Port Townsend singer reaches fundraising goal
Charlie Bermant/Peninsula Daily News
Simon Lynge had set a goal of raising $35,000 on the Kickstarter website in order to get backers for his next album.
By Charlie Bermant
Peninsula Daily News
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“From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much for becoming backers and for making it possible for me to record my new album the way I've dreamed of doing it,” Simon Lynge of Port Townsend posted online after making the goal.
“I look forward to updating you all on the progress of the recording, mixing, mastering and so on, and to keep you posted on the shipment of your various rewards.”
Lynge, who recorded and released one album through a record label, sought to finance and record the new album independently because it gave him control over its content.
He hopes to release the album, “The Absence of Fear,” this spring.
The album will be funded through Kickstarter, which sets a goal and a time limit, and returns the pledged money if the goal is not met.
Lynge sought $35,000, and came in with a total of $36,541 from 517 contributors.
On March 10, a week before the deadline, pledges totaled $14,443 — less than half of the goal — but Lynge was not discouraged.
As he predicted, those who participate in Kickstarter campaigns often wait until the last minute, at which time the big donors make their pledges.
The fundraising is encouraged through offering incentives, with $1 pledges receiving “gratitude and love your way” from Lynge to the most extravagant: a five-day trip to Qaqortoq, Greenland, Lynge's hometown, including a fishing and hunting trip with his father, costing $5,000.
No one pledged for the trip, although two backers spent $2,000 for a house concert, in which Lynge will perform in their home.
Four people paid $1,200 for a custom-written song, in which Lynge will consult them about the lyrical content, and the song can be presented as a gift — although Lynge will retain the rights.
While $35,000 exceeds the goals set by most other local musicians in their Kickstarter campaigns, Lynge said that it was bare-bones considering what he wants to do.
He is cutting costs by acting as his own producer, and has called on a lot of his friends to give him a “friends and family rate” for services.
He already has recruited some big names, including noted bassist Leland Sklar (Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Carole King) and guitarist Steve Cropper, who has agreed to play on Lynge's cover of Otis Redding's “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.”
Cropper, as part of Redding's backup band, played on the original.
“I want to get the best musicians I can, and they don't work for free,” Lynge said.
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: March 18. 2013 6:12PM
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