The Hero's Journey

March 2019 Progress Report
about 5 years ago – Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 06:03:12 PM

Hi everyone,

Since the last time I updated you, work on The Hero's Journey has continued - most of it just hasn't involved me, since all of my parts have been completed for a while. The two people working the hardest have been Dave behind the mixing console, and Sharla inside graphic design software. My efforts have mainly involved listening to final and near-final mixes as Dave records his final parts and makes the mixes sound as good as they can be, and giving feedback on aspects of the album package design as Sharla incorporates Wetdryvac's art into a beautiful booklet and digipack. 

In an ideal world, tonight I would have been giving a final listen to the complete mixes and sending them off to Jace for mastering. However, due to a recent bout of (relatively minor but annoying) illness, the final listening session has been pushed back to this Sunday night. Think good thoughts for us as we approach this major milestone!

However, I'm not coming to you empty-handed. If you backed the campaign at a level of $80 or above, or if you added on my back catalog through BackerKit, check your email - as of tonight, I've distributed the back catalog digital rewards for download for you! The message you received will give you instructions on how to download every song I've ever released, and then some. Due to the size and number of the files and BackerKit's download size limitations, they'll come to you as 7 separate ZIP files. I hope you enjoy the  music and that it gets you excited for the even better record that is soon to come! If you have any difficulties 

Once I have delivered the complete, mastered album and the art to the folks doing the replication, I will be locking in addresses and charging credit cards through BackerKit  shortly thereafter - probably around April 20 or 25. If you haven't filled out the backer survey, or if your address or other information has changed since you filled it out, please make sure to do so and get everything up to date so I can send you all your rewards in May and June! Until then, don't forget it's not too late to add on or pre-order other rewards if you like.

Thanks again for all your support. We're so close to the finish line that it's almost hard to believe...

Beth

Slightly belated February progress report!
about 5 years ago – Wed, Mar 06, 2019 at 05:17:05 PM

Hi everyone!

I apologize for the lateness of this email, but it's for a very good reason! We have been keeping extremely busy with The Hero's Journey lately and I am pleased to be able to tell you that we are right on schedule and the final stages are in sight.

In the last week of February, we were pleased to welcome Elizabeth back to Minnesota for four awesome days of intense, focused work in the studio. We presented her with a truly daunting pile of vocal and violin parts to record, but she faced it all with her usual skill and gave us some genuinely amazing performances. We can't wait for you to hear them on the record! More than that, it was awesome to spend time with her, catch up, and make music together again. On her last night in town, we also assembled a bunch of the musicians who performed on the record to eat pizza and listen to the mixes so far. It was great to have almost everyone in the same room and to hear the record really taking shape.

At this point in time, much of the remaining work has fallen to Dave. In addition to the substantial task of finalizing the mixes, he has a number of guitar parts left to record. By mid-March he will be providing these mixes to our intrepid mastering engineer, Jace McLain, who will put the finishing touches on them. Our graphic designer, Sharla Stremski, has also been provided with all the essential elements of the album package and is starting to put them together into a beautiful digipack case and 12-page booklet using Wetdryvac's art. It has been a privilege to work with so many talented people!

In other news, 93% of the backers reading this have filled out their backer survey, which is awesome! If you are in the remaining 7%, please answer the survey when you get a chance so I know where to send your goodies when they're available. :D If you've lost the survey email that went out, please reach out and I'll be happy to re-send the link. We've also got a preorder store set up which you should feel free to share with anyone who missed out on the initial Kickstarter but still wants to get a copy of the record as soon as it's available: https://herosjourney.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

More news coming soon as we head into the home stretch on this project! Thank you so much for your continued support.

Beth

January 2019 Progress Report - and SURVEYS!
over 5 years ago – Wed, Jan 30, 2019 at 07:42:24 PM

Hello everyone,

Work on recording the remaining parts of The Hero’s Journey is continuing apace. In recent weeks we’ve laid down bass tracks, backing vocals, and more. But the biggest news I have for you tonight is that our surveys have now been sent out via BackerKit! Please check your email and respond to the survey at your earliest convenience, so we can know where to send your rewards among other important things!

I’ve also set up a preorder store through BackerKit, so if you know anyone who missed out on the original Kickstarter but still wants to preorder the record, send them here: https://herosjourney.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

If you have any questions about or problems with the survey, just let me know and I’ll be happy to help. Stay tuned for more updates very soon!

Beth

December 2018 Progress Report
over 5 years ago – Sun, Dec 23, 2018 at 01:48:24 PM

Hello backers,

In the past month, work on The Hero's Journey has been slow but steady. My producer Dave and I have continued to schedule and hold studio sessions with the talented guest musicians who are contributing to many tracks on the album. We're making progress, but illnesses as well as the impending winter holidays have unfortunately put us on pause a few times in the recent past. There's still a lot to get done, particularly for Dave who is our principal electric guitarist as well as producer and engineer, but I'm confident that we will finish it by late February when Elizabeth arrives to record her vocals and violin parts.

However, other aspects of the album release are well ahead of schedule. I am thrilled to tell you that all art for the record has been completed! Our project artist, Wetdryvac, exceeded every expectation both in terms of timeliness and the quality of the finished product. I can't wait to see how all of these amazing paintings look on the album packaging.

This also means that backer surveys can go out ahead of schedule as well! I'll be traveling with my family around the holidays, but when I return in January, I'll get right to work on setting up surveys in BackerKit and preparing them for delivery to all backers. You can expect to see your survey sometime in late January 2019 or early February 2019. Once I've received all the survey responses, I'll even start being able to fulfill some of the backer rewards, such as art prints and the digital back catalog reward. In short, we've all got a lot to look forward to in the new year!

I'll leave you with one final glimpse into the work my collaborators and I have been doing. Here's Wetdryvac's painting for "Freedom to Live," the final song on the album:

And here's a very rough mix of the song that goes along with it! We still need to add drums and a few guitar parts, and possibly re-record a few of the tracks, but I hope this gives you a sense of where the story of this record is going:

That's all for now. Happy holidays to those who celebrate, and a happy new year to all! I'll talk to you again in 2019.

Beth

November 2018 Progress Report
over 5 years ago – Wed, Nov 28, 2018 at 04:57:43 PM

Hello, wonderful backers!

Although it's been a while since I sent you an update, I've been keeping myself busy in the month since the Hero's Journey Kickstarter campaign ended. I have two noteworthy bits of progress to share with you today.

First, as of last night, I have finished recording all of my parts for the album! Although numerous overdubs from other musicians still remain to be completed, wrapping up my vocals and guitars is a major milestone. I can get abducted by aliens tomorrow and the project can still be completed! (I do not intend to get abducted by aliens.)

Second, now that I've received the funds from Kickstarter, our project artist Wetdryvac got paid and promptly got to work. Already, almost half of the album images are complete or close to complete, and they're amazing - everything I envisioned, and more. Here are two of them:

Needless to say, I am EXTREMELY excited to see the remaining paintings in the sequence.

When the images have been finalized, I will be able to send out surveys through BackerKit. I still estimate that this will happen no earlier than January 2019, so don't worry that you've missed anything. I'll be sure to keep you updated as the audio and visual components of the project continue to take shape.

Thank you for your continued support!

Beth