Lenne Klingaman’s Kickstarter campaign broke the $9K threshold yesterday, with 131 backers and nine days to go. So it’s a countdown of sorts, a countdown to $10K we hope, and based on the extraordinary generosity of her backers, we have every reason to believe the crew will come through to make Lenne’s $10K dream come true.
The breakthrough came as a result of one particularly angelic angel, who literally made the day for the Heart Is the Hunter team. Thank you!
And, on the same day, May 31, we finished the mix. Neilson Hubbard in Nashville delivered the final “refs,” or reference mixes, containing tiny, almost microscopic, fixes and updates, based on Lenne’s discerning ear. She was the last listener standing. Rarely in the history of music, I daresay, has the world seen extended mixing sessions as harmonious as these, conducted with such easy familiarity, with such collaboration, and mutual appreciation on the parts of all concerned. Sheesh, it was a veritable lovefest!
Lenne discussing the mix on the commute to the studio in Nashville
The old cliche with bands would be the guitarist wants more guitar, the bass player more bass, the singer, more, well, singer. In our world, the guitar player was, “less guitar, more Lenne,” the piano player, “less piano, more Lenne” and Neilson, he gave us the exact right amount of Lenne. As for Lenne, I think she just wanted more songs to mix, and more days in the studio in Nashville in which to mix them.
You know, a record like this produced under the old studio system, before Pro Tools project studios like my NoName Studio in Minneapolis, and using a stable of studio musicians, would cost $40K to make, just for starters. And while, full disclosure, even $10K does not cover the direct expenses required to make this record, the reality is the funds raised through Kickstarter simply makes it possible–it makes this dream come true.
Lenne, Mark Christine, and I, as co-producers, made nearly all of the music on this record. Lenne’s ability to provide her own backup vocals is an extraordinary gift. She just has a phenomenal knack for it. With our session drummer John O’Reilly Jr. rounding out the team, and legendary mandolinist Peter Ostroushko (Blood on the Tracks and much, much more) making a cameo, and beatsmeister Dieter Schaaf guesting on anther song–that was the whole team. Believe me, it’s a lot of music from a core group of four.
So now, it’s on to mastering if we can just get our song order down (easier said than done!) with Jim DeMain of Yes Master Studios in Nashville. In addition to working with the biggest names in music (Dolly Parton, Alabama, Robert Plant), he has mastered some real gems by artists I love like Sonny Landreth, Justin Townes Earl, Allison Moorer, and John Prine.
Mastering is where you establish uniform levels across the mixes, establish the final dynamic range compression, lock in the song order, adjust the fades, and use a little EQ to “sweeten” a mix, or add a little sub-bass, things like that. It’s also the first step on the highly involved (and way too technical) path to vinyl. It’s complicated. Making records is complicated. But funding passion-projects like this one is the most complicated of all, and you, dear funders, have made a seemingly insurmountable task far less scary and more manageable than we ever dreamed possible.
So, 9 days to go, $10K on the horizon…hint, hint. www.kickstarter.com/projects/lenneklingaman/lenne-klingaman-the-heart-is-the-hunter
With respect and appreciation to all,
SK
She sings like an angel and talks with her hands