Hi y’all,
Rhett Miller here. Welcome to my PledgeMusic campaign.
I’ve been making albums for 16 years, and hopefully I will be doing it for at least 16 more. I love it. I love watching Jon Brion wheel into the studio some instrument that nobody knew existed, I love the silence of Kingsway Studios at 3am, I love the sight of Murry juggling while waiting to do another vocal take.
But there are other records I’ve wanted to make, more intimate and immediate ones, records that I’ve spent most of my life dreaming about making. I always assumed they would remain in the realm of dreams, mostly due to logistics and whiny bureaucrats and the expense of distribution. And then, like most of you, I woke up and realized that those barriers were gone.
So now I’m going to make those records.
In fact, I’ve already started. I’m in the midst of recording a set of songs that might be the best I’ve ever had. They are simple. They are strong. This will be called a solo record, but I’m not making it alone. I brought some of my favorite musicians into one of the most beautiful studios in the world, and I’m loving the results so far.
I can’t wait to share these songs with you. No middle-men, no gate-keepers… Just me and my friends, making music and delivering it to YOU.
Please don’t get me wrong… The record labels with which I’ve worked were stocked with badass music-lovers, and I’m not ruling out working with them in the future, but there have been massive changes in record labels and the record business. And now, thanks to the good old internet, I’m able to communicate directly with the fans. That is the coolest thing about all of this. The fourth wall has been brought down. The posing and false mystique of the old system is done. It’s a brave new world and I’m stoked.
I want to guide every aspect of the process this time around. So I’m producing the record myself, and I’ve started my own label, Maximum Sunshine Records.
Let’s do it.
Rhett