Dear Fiddlerock! friends, family, and fans...

I want to preface this campaign announcement by expressing—as well as I'm verbally able—how much of a last resort this is for us. AJ and I are so grateful for all the support you've given us, my fiddle, and this incredible little rock project over the years, and the last thing we would ever be comfortable with is to spearhead a fundraiser of this nature.

But the principle of this matter is more important than our pride at the moment, and fighting this bully on behalf of the freelancers and artistic professionals who could potentially be harmed in the future is worth our discomfort.

On April 16th, AJ and I were victims of a dual contract breach by a former Hollywood producer who not only refused to pay us after months of preparatory work and days on the job, but brazenly went on to both perform and commercially release the music I had composed (and copyrighted) for the production without my consent.

The scope of the job was straightforward: I was to add musical accompaniment to a series of poems that would be read live by this producer and a partnering director. I arranged twelve pieces, all of which I published under my publishing company, Tightspot Music (ASCAP), including two original works.

As part of this production, AJ was hired to run sound for both my violin, my in-ear monitors, and the speakers. I needed the in-ear monitors due to the fact I normally wear hearing aids (the production team was were aware of this) and that in a theater designed for stage plays and not musical performances, the acoustics made it extremely difficult to hear the two poetry readers over my violin.

Prior to the contract breach and fallout, we'd spent three full days of work at Chicago’s Chopin Theater and had been praised for our contributions and efforts—even to the point that there was discussion of taking what we'd created on tour. However, as Wednesday's rehearsal concluded, the producer was seemingly bothered and "artistically compromised" by the presence of my necessary sound equipment and the issue AJ was troubleshooting to merge our equipment with the theater's faulty house sound system. When AJ went to fasten a lavalier mic on the producer, he yanked it from his lapel, threw it onto a neighboring table, and screamed at AJ in defiance. AJ excused himself from the room, obviously frustrated, and we finished the rehearsal without any further incident. I then followed the producer and his assistant to a recording studio to record the violin part for a cartoon that was being premiered the same night as the poetry reading, where there was no indication of any lingering issues of conflict. AJ stayed at the theater for hours after we had left and had successfully addressed the sound issue by early evening, of which he informed the team.

However, to say I had grossly underestimated the depths to which this exchange had offended the producer would be putting it lightly. AJ approached him first thing Thursday morning to extend a hand and a listening ear in an effort to address whatever issue had inspired his outburst, but before a word could be said, the producer put his finger in AJ’s face, screamed some obscenities, stomped around the room, threw things, and ultimately cut the music from the production altogether after which he refused to pay us—laughing as he did so.

His assistant was mortified and the rest of the production team was stunned. I've personally never seen such behavior in a professional setting nor have I since been able to logically deduce the cause for conflict. The assistant personally reassured us that she “wasn’t an asshole” would be in touch to make arrangements to honor our contracts. However, within days, she and the producer had blocked us on all social platforms and would not acknowledge any attempts to contact them. The invoices went unopened and unpaid.

In mid-May, the commercial recording of the performance was released, including a piece I’d written for violin, voice, and ukulele that was performed (sans violin) without my consent.

The fallout saddled us with a financial burden we're still struggling to recover from, and aside from the fact that our dismissals were completely groundless, the blatant disregard for the copyright of my compositions in both performance and commercial sale is an offense I simply can't let go without a fight. We reached out to the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts to apply for legal assistance and I was contacted by one of the organization's attorneys within days. After reviewing the wealth of evidence I’d compiled, he is very willing to take our case. He’s represented Grammy-winning musicians, composers, and professional athletes, and as such, his discounted retainer is $5000—an amount that, albeit generous, is still beyond our financial reach.

This is where you come in, FIDDLEROCK! ARMY.

If you know anything about AJ and me, it's that we work relentlessly at whatever we undertake. We've both come from very humble backgrounds and the producer who did this to us was aware of this, which is yet another likely reason he thought nothing of violating us in this manner. For the sake of my self-respect, my work, and the mistreatment of myself and my partner, I am determined not to let the financial obstacle be the reason we don't stand up for ourselves—or any freelancing artists he could potentially subject to the same abuse in the future.

We’re asking for your help in raising enough funds to begin this legal pursuit to recover our lost compensation, have my piece pulled from commercial platforms, and the copyright infringement appropriately fined and/or addressed.

That said, please know this call for help comes with no expectation; your support for Fiddlerock!'s mission in general has been more of a blessing than any amount of money could equal. You are ALL the reason Fiddlerock! exists and has thrived since its founding, and ultimately, your attendance at our shows and support on social platforms has inspired me to keep going and will continue to do so, regardless of what happens.

Thank you again—so very much—for supporting us, our work, and for helping us fight this to any extent you're able. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out via, text, email, or Facebook.