Craig Akin
Me, My Bass and I
$8,570 pledged
119 backers
7 out of 8 sponsors
Track list
1. Do It (Akin) sponsor Richard LeVan
2. Poet Gorman (Akin) sponsor Maggie Indellicate
3. Birch Street Mission (Akin)
4. Le Bouchon (Akin) sponsor Dan Tappan
5. Jezebel (Gardner) sponsor Roland Hagan
6. Capitol Riot (Akin) sponsor David & Margret Hoonsbeen
7. Chega de Saudade (Jobim) Sponsor John Anderson
8. Bubble Rap (Akin) sponsor Paul Akin
Support
Pledge $25
CD, download, and sticker
Pledge $50
All the above PLUS your name in liner notes!
Pledge $100
All of the above AND custom coffee mug of my album cover.
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If you're feeling extra generous I'm looking for 8 Song Sponsors and 1 Exec Producer:
Pledge $500 Song Sponsors 1 left!
Select and sponsor one of the 8 tracks with your name credited next to the composer and in the video, plus all the above!
Pledge $1,000 Executive Producer Still available!
Be my EP with all the above, a unique bass video from me, and endless gratitude.
ALSO if Paypal or Venmo don't work for you I can accept check or credit card! Contact me here.
Short Story
Thanks so much for coming here to learn about my debut album of solo bass called Me, My Bass and I. If you're short on time and want me to cut to the chase:
My goal is to raise $7,000 by April 20. Read below for the different pledge levels, a breakdown in costs if you like math, and a few introspective paragraphs on how this project came to be.
Long(er) Story
I began playing bass professionally while in college. Since completing my Music Education degree in 1997 I've played over 5,000 gigs of everything imaginable (even a bris) and been featured on 100+ albums. I estimate 99.97% of my activity has been as a hired sideman to accompany others. I've led only a small handful of gigs under my own name over the years. So in all this time I've accumulated a lot of musical ideas in my head and hands but have never been proactive about getting them out. Until 2020 when everything came to a halt.
By this time I had already developed a simple yet effective home studio to record bass parts for people around the world. Now all of a sudden I had nothing but time to reevaluate everything. I decided part of what I wanted to do while the world was figuring itself out was record myself and get some of my ideas documented. This is how it began.
Up to this point I also had a lot of experience capturing video for countless projects so I decided if I'm going to record my ideas then I might as well set up video too. I didn't set out to make an album because I never dreamed of it, until months later when I had a few tunes recorded and realized I could put out an album (and my wife Abbie saying "of course you can put out an album, why not?"). So fast forward a year, now I've got a bunch of tunes recorded each with an accompanying video. And rather than rush to get the album out I figure it would be fun to release around my 50th birthday in 2023. And here we are!
The Cost
$2,000 - MIXING AND MASTERING-Professional recordings must go through these processes to be comparable with others on radio, CD, in TV and film, etc..
$650 - CDs - manufacture and shipping of limited edition 200 copies
$300 - ART DESIGN - album cover
$110 - STICKERS - for added promotion (and fun)
$400 - MISCELLANEOUS - Royalties, download cards, UPC barcode, Song registration and copyrights, etc.
Just getting the CD in your hands costs about $3,000
But to really get it out there in the world....
$4,000 - PUBLICITY - Using an amazing PR team costs $4k for 3 months, that's typical. They get me reviews in magazines, interviews on podcasts, radio play, etc.. Wanna hear me on NPR "All Things Considered"? I need PR. Want to see me on Spotify playlists? I need PR. Want to hear me on German radio? I need PR. Without this kind of backing, it's very hard to get any press to consider writing about it. In the end the more eyes on the project the better.
The Final Pitch
This campaign is not just about pre-ordering a CD. If it was you'd just be paying $15 for a CD plus shipping. I'm asking you to invest a bit more so that the difference goes toward things I can't pay for, like the publicity. So I'm hoping you'll check out some of the higher pledge rewards like the coffee mugs, or your name in CD and video credits, or personal unique bass video from me.
This is to say, I need you. And I appreciate anything you can do even if it's simply sharing this page on your socials.
I'm grateful for you and your consideration. In the meantime I'm playing and recording as much as I can to keep this crazy life going while trying to inspire and bring smiles to faces.
Peace,
Craig