TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

From Linda's MySpace blog.

http://blogs.myspace.com/lindathompsonmusic

Done - the website made it easy-peasy. I hope there will be a way to see how the fundraising is going.

Brilliant idea. This was pioneered a few years ago by Marillion asking their fans to help with touring funds, then buying their albums by paying for them in advance via online campaigns. The Hector Fund seems to take this to another level. I would love to contribute to LT's efforts, having really enjoyed her last 2 "comeback" albums.

I was onboard with it till I got to the last level of donation.If you pay 100,000 bucks,she won't make a record?Come on now,That's rediculous..The whole point of donating is so she can make the record and pay the musicians.If you give her enough money,she just goes away....Priceless.....

She's still a Brit, old chap, it's what we call humour............sorry about that.

Well, of course it is. It was certainly put in there to get a laugh. It made me laugh...  

Are you saying you were going to make a donation until you read that? Just wanting to clarify what you meant by "onboard".

Bloody hell...Is that how much it costs to get Mattacks to give you a drum lesson?   :o

Seriously, it's a neat (if not as original as they are suggesting - Marillion were doing it in the mid-90s) idea, but I'd have prefered it if the donation list stopped at, say, $100.

Yup,I was going to make a donation.Since I don't have a full time job anymore,I'm being picky on who gets my money.I hope she makes another lp though.

why is this a problem? and why would it swing your opinion ? it is obviously a bit of fun....... not sure what the issue is.

Americans often don't get our self-depreciating humour.

That's not an insult, btw, just a fact of life. I'm sure those here in the UK don't get some of their humor too.

Nice touch! ;D

Returning on-topic, it is (very slightly) worrying that they don't discuss what happens if the target funding isn't reached - and over how long the appeal will last.....so twenty years on, if the appeal is only 75% of th target, what then?.....

Personally, I don't mind Linda getting my money even if there isn't enough to complete the album, but I do strongly object to the website owners continuing to profit (they must be getting a fee from each donation, I'm assuming, or why are they in this?).....indeed, at what point does Linda get the money? As it is donated, or only on completion? And who is getting the interest on the money if the latter? That's effectively my (and yours!) money if Linda is to wait until a successful appeal completes.

And if we *do* get our money back if the appeal fails to complete, do we get our funds back with interest?

Good idea, but I feel all these points need answering, even if it's that the website owners only get a one-off % from my donation, we do get our funds back (and after a stated period) with interest - or failing that it's a donation to Linda's favourite charity, and Linda gets the interest earned on donated funds when it coughs up on successful appeal.

i dont mind shelling out for the lp in advance but i'm not vey comfortable with the process adopted here

I wonder if she's thought about releasing it just as a download. That would reduce the costs a bit.

Mr paranoia asks how we know Linda has anything to do with the site.

I think theThompson family would very quickly rally around Linda & make it well known very quickly that it was nothing to do with her.

This is a scheme similar in make up to www.slicethepie.com, a site which has done great work in getting young bands real budgets to record proper albums - I work with a band who raised 15K this way. The scheme is not without its issues though, foreign territory releases being one particular minefield.

Two things puzzle me here - 1)  (And I quote) Is frankly, with no disrespect to the author, 3 lines of total twaddle - 'The Hector Fund conducts Artistfunding campaigns as a service to independent artists and administers the fulfillment of tangible goods to their fans.

It's simple; Fans donate money to support the creative endeavors of their favorite musicians in exchange for exclusive access and perks.

There are two types of fair-trade Artistfunding campaigns. Headliners, which raise large dollar amounts for established artists and Debuts which apply the principles of micro-financing to emerging international artists'

And 2) It would not be difficult under any circumstances for any artist of this repute to obtain either a label advance, or a achieve a production deal with either an indie producer of her choice, or a production house to make the record, sensible distribution is also fairly freely available.

I think she might have been oversold a 'dream' here, the foundation suggesting that this might be a novel and press worthy way of profile raising. I'm afraid I think it just looks a bit cheap.

So there ya are for a first post! Hello Sam and Kurt, I see you have both beaten me to this thread!

J

hey there mr brilliant and welcome xx

Good evening Jon and how nice to find you nattering here

Jude (newbie welcomer and minimod) ;D

Its such a genuine pleasure to meet you both..

Now keep on topic if yer don't mind ;)

who is this man? i hope he behaves :o ;D

but then he wouldn't fit in ;D

Hey Jon,
Nice to see ya postin!Thanks for the info.Don't be a stranger.....

Anyone know where Linda's fundraising campaign has got to? I was wondering whether to make a donation but when a fan asked her about this on Facebook the other day she replied:

"There's some interesting news on that very subject coming in the next few days." (14 October)

I've just received this missive from Linda via the Hector Fund:
This sounds like good news to me.

The people who run the Hector Fund followed with this:
It sounds as if more money is needed so, if you were on the fence you might consider falling off now  ;D

Does anybody know what happened to this? It is nearly 3 years since there was any news and 6 years since Linda's last record.

