Intergenerational

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to read my original letter to Sponsors

Funds raised to date

$26,020.00

Twenty-six Thousand twenty dollars raised so far!!!

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Help us reach out goal of $35,000 dollars by this September

SUPPORT THE RECORDING OF

Intergenerational

Letter to sponsors

Hello Friends and Family!

I’ve got exciting news! This past March I spent 12 days in Denton, TX at the Echo Lab recording my third solo album INTERGENERATIONAL with music producer Matt Pence. 

I grew up nearby in Dallas and, as a child, I could never get a clear picture of what happened to my extended family. When I was born, there was only one living grandmother on my dad’s side, as well as a 96-pound woman we called Big Mama. She wasn’t a blood relative but had raised my mom since she was an infant. 

As an adult I had many late-night talks over 15 years with my mom. In time she shared what she knew of my lost grandparents and told the harrowing tale of her own childhood, including the final years of my biological Grandmother Frankie’s life. 

The story of my new album centers around my Grandma Frankie, who repeatedly orphaned my mother in her early childhood. Years later, when my mother was 18, Frankie would murder her young lover in Amarillo. She attempted to take her own life after the slaying; the newspaper headline the next day read “Still Critical." She died two days later without ever divulging to my mother who her father actually was. Last year, DNA finally revealed his name to us and that he's been deceased since 1972.  

Some of the questions I am addressing on this record are:

• What is family?

• How do we create it?

• What if there’s no home to go to?

• How do we avoid repeating the cycle of lived trauma?

• Is it possible to heal? 

It’s taken me seven years of solo work to write this record based on the stories my mother shared. It’s come together almost as an allegory for the inherited trauma many of us are carrying inside. 

Go here if you’d like to watch the ALBUM PROMO VIDEO and hear demos of the upcoming record.

This will be the 6th studio album I’ve composed and produced in the last 10 years, and I’m thrilled with the team I’ve assembled for this project. This is the best group of studio engineers and musicians I’ve ever worked with, and they have helped me make INTERGENERATIONAL a master work worthy of the stories it chronicles.

I hired Ti Minton to orchestrate percussion and they played all the drums. They are a dear friend from Nashville who have performed on the Colbert Late Show with Adia Victoria and toured internationally with Adia for Atlantic Records. The other core musicians are all part of my longtime music family, with Howard Rabach on bass, Valeria Stewart on vocals and acoustic guitar, and Kevin Dudley on banjo, dobro and electric slide. The studio’s in house string arranger and conductor David Pierce wrote arrangements for six of the ten songs and brought in four PHENOMENAL string players to lay down the gorgeous parts.

Matt Pence is an old friend who owns The Echo Lab studio in Denton, TX; he produced, engineered and is mixing the record now. Matt and I have toured with each others bands on the past and he has engineered and worked on albums with Jason Isbell, Sarah Jaffe, Shakey Graves, Nikki Lane, John Grant, and John Moreland. 

Recording this album at The Echo Lab will cost $35,000 and took under two months to complete: 

• $19,000 for recording and production costs 

• $16,000 for musicians, string arrangements and travel expenses 

I initially raised $5,000 in grant funds from the Washington, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and another 21,000 from close friends and family.

Working with my team has been so easy and joyful, but we could use some financial help if you’re able to join us in crossing the finish line. 

I am inviting my closest friends, family, and community to consider sponsoring this project, joining me on this very personal journey of creation. I am opting to reach out personally rather than using costly crowdsourcing platforms. 

All contributions will be enormously appreciated! Below I detail the gifts I can offer – including access to the record making process and in-studio visits – in return for your generosity. Also below is information on how to contribute.

Thank you for reading this far! If this project resonates with you, or if you would like to share your own story or discuss this album in more detail, please reach out to me as I would love to connect and answer any questions. 

To make a donation, please visit our website and follow the instructions listed above: thegreya.com/support

There are other options, but Venmo will be the easiest for you. My Venmo link is here

If you'd prefer another method, please let me know directly. For those who would like to make their donation directly to The Echo Lab studio, that also can be arranged.

I will be reading and giving sponsors copies of four magazine articles written by my mother and published in the 1980’s in The Dallas Life Magazine. They are witty reflections on my childhood, family vacations, and her experience homeschooling me and my four siblings. 

It amazes me how my mother managed to give her brood of five children all the safety, security, and stability she never had. My mother is my hero. 

Thank you in advance for any support you may be able to provide. I love you all dearly.

Grey

Venmo is the easiest to use

and my last four digits are 6-8-4-2

Donate Today

Fundraising Goal

$35,000.00

All sponsors receive:

• Free autographed copy of the completed album; your name will appear in the album credits by giving level

Please email me directly with any questions at: theGreyAmusic@gmail.com

or call me directly at 202.494.6842