I’ve had a lot of fun the past few weeks watching my Kickstarter pledges go up and up. At the time of writing, 94 backers have pledged, for a total of $7,065. We’re headed into the final week when the future of my album project will be determined. Kickstarter is a truly beautiful thing, and so is the love that I’m feeling from all the fine people who have stepped up to help me. I’ve even got one awesome (and possibly crazy) fan who keeps increasing his pledge by a few dollars here and there just to keep the numbers round. Every day I feel overwhelming gratitude, girlish Christmas-morning excitement, and yes – galloping anxiety.

I’ve also had to flex my creative marketing muscles to stimulate pledges, which has been fun too. So far I have made 3 special mp3 offers. The first was my Hallowe’en special, for which anyone pledging (or increasing their pledges) on Oct. 31 got an mp3 of my brand spanking new instrumental harp piece, The Swan Egg, plus an old a cappella favourite that never got released, Elsinore, based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Eleven pledges came in that day. The second one was even more fun: I asked for fan suggestions for what to sing about, and this was the result…

Watch the video for the whole story behind the song. I also sent mp3s to everyone who pledged within the allotted time.

My latest offer lasts until midnight this Sunday night (Nov. 10). Many of you know my song Invocation. It is a four-part a cappella invocation to the gods and the Quarters – in pagan terms, it is a circle casting. Here it is:

But you probably didn’t know that there is a sequel to it, called Valediction, which has been recorded, but never released. It uses some of the same music, but while Invocation calls forth the gods, Valediction bids them farewell; and while Invocation consists of only four voices, Valediction features a flurry of percussion, pipes, Inuit throat-singing, guitar, and 13 voices. I am offering to email it to you if you pledge before midnight Sunday. If you have not pledged yet, a $15 digital preorder will qualify you for this offer; if you are one of the 94 people who have pledged already, just increase your pledge by $1 or more, and I will know you want one too.