Patronism: A New Way of Staying Connected & Supporting the Music You Love

Imagine having access to my entire catalog (including an out-of-print album), new songs, demos, unreleased live tracks, exclusive new material being uploaded weekly for whatever you wish to pay. . . Do You Consider yourself “more than a fan” of my music who wants to help me have the resources to have time to create new songs? Well, Now you can!! With Patronism.

A colleague, amazing musician and one of my closest friends, John Pointer spent the greater part of 2010 developing something amazing for artists like me and I am excited to share it with you. It’s called Patronism and it’s arguably “the most potent way for people who love music to connect with music they love.”

Just last week, Patronism was selected as a finalist in the New Music Business Model Competition organized by Harvard & Berklee! I believe in the business model because it’s about the MUSIC, not the BUSINESS. In an industry that provides so little dignity for truly talented artists who have dedicated their lives to music & it’s medicine, it’s truly a beacon of light in a dark age.

I know that many of you have a lot of my albums and are constantly asking how you can help keep the music flowing. Some of you live hundreds of miles from where we tour, but still want to feel close enough to both feel the energy of the creativity and drop a few bucks in a tip jar. Well, now, virtually, we can interact in all these ways. It’s so exciting!

One thing I’ve learned is that independent artists like myself are constantly challenged to continue creating the music that their fans love while struggling to tour and stay alive. I realized recently that I haven’t written a new song in over a year. Not because I’ve been twittling my thumbs, but because touring makes up the majority of my income right now. Often, our tours break even and when there is a surplus, I invest the profits into gear and car repairs, posters, new merchandise, music conferences and gasoline and there’s little left to put aside for creative time.

With Patronism, you and I can play together. You get all the new and fun stuff I create while you contribute a small amount to help me continue creating. You can even email me feedback about demos and new stuff I’m working on. FUN!

This doesn’t mean I’m not going to be touring a lot in 2011, but it means that when I have downtime or touring is slow, I won’t be struggling to creatively make ends meet. Instead, I’ll be crafting nuggets of musical love, making videos and who knows what other amazing creations for YOU!

If you consider yourself more than a fan, take a look and see if this is how you’d like to play! It’s pay what you want and you can un-subscribe or change the amount of your contribution as you wish. There’s no time commitment necessary. It’s about YOU, ME & the MUSIC. Simple.

I already have all my albums up on my Patronism page (Including 2000 “Girls of Stone” which has been out-of-print since 2002) as well as live cuts, unreleased demos, live radio performances and interviews as well as my lyric and background story book, True Stories. Lyrics. Soon we will be able to upload exclusive video and other files. . . It’s going to be amazing. If you’re interested, CLICK HERE to explore my page on the Patronism site.