“The Universal Thump” – The New Album by Greta Gertler

Fundraising campaign by John Michael Veldt
  • US$101.00
    raised of $1,000.00 goal goal
10% Funded
2 Donors

No more donations are being accepted at this time. Please contact the campaign owner if you would like to discuss further funding opportunities

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Dear Friends,


It's a chilly morning in Brooklyn, after a couple of days of rain. I sit in my kitchen. Yesterday's coffee is heating up. Pro Tools is set up on my laptop and I'm working on some backing vocal ideas for the big show on MONDAY, DECEMBER 7 at The Living Room. New Yorkers - Will you be there? This will be our final fundraising push before the deadline of next WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9. I am so excited to be playing with a 12-piece band! Plus there will be a raffle on the night, with really cool PRIZES from VESELKA! (Please see previous update).

THANK YOU again for backing "The Universal Thump". We are currently at 52% of our goal for funding this album. I am overwhelmingly grateful for your support and encouragement with this album. And I am so inspired by all the musicians who are working on this album with me, and grateful for their support for and participation.

Because we now only have a few days left in which to raise the rest of the funding, and we will receive NONE of the pledges and the album will not be completed unless we reach our goal - I am now asking even more of you, even though you have already been so generous because we basically need to double the pledges within 6 days, otherwise "The Universal Thump" will be stranded.

Do you happen to know anyone - even just one orchestral pop fan, someone who came to a show with you once and liked what they heard, or liked a previous recording of mine - who might like the music we are making, and wish to back this album? If so, would you please help to spread the word by sending them to this Kickstarter page in the next few days?

If we manage to succeed in raising enough pledges by December 9, I have decided to send something extra, along with the album and other rewards to ALL BACKERS - a very special Holiday Gift - "GRETA's SECRET GUIDE TO SURVIVAL IN NEW YORK CITY" (including a book, map and supplies)! I can't reveal more about this but it is something I've been working on for the past 10 years, and it's highly confidential. You guys will be the first and only people in the world to receive this gift if we make it to our goal for the album on December 9! :)

Meanwhile, I passed by this mural yesterday, while I was teaching piano in Park Slope. It is a few doors down from the studio in which we are recording "The Universal Thump". In addition to the show on Monday, my piano students have their big end-of-year Recital this Sunday, December 6 at IBeam Studio (also on 7th Street, Brooklyn) from 2-4pm. I am really proud of how they are all playing! Plus they are writing some cool songs! Please let me know if you'd like to come along.

THANK YOU again, for hopping on the whale and being part of this. Kicking hard for the final push off the island!

Greta & The Universal Thump Team :)

MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT:

"What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? What does that indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who ain't a slave? Tell me that. Well, then, however the old sea-captains may order me about- however they may thump and punch me about, I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is all right; that everybody else is one way or other served in much the same way- either in a physical or metaphysical point of view, that is; and so the universal thump is passed round, and all hands should rub each other's shoulder-blades, and be content." - "Moby Dick", page 6.

As some of you already know, I recently began working on my fifth album, "The Universal Thump", with Brooklyn-based producer/drummer Adam D Gold. What you may not know is this is the most ambitious, melodic and diverse orchestral pop recording project I've embarked upon yet.

Adam and I, with a large cast of fellow music-makers, are currently tracking full arrangements for 16 songs. We will ultimately narrow these down to the best and most cohesive 10 or 11 finished mixes. Similarly to my album, "The Baby That Brought Bad Weather" (2003), this one will feature a core band of drums, piano, bass and guitar, plus additional elements such as string quartet, horns, vibraphone, accordion, pedal steel, organ, choir...

This is a whale of a record! And all of the musicians involved so far have generously lent their genius to this project, helping to make it a statement with a Humpback's stature. But now, financially speaking, this album is beached! Marooned, rather helpless, on the shore with just a core group of musicians encouraging it to keep going.

It's tough funding a project this large in this economy (as I'm sure you know), and we could really use some assistance to get this beast swimming out into the world once and for all! Are you interested in hearing "The Universal Thump"? Would you like to help finish it by contributing? Kickstarter is set up to facilitate fund raising at all levels of donation: from purchasing the album in advance to offering a greater contribution, which would greatly aid in speeding up production of the album.

Perhaps you know my music well and are awaiting this new record? Or perhaps you are new to my music but have an interest in supporting creative independent art? This is your opportunity to help give this record the final push it needs to get out and swim out on its own!

This will be an interactive project. I will be posting video clips from the studio, rough mixes and other audio/visual materials as the album progresses and as the funding grows, so that you can be more directly involved with the making of this album. Feedback and correspondence is encouraged via Facebook, or through this website.

The only catch with Kickstarter is that "The Universal Thump" will only be funded if we meet our fundraising goal. If we fall short, your donations will be returned to you.

So, I am really grateful for any support you can give. Please contact me if you have any questions, or if you would like to donate an amount not listed here. Any contribution would be really greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Greta Gertler and The Universal Thump Team:
Adam D Gold, Jonathan Maron, Pete Galub, Roy Nathanson, J. Walter Hawkes, Sean Sonderegger, Alden Banta, Jon Dryden, Byron Isaacs, Ed Haber, Ken Thomson, Rachelle Garniez, Barney McAll, John Ellis and more to come...

Organizer

  • John Michael Veldt
  •  
  • Campaign Owner

Donors

  • Sandra Wilson
  • Donated on Aug 30, 2018
$50.00
  • joshua ifill
  • Donated on Aug 30, 2018
$51.00

No updates for this campaign just yet

Donors & Comments

2 donors
  • Sandra Wilson
  • Donated on Aug 30, 2018
$50.00
  • joshua ifill
  • Donated on Aug 30, 2018
$51.00

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US$101.00
raised of $1,000.00 goal
10% Funded
2 Donors

No more donations are being accepted at this time. Please contact the campaign owner if you would like to discuss further funding opportunities