Clay Hess, guitarist and vocalist with Sierra Hull & Highway 111, is the latest bluegrass artist to take to Kickstarter for crowdsourcing of his new project, Rain.
In this case, Clay is looking for his fans and friends to help raise the $3000 he estimates he will need to finish up his upcoming solo album. Like with most Kickstarter campaigns, he is offering a number of donor premiums: $25 pledges will receive a personalized, autographed CD; $50 will get you the signed disc plus a Skype guitar lesson with Clay; $100 gets the signed CD, guitar lesson and Clay’s instructional DVD, Bluegrass Guitar Basics.
The album will contain 5 of Clay’s original songs, plus a number of bluegrass classics and ones with particular meaning for him.
“I chose songs that influenced me or show who I am as a player/singer. Little Girl of Mine in Tennessee and Cabin in Caroline are two of my all time favorite Flatt and Scruggs songs, and Travelin’ Down the Blue Road, written by Marshall Wilborn, was a huge influence on me in my formative years as a musician.
I also recorded a few from some of my favorite writers and friends: Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle, Craig Market, Wayne Winkle, and Robert Gately.”
Accompanying him are Randy Kohrs on resonator guitar, Sierra Hull and Adam Steffey on mandolin, Ron Block and Corey Walker on banjo, Tim Crouch and Christian Ward on fiddle, and Aaron Ramsey on bass.
Hess and Kohrs are co-producing, tracking at Randy’s Slack Key Studio in Nashville.
A release date is dependent on the success of the Kickstarter project, details about which available online.