I hope she is able to put something out in the not too distant future but it looks as though this has foundered.

$50,000 does sound like a lot compared to most Pledge based albums that I have been familiar with lately. Our own Ollie of this parish is doing his for £1,000.  ;)

Linda's My Space & Facebook pages have not been active for a couple of years and the Hector Fund site has disappeared. She seems to have vanished into thin air.

Hmm - I haven't seen Linda in a long while. If I do, I'll ask....

Kami's pretty active on Facebook, I think...you could always ask her.

Linda posted on FB a few months ago that recording was complete and finishing touches were being done.
The Hector Fund itself seems to be kaput (website inaccessible), and Linda was very surprised to hear me say that. I wonder if that has fed into the delay since she posted her announcement.

She has promised on he FB page that the CD will be released this year.

That must be a different page to the one I am looking at which has no updates since 2011. Can you provide a link  please Bob?

(I'm guessing: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=839669292&fref=ts )

Thanks David. I'm still not seeing much though. Do I need to "friend" or "like" her in some way to get the full content?

Most of it is content from others 'to' her, but there is stuff there from her as well.

I contacted her on FB in October asking if there might be an advance promo track available for radio play. She replied...

"Dear Colin, thanks for dead flamingoes plays. Record nearly finished. No promo as yet."

I'll drop her a line and ask for an update. Funnily enough I just added a track from her last album to next week's playlist.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=839669292
The "2013 release" was in a reply to someone called Philip Moynagh back on March 23, who asked if the CD would be released this year.

The earlier conversation I had with her regarding the Hector Fund (http://thehectorfund.com/) seems to have disappeared.

I've had a reply from Linda but she has pointed me in the direction of her manager so I've just emailed him. I get the impression she doesn't have (or doesn't want to have) much to do with things once the album is finished.

And there isn't a huge amount of info on her web site - http://www.lindathompsonmusic.com/

Why do the words 'blood' and 'stone' come to mind?   :)

National Public Radio interviewed her last month about hysterical dysphonia, and she mentioned a 2013 album release during the interview.

In an older interview, she mentioned that further touring was "out of the question."  For reasons I cannot recall, I skipped her 2002 show at La Zona Rosa, right down the street from my office.  As I have since told my wife on many occasions, I drag my ass to every possible show because you never know when an artist you hold in high esteem will retire, or worse.  Next up, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffett and Paul McCartney.

On Facebook this week Linda has been talking about an October release on Topic Records. Great!
 :)

More here - album on the way.

She hasn't yet answered the query about the crowdfunding though....seems as though she's working through Zac Hobbs.

https://www.facebook.com/LindaThompsonUK/posts/10151508106380168

I am listening to the new album as I type.
I received an email with login instructions to download.
Despite forebodings, The Hector Fund and its heirs worked.
It is called Won't Be Long Now - a bit of an ironic title.
I like it.

Excellent to hear. Due for release in October.

Eliza Carthy & John Kirkpatrick feature....

.....and Kami and her husband James. I also believe Levon Helm's daughter Amy is involved too.  :)

Eliza is featured on a delightful song called Mr. Tams.
And Swarb can be heard on a couple songs! RT accompanies the opening track!  Definitely worth the wait.

You sound like you've heard it, Bob...

Here's a track off Linda's new album.
Never the Bride. Rather fine it is too imo.  ;D

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/linda-thompson-laments-being-never-the-bride-song-premiere-20130806

See Adrian's post where he says he got a download link via email. I assume the same happened to Bob :)

Ah right...sorry, missed that.  Thanks.

Yes, that's it. As a Hector Fund contributor, I got an early peek.

Nice song!

Piece re the forthcoming album

http://ukfolkmusic.co.uk/linda-thompson-wont-be-long-now-new-album-released-15th-october-2013/

Did anyone else hear LT interview and album promo on Libby Purves Midweek programme this morning, or am I the only R4 geek not at work this morning? Two short pieces from the album were played. Sounds very nice. Probably available on I player.

This from Linda about an hour ago on Facebook -

"Just did midweek prog for Radio 4. Professor Paul Abel, astronomer extraordinaire, and Patrick Moore's obvious successor. Richard Noble, who broke the land speed record at 630 mph. Last, but not least, Emma Thompson, who is fork bendingly interesting, and looks beautiful. Love the newish hair colour. Libby Purves was, as ever, whip smart and engaging. My brain hurts! My voice was Wavery, but not too bad. I couldn't join in as much as I would have liked. Do I hear a collective phew? I forgot to ask you to listen. Eliza Carthy and Marry Waterson are on Woman's hour tomorrow. That should be good."

Here's the listen again link - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03brnr6

Linda has a snazzy new website: http://lindathompsonmusic.com/

There's an interview with Linda in the current R2 magazine plus a short write-up of this year's Cropredy.

Kind of you to mention it, Colin. A small thing, but mine own.
 :)

I actually just received a complimentary copy of the mag from Martin at Birnam cd as a thank-you for playing some of his artists on my show. But I do buy it occasionally myself!