reggae, klezmer, free-improv and world music traditions, to create an eclectic and unique musical voice all her own. She performs her original music with her own band Carlie Howell and the DeHarms, and can be heard playing bass, percussion and singing with Culture Reject, The River Pilots, Os Tropies, Rita Chiarelli, Zeca Polina, and Aline Morales & Baque de Bamba.