The Jason Parker Quartet’s “Nick Drake” Kickstarter Project Begins Today! Will You Pledge Your Support?

As I sit typing this in my favorite coffee shop in Seattle I can see the rain coming down, bringing the red, yellow and orange leaves with it. Fall in the Pacific Northwest is one of my favorite times of year. Some people see it as decay, end of summer, dark times descending, but I see it as the Earth taking care of business. The cycle of life is never more apparent to me than when the wind and rain come to strip the trees of their dried up foliage. It’s like magic! It’s the start of a process that culminates in the Spring when the sun comes back, bringing with it the rebirth associated with that time of year. Plus, it’s a great excuse to light a fire in the fire place, put a big pot of soup on the stove and curl up with my wife and a good book on the couch!

It’s also the perfect time to be immersing myself in the music of Nick Drake. Listening to his music conjures up images of the stark British countryside, fog rolling over the moors, rain sweeping the windows. Sounds like Seattle, doesn’t it? Perhaps that’s why his music speaks to me so profoundly – because it speaks to my sense of place, my home. Whatever the case, there’s nothing more exquisite than putting “Day Is Done” on the hi-fi at full volume and drinking in the Autumnal scenes outside the window.

To be sure, I’ve been immersing myself in Drake’s music for the last two years now in preparation for the Jason Parker Quartet’s next project, a remaking of his debut album, Five Leaves Left (still more Fall imagery!). It’s been a dream of mine to record this stunning music with my band, and that dream will come to fruition on December 26th when we enter Jack Straw Studios with the incredible engineer Doug Haire for three days of recording. Josh, Evan, D’Vonne and I will be joined by our dear friends Cynthia Mullis (sax) and Michele Khazak (vocals) as we attempt to put our own JPQ spin on the 10 songs that make up the album. I’ve been working on the arrangements for two years, we’ve been rehearsing and playing the tunes on gigs for months, and we’re ready to go!

Come Along With Us

I hope you’re ready to come with us on this journey. Today I launched a Kickstarter campaign which will allow you to participate in this process in unprecedented ways. If you’re unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it is an organization that helps independent artists like me raise the funds necessary to realize our dreams and complete our projects. Through Kickstarter, I am offering various packages that will give you access to different parts of our process, from audio and video of our rehearsals and the recording session, to one-of-a-kind pieces of art from the CD itself, to a chance to join us in the studio as a producer of the album. All I ask in return is that you pre-order the CD. It’s these pre-order funds that will allow me to pay the studio, engineers, band members and mastering house for their contributions. Your pre-order will not only support me but 7-10 other independent artists!

Please take a minute to check out the details of the campaign by clicking here. I put together a spiffy video to explain the whole thing to you. If you choose to participate it’ll only take you two minutes to go through the process of pledging. Kickstarter uses Amazon Payments so rest assured that the whole thing is safe and secure. And just know that this campaign is all-or-nothing. If I hit my financial goal the project gets funded. If I don’t meet my goal, your credit card does not get charged and I receive no money at all.

I can’t tell you how excited I am that this project is finally going to see the light of day! And I can’t wait to share the whole process with you, every step of the way. I hope you’ll join us for what will be an amazing experience for us all.