Help Us Make An Album of Unrecorded Historical Songs

We are raising money to record an album of unrecorded songs with repertoire from the 1890's-1920's. Teaming up with Rivermont Records this album will be done in a meticulous fashion that only these rare pieces of music deserve. We will be making this record with our 5-piece band: Brian Nalepka, Andy Stein, Dan Levinson and of course Miss Maybell & Charlie Judkins.

What is an unrecorded song?

Plain and simple, a song that has, to our knowledge, never been recorded in any form - be it a Phonograph Cylinder, 78rpm record, Vinyl record album, Youtube performance, MIDI file, private home recording, or really any other imaginable form of recording.

How do you find this rare material? Miss Maybell and Charlie Judkins have been avid sheet music collectors for many years, scouring antique stores, yard sales, flea markets and more in search of forgotten vintage songs. In many cases, they have been entrusted with the personal family sheet music collections of their fans and family members. Miss Maybell and Charlie Judkins have also been working directly with the Library of Congress to access songs that, in addition to never being recorded, were never even published.

Miss Maybell and Charlie Judkins feel that producing an album entirely comprised of never before recorded songs could be a fitting and long neglected tribute to these unsung heroes of American songwriting.

Why were these historic songs never recorded?

Before the 1920s, the measure of a song's success was based on Sheet Music sales rather than Record sales. The recording industry was still in its infancy, and because so many Americans owned pianos it was more common for people to experience new songs by purchasing Sheet Music and playing through them themselves rather than purchasing a recording. Therefore, there were thousands of songs written at this time that were published but were never popular enough to be recorded.

Because the recording industry as well as the songwriting industry were both centered in New York City, New York - based "Tin Pan Alley" songwriters saw a greater percentage of their works recorded due to their local proximity to the major recording studios. All across the country, however, people were writing and publishing songs, piano rags and other types of original American music. Sadly, this accounts for a large amount of great music that has never been recorded, despite that certain small town composer/publishers and their songs may have even been popular locally during their lifetimes.

We would greatly appreciate your help in making this project of preservation a reality! Thank you so much!

Your donations will be rewarded as follows!

Give $25, get a copy of the finished CD

Give $35, get a copy of the finished vinyl LP

Give $50, get an autographed copy of the finished CD and your name in the credits

Give $55, get a CD/LP combo pack

Give $60, get an autographed copy of the finished LP and your name in the credits

Give $100, get an autographed CD/LP combo pack and your name in the credits

Give $250, get an autographed CD/LP and your name listed as a sponsor

Give $500, get two copies of the CD/LP combo pack (one for you, one for a friend), and your name listed as a co-producer

Give $1,000, get two copies of the CD/LP combo pack (one for you, one for a friend), your name listed as a co-producer, AND a private 1-hour concert, either performed for you in person (in the NYC area) or recorded and sent as a high quality digital video file

Anonymous donors are of course entitled to their rewards, but will need to contact us with proof of their donation and contact information to receive their rewards. Rewards can also be redeemed as digital downloads as opposed to physical media if that is the donor's preference.