Hi, we're Sam and Megan of Misner & Smith , a folk-rock/Americana band out of Northern California with a focus on creating original music steeped in rich storytelling and lush vocal harmonies and arrangements.

After releasing our newest record, All is Song , in 2024 we joined forces with two of the Bay Area's most exciting musicians, Bruce Kaphan and Dillon Vado, who not only played huge roles in the making of that album, but also helped us expand our sound into a full band setting. We've been playing as a quartet for almost two years now and we want to capture the absolute magic that is happening between the four of us onstage by filming a series of live videos.

Our goal with these videos is to expand the reach of our music, particularly the sound of this new band that we've assembled. High quality videos can be a powerful tool in reaching new audiences and new venues who've never heard of us before. We want to share the experience of seeing the band in person so we will be recording and filming these songs live.

As talented as our band is, none of us have the skill and expertise in the realm of filmmaking that our friend and collaborator Dan Foldes and his team have at Pint of Soul . We've teamed up with them several times before, and they work at such a high level of artistry it's no wonder they've created videos for the likes of Sarah Jarosz, The Brothers Comatose, and AJ Lee & Blue Summit, to name a few.

Making videos costs money, there's no way around it, and as independent musicians who have crowd-funded or self-funded all six of our albums and music videos over the past 21 years, we've depended on the support of our fans and music lovers on all of our projects. We don't have a record company backing us, we handle all our own booking, scheduling, publicity, social media, website maintenance and tour management. In the span of time that we've been making music the industry has changed drastically. Streaming services, though convenient, have all but eliminated selling our music as a source of income. Just as an example, in the 12 years we've been streaming our music we've earned less than $500 total from streaming services. This is total, not annually. And, to be honest, that may be on overestimation. For a small band who has relied on the sale of our music through CDs and downloads this has made a huge impact on us.

100% of the funds raised in this campaign will go to the making of these videos, which will in turn support the work of two local videographers and editor, two local musicians (we, Sam and Megan, will not be paid for this project, but we want to pay everyone else who is involved), two technicians running lights and sound, and a great local independent music venue. Here is a breakdown of the budget for this project:

If you've made it this far in reading our proposal, thank you so much for taking the time! We appreciate all of your support. Whether it's with a financial donation or helping spread the word (or both!) it truly does take a village! By adding your support you become part of a creative project that aims at putting more beauty, hope, comfort and good music into the world. Thank you!