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Young Atlas: Debut Album, The Final Steps

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Dear Friends,

The songs are finished! The album is fully recorded and mixed! It's been a long and winding road, but we are absolutely thrilled with the results and cannot wait to share it with all of you! Your support has been instrumental in getting us this far, and we are so humbled and thankful! Now, as we round the final bend of our journey, we are asking for your support one last time to help take us over the finish line. This means getting the album mastered – the final coat of sonic polish that every pro album gets before hitting the airwaves – and, of course, making it available to stream and purchase on all major platforms. So we ask you now, one final time, to help us bring this music into the world through the support of your generous giving as you are able and inspired. Finally, I’d like to share the story of this journey, one of the most fulfilling projects I’ve ever had the honor to be a part of. 

Three years ago, David Bergner (bass, vocals), Julian Peterson (lead guitar, vocals), Ben Fullerton (drums and keyboards), and myself (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) set out to make a record. After an inspiring start and the first 50 hours of recording, things got rocky when our engineer abruptly decided to relocate, taking with him the thousands of dollars of gear that made the space a studio. We regrouped and decided to continue the recording process ourselves. After touching up drum and bass parts we had a solid foundation. Julian and I then spent around a little over 3 years putting the final touches on the record: sparkling, glimmering, echo-y, warbling constellations of guitar and synth sounds, and rich layers of lead vocals and harmonies. It was exhausting, joyous, onerous, and all together one of the most memorable times I’ve had in my life. 




Reflecting back, the ostensibly glamorous features of the process now seem the least noteworthy. Instead, it’s the ordinary, the simple, even the mundane that stand out in my memory. It’s the four of us, exhausted and depleted, playing the same song over, and over, and over again, trying to get the perfect take, trying to find and capture the essence of the song on tape. It’s staying up late into the night, driving ourselves to joyful delirium. It’s picking up an instrument and accidentally doing something that completely changes the feeling of a song.




One of the songs, “Spoken”, features all of our voices on it. It’s subtle, but every time I listen I am brought back to the innumerable cascading moments of building a family through our love and shared delight in music. That’s what this album symbolizes for me: the joining of wandering hearts and a return to the wholeness of unity through sound. This project had a way of being cathartic, heartbreaking, connecting, healing, and  somehow always exactly what I needed. We hope it will take you on an equally meaningful journey of your own as you listen.

Lastly, here is a sneak peak at one of our songs Waves

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Donations 

  • Thea Evans
    • $100
    • 4 yrs
  • Gerard Capone
    • $50
    • 4 yrs
  • Evan Baldwin
    • $25
    • 4 yrs
  • Ellen Olson
    • $100
    • 4 yrs
  • Tina Clayton
    • $20
    • 4 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Jay Kraemer
Organizer
Paonia, CO
David Bergner
Beneficiary

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