[kj] For those who miss the old Geordie sound

[Change]

Well for those of you who miss that Geordie sound of the golden olden daze, why not make like Kristin & Billy and set up a fan fund...

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Hi all,

It's been a couple of weeks since we've sent a Letter. There’s been a lot going on.

Kristin’s finished (!!) the manuscript of Paradoxical Undressing and submitted it to a literary agent. So far, the reaction’s been really good. Together, K and the agent are editing and discussing next steps. For this reason, we’ve stopped sending out excerpts from the book, though it’s very possible that the entire series will be restarted if/when a book deal happens. We really believe that e-books and serialization are appealing ways of spreading a book around and would like to see that happen.

The CASH Music project is having a huge impact on Kristin’s career. We can honestly say that she wouldn’t be recording a new record if not for CASH.  All studio bills are being paid by CASH subscribers – an incredible group of concerned stake-holders from all over the planet. Thank you once again for helping ‘keep them coming”!

The last song in this CASH series is going to be posted at the end of this month. It’s called Roubidoux. After that, you should expect things to go dark for the Speedbath album project while we prepare the commercial release. Don’t expect it to necessarily be a compilation of all the CASH tracks so far –this’ll be special. We think you’ll all be happy with the full album when it’s done in March. There will be another Kristin-related CASH project beginning in January as well, so stay tuned for that!

Crackpot Idea of the Week: OK, so, Kristin’s been down to one acoustic guitar since 2004. This week, after playing it 2-3 hours a day, every day, the old girl gave out.  She needs an overhaul, which she will get.  In 2005, while enjoying a moment of prosperity, we ordered a new acoustic guitar from Collings. We thought it was just too risky for K to live with only one.  It took 2 years for the guitar to be made and last year we were told it was finally ready. Let’s just say the timing couldn’t have been worse.

We told the guys at Collings that we’d do our best to come up with the necessary cash and asked for their patience. They were very patient, but, well, it’s now been more than a year. The Collings guys want to put a new headstock on K’s guitar and sell it at retail. This is only natural, of course. They’re supposed to make guitars in exchange for money after all and they’ve been good sports so far. We’re prepared to give up on the guitar (even with K’s half-price deal they’re very expensive – Kristin’s will cost $3600 with shipping!), but before we give it up, I thought we might try something fun to save the day.  

There are about 6,000 of you that receive this Letter. We’re asking you to pledge an amount that you’d be willing to kick-in to help K buy her guitar, $1, $5, $10, any amount. Don’t pay anything…only pledge by sending an email as a reply to this Letter. If we accumulate enough pledges to pay for the guitar, we’ll send an email out, cutting off pledges, then ask for payments to be made to The Hat (our tipjar at KristinHersh.com).  Once we have the dough, we’ll buy the guitar and have it shipped to Kristin.

Here’s the fun part: once she has the new guitar, we’ll record an HD video of Kristin playing 3 brand new songs no one has ever heard before in our living room. We’ll post that video online in a secure location and send a password to everyone who pledged and helped Kristin get the guitar. The idea being all contributors will get to see the guitar they helped buy, while enjoying a preview of a few brand-new songs.

Have we crossed a line here? We hope not. We’re just trying to solve a thorny problem creatively, in a way that brings some fun and value to all of you. We know we lean on you guys an awful lot now that there’s no record company involved with Kristin. For that we’re eternally grateful. If we reach a point where this stuff becomes unsustainable, then we’ll have to accept that. Here’s to that day being far-off in the distance!

Lots of love,

Billy (and Kristin