Since there are only so many pictures you would care to see of these guys in the sound booth or playing their instruments, I'm going to back track to a part of the story I haven't had time to tell yet.
If you'll remember, once we decided not to sign a contract with Stuart, I wrote to Zac about my idea to just get these guys to Nashville to record their music. Mainly I was asking him where we would do that and how much it might cost. I had no idea he had a studio in his house or that he would be willing and/or able to record them himself. When he called back to say he could help, he explained the recording studio situation and the costs to me. It was going to be very expensive. Very. Especially if you added trip costs to that total.
This is where my heart and my mind went to war. I was beyond excited that I figured out a way to get this band to Nashville, and the scenario was far better than anything I could have ever even imagined. But the cost of it seemed both irrational and insurmountable for a garage band. This is the point where, for most people, the dream would have died. But I just kept thinking, "How much is a dream worth exactly?"
After much consideration, I came to my conclusion: A dream can't be put in a box or a budget. A dream often doesn't make logical or financial sense, which is why so many dreams go unfulfilled, I think. Maybe that's why a dream is called a "dream"....it's unrealistic, ethereal, a little fuzzy, and always just beyond your reach. I decided if an ideal opportunity was so perfectly laid out before us like this, money and logic were not going to hold us back. We were going to reach out and grab it.
Now to convince Todd of this.....
As I waited for Todd get home from work, I practiced my "pitch" that I would give him hoping I could convince him to get on board. I knew that none of the four families could really afford the cost, even if we split it four ways. Todd knew this as well. So when I made my pitch, it was with us covering most of the cost and the other families doing whatever they could. When I finished giving him the most convincing spiel I could offer, he laughed and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm not paying that much money just for you guys to go to Nashville and have a fun week." My heart sunk. But I totally got it.
Let me explain what he was saying and why I totally got it. As far as Todd and I are concerned, recording a CD in Nashville IS the dream. The End. We have no grandiose ideas that this week is going to launch them to fame and fortune, and we aren't disillusioned into thinking they are more talented than they really are. So in that sense, he was considering to what end are you spending all that money for? On the surface, it does look like all you are getting is a really fun time. End of story.
But the more I explained to Todd how incredible this opportunity to be mentored by Zac was, the more he started catching the spirit of the dream as well. Case in point, this is just one of the really cool things hanging on the wall in the studio:
This is where Todd's wisdom came in. He said he could get on board with the idea, but he felt strongly that it wouldn't be right or fair for us to foot the bill for everyone else's part just so we could help our son's dream come true. He said each of them needed to be personally invested in it, including Josh. This would require them to work for it, and additionally they would feel more ownership in the deal. He said if each kid/family would contribute $1000, he would cover what was left, which would still be a substantial amount. I completely agreed.
I COULD NOT WAIT TO TELL THE BOYS. We sat them down that night and explained the offer from Zac and the financial situation to them. We told them that they would each be responsible for $1000, and if they could come up with more than that it would be even better. The catch was, Zac needed a yes or no answer right away because he was going to set aside a week on his calendar, and he needed their music ASAP so he could start working on it. They either had to be all in or all out. You either committed to $1000 each, or not. There was no halfway on this deal. I told them all to talk to their parents and we would reconvene the next day to see where everyone stood.
The next night, we got back together at our house and everyone told me their status: yes, yes, yes and yes. Everyone is all in! Oh my gosh....this is really happening.
Now they had to figure out how to come up with $1000 a piece. They said they had $300 in a band account from previous gigs, so they were already down to $925 each. :) But that is still a lot of money to come up with. And as I said before, we made it clear that $1000 each was the minimum....the actual costs for recording and CD printing were still more than that, and the more they could help the better. Plus gas, food and a hotel in Nashville for a week would not be cheap. We had some work to do.
I laid in bed that night trying to brainstorm ways to fundraise. I was really torn about this because I was worried that asking people for money would be tacky. But I kept coming back to all the times I have given money to my friends' kids when they were raising money for a class field trip to Washington DC, a band competition, a soccer tournament in New Jersey, or a walk to raise money for a cure for diabetes. I have bought poinsettias and discount cards and gotten my car washed when it wasn't dirty just so I could help out a neighbor, a friend or a cheerleading squad get where they wanted to go.
Even wiith this in mind, I couldn't figure out a way to ask people to donate to the band's cause without feeling weird or guilty or embarrassed about it. Finally, I identified two factors in all of the above scenarios that made them seem more legitimate: 1) They were associated with an official school, group or organization; and 2) They were offering a product or service.
Well, concerning #1, I had to lean on my new life motto, "It is what it is." We are not doing this through a school or a team or an organization. Not much I can do about that. It is what it is. Moving on.
Regarding #2, they needed a product or service they could offer. Well, being a band, that one seemed easy....hold a fundraising concert. We had done that in our backyard before; we will just do it again. Then, serendipity surprises us again. Some friends of ours, Ralph and Daniele Bushong, had just moved into a house downtown that looks more like a loft apartment. Talk about a coolness factor. But even better than that, they have a rooftop deck that looks out over the Tulsa skyline. They offered their rooftop for the fundraising concert. Wow. Really fun idea.
The only problem with the concert idea was that it was limited in its scope of how many people would/could come, and it most certainly was not going to raise $4000.00. Then we had a breakthrough......someone had the idea to set up a fundraising page at gofundme.com. This is a website where you set up a personal page explaining what you are raising money for and people can donate by credit card. I really liked this idea because we could ask for donations, and at the same time we were offering both a service and a product. Our service was entertainment at the fundraising concert which could be announced on the web page. Our product was a copy of the CD if you donated $50 or more.
The band and I designed our web page at midnight one night, got it online, and we had our first donation within about 30 minutes. We were in business! The only limiting factor with the website was getting the link out to friends and family. Each kid and their family was given the charge to get the word out and rally their troops. We all put the link on our Facebook pages and emailed anyone we thought might want to support the band. We could see who was supporting us as the donations started rolling in. It was pretty amazing how fast they started coming. It was so fun to watch the boys light up when a donation was made by one of their friends or family. It was as if you could see them thinking, "My team is pitching in and doing their part. My friends and family are cheering me on."
Everything about the fundraising concert was perfect. The rooftop was a fun and unusual venue, it had an amazing view, and it was strangely cool for a July evening. The picture on the main page of this blog was taken that night. The cutest thing was that the Bushong family set up a concession stand and they gave all the proceeds to the band. Both teenagers and adults came, and the night culminated with an unobstructed view of the fireworks over Drillers Stadium. We are so grateful to Ralph, Daniele, Jessica, Jacob and Juliana for being some of their biggest fans, and especially for providing a way for them to raise money. That night they made $750. THANK YOU BUSHONG FAMILY!
When we left on Saturday, I added up the total on the "go fund me" website with the cash and checks that people had given us, and then I added what they had made at several gigs they had done in the past few weeks. Would you believe the total was about $5000. Kind of amazing what these guys did when they put their minds to it. I also love to see the things people can accomplish when their actions are fueled by their passions. Magical things can happen when those two things are paired up. They are still a few hundred dollars short of the total recording/CD printing costs, but I'm thrilled with where they ended up.
I am especially thankful to the boys' families who have contributed to both the recording and the trip costs. Their support means the world to the kids as well. Since the parents can't physically be here in Nashville, their financial contribution is their way of saying, "Son, I'm with you. I'm with you in heart and in spirit and in love. Take one week out of your life and go live your dream."
So in the end, as we are wrapping up our week in Nashville, if you asked me or the guys how much a dream is worth, I'm pretty sure you would get the same answer from each of us. It's priceless.
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