This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
This week's Utah Crowd-Funding Project is spreading music, even if it's one person at a time.
Provo musician Derk Boss is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who is working on an album of new songs about myths and fairy tales. (You can hear one of them, "Icarus (It's a Long Way Down)," on the video embedded above.) His goal is to record with members of the Utah Symphony and Brigham Young University's Philharmonic Orchestra, for a full, rich sound.
To make this happen, Boss has launched a crowd-funding campaign, via Kickstarter. He's also employing an old-school technique: He's going door-to-door, playing his music to anyone he encounters.
In an email to the Tribune, Boss described an encounter with a woman in Bountiful: "[She said,] 'I'll let you in to play, but I'm not buying your CD because I don't like guitar music.' I have a unique style that focuses on harmonics and slapping the guitar. I played her my song and she bought the album."
That sort of thing happens fairly often, Boss wrote. "Honestly, most people who let me play have either bought my first album or went on to Kickstarter to make a pledge," he wrote.
Boss is seeking to raise $10,000 for studio time and to hire musicians. So far, he has received $1,366 in pledges. The deadline is Dec. 26.
Benefits for backers range from a digital download of the finished album (for $15) to an all-expenses trip to Salt Lake City, a custom-written song, an autographed guitar and an executive-producer credit (for $10,000).
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