Jim Knable's New Album (now with Randy Bandits!)
Donation protected
I haven’t recorded a proper album of new songs in ten years. I mean, I’ve got my Jewbadour: Unorthodox Demos album that I recorded on my phone and released in 2018, and the lost Randy Bandits & Jim Knable album Green Man from 2007-8 that I finally got out into the world last year, plus a bunch of concert audio from every somewhat reasonably recorded concert I’ve ever had recorded, and some very early demo stuff that my brother and I did . BUT I’M TALKING ABOUT A REAL SOLID STUDIO ALBUM HERE, like the last one I did with The Randy Bandits (Golden Arrow , 2009), or the one before that (Redbeard , 2006), or even the first solo one I did twenty years ago (Miles , 2000). Which is why we’re assembled here today.
There’s no shortage of material, as you might or might not know if you’ve seen me live from 2010-2019 or heard via the new songs I keep posting in various and sundry home-recorded formats across the social media wastelands. I have somehow narrowed down all that material into 10-12 songs that I wrote in the teens of this century— a sort of best-of-the-last-ten-years set. I am now ready to hit Acme Hall Studios with master-engineer/producer Rich Bennett to lay down some proper tracks in the form of a cohesive album.
I really want to get the definitive versions of these road-tested songs into the world. I really want you to hear these songs and live with them for the next ten years (or hopefully more) in their studio album state. And there is no way I can do that without you.
I’ve got kids now. And it’s just me—not a whole band—funding this thing. And have I mentioned I’ve got kids now? They keep growing up and I still feel like it’s worth it for them to go to college and someone is going to have to pay for that (not you, don’t worry). Due to the unfairness of the world, I am not a world famous millionaire at this stage in my creative career. But I like to think that what I do still has some value. And I think you value it. Which is why I humbly request your financial help in making my admittedly modest and yet still not-quite-attainable-alone fantasy album a reality.
I am grateful for my friends and family who will help me bring these songs to life with their added voices and instrumentation and brilliant arranging ideas. I am grateful for anything you can contribute to this cause to help us record, to help me with the costs of mixing and mastering so this album sounds like it could be on your favorite college or cult radio program, and even to help print some legitimate old school CDs that I can put in your hands, whether you have a CD player or just need something pretty to use as a coaster while you find this album digitally somewhere else. And, hey, it would really help to be able to pay someone to promote it a little because we all know that promotion isn’t free.
My goal is to start recording as we approach or enter 2020 and to have the record done by May if not before, just in time for my birthday when I hit the number 20 years past where I was when I recorded my first solo album.
If you’ve read this far, you probably have some history with me— maybe even stretching back to before I recorded my first album in 2000. Maybe there was a time when you needed a song of mine in your life to make you smile, or an album to help you through a hard time, or just to know that there’s this person named Jim Knable (whoever HE is!) who keeps making stuff because that’s what he does, and he doesn’t give up, regardless of the odds, or the complications, or the other life stuff that matters more than everything.
I wrote a song with my band mates back in 2004 with some lyrics that hurt and heal me every time I sing them, even though I haven’t sung them in a while:
“It’s only silence, feels like it’s make-believe,
Something inside us, something that never leaves.
It’s only a matter of what you believe.”
I believe this project can be done. I believe that you might believe in me, as I believe in you. I bow my head to you. I kneel. I pick up my guitar. And I pledge that I will sing for you. Will you pledge with me?
Yours in humble gratitude,
Jim
There’s no shortage of material, as you might or might not know if you’ve seen me live from 2010-2019 or heard via the new songs I keep posting in various and sundry home-recorded formats across the social media wastelands. I have somehow narrowed down all that material into 10-12 songs that I wrote in the teens of this century— a sort of best-of-the-last-ten-years set. I am now ready to hit Acme Hall Studios with master-engineer/producer Rich Bennett to lay down some proper tracks in the form of a cohesive album.
I really want to get the definitive versions of these road-tested songs into the world. I really want you to hear these songs and live with them for the next ten years (or hopefully more) in their studio album state. And there is no way I can do that without you.
I’ve got kids now. And it’s just me—not a whole band—funding this thing. And have I mentioned I’ve got kids now? They keep growing up and I still feel like it’s worth it for them to go to college and someone is going to have to pay for that (not you, don’t worry). Due to the unfairness of the world, I am not a world famous millionaire at this stage in my creative career. But I like to think that what I do still has some value. And I think you value it. Which is why I humbly request your financial help in making my admittedly modest and yet still not-quite-attainable-alone fantasy album a reality.
I am grateful for my friends and family who will help me bring these songs to life with their added voices and instrumentation and brilliant arranging ideas. I am grateful for anything you can contribute to this cause to help us record, to help me with the costs of mixing and mastering so this album sounds like it could be on your favorite college or cult radio program, and even to help print some legitimate old school CDs that I can put in your hands, whether you have a CD player or just need something pretty to use as a coaster while you find this album digitally somewhere else. And, hey, it would really help to be able to pay someone to promote it a little because we all know that promotion isn’t free.
My goal is to start recording as we approach or enter 2020 and to have the record done by May if not before, just in time for my birthday when I hit the number 20 years past where I was when I recorded my first solo album.
If you’ve read this far, you probably have some history with me— maybe even stretching back to before I recorded my first album in 2000. Maybe there was a time when you needed a song of mine in your life to make you smile, or an album to help you through a hard time, or just to know that there’s this person named Jim Knable (whoever HE is!) who keeps making stuff because that’s what he does, and he doesn’t give up, regardless of the odds, or the complications, or the other life stuff that matters more than everything.
I wrote a song with my band mates back in 2004 with some lyrics that hurt and heal me every time I sing them, even though I haven’t sung them in a while:
“It’s only silence, feels like it’s make-believe,
Something inside us, something that never leaves.
It’s only a matter of what you believe.”
I believe this project can be done. I believe that you might believe in me, as I believe in you. I bow my head to you. I kneel. I pick up my guitar. And I pledge that I will sing for you. Will you pledge with me?
Yours in humble gratitude,
Jim
Organizer
Jim Knable
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY
