Endeavor

Here's something cool.

Dash Rip Rock, aka the Greatest Bar Band In The World, recently fired up a page at Kickstarter.com to solicit investors for their next studio album. They sweetened the deal by including swag for prospective investors, from a concert ticket ($10) to a copy of the new album, when finished ($12), to a full-on private concert ($1,000, and unless things have changed a whole lot since their hayday, that's still a lot less than Dash's booking fee). The band sent out notices to their email list and waited to see what would happen; they were looking to raise $4,000, and gave themselves until the end of June to do it.

That was a couple of weeks ago. As of today, with 74 days left in the "Dash-O-Thon," they've already exceeded the target, and the album is a "go."

I really, really like this, and not just because I've been a Dash fan since I heard their first album on spring break in (ugh) 1988. For one thing, it's proof that artists (yes, Bill, that means you) can finance their work by going direct to their fans. For another, it's a win-win-win for everybody involved. Dash gets their studio time paid for, their fans get a new album, and the band starts making a profit from the first retail CD, instead of having to pay back a bank or record company or their in-laws for fronting them the studio money.

So, way to go, guys. Looking forward to the record.