If indeed we are the sum total of all our life’s experiences, my tally began in January of 1953. All my experiences have brought me to this point in time. To this moment. To these 2 words.
I care...
The tunes on this page are part of a caring intention. 75% of the $$$ generated by these suites is intended to be a form of assistance. If you are here by invitation, then your scheduled 3 day event & the cause it represents will be the beneficiaries. When there is no other cause being promoted, my default cause is BITS (Blues In The Schools).
I was involved with BITS for over 2 decades & wanted to create a kind of perpetual care package. Initially I was only thinking of BITS as the benefactor. Then I realized, if my music could benefit BITS, it could be used to help anyone in need. My hope is that you will consider using these suites to raise funds for whatever cause you want. I want to help as many as will receive it. Use my sum total of life’s experiences to create music that reflects the life I have lived. And to allow others to benefit in a tangible way beyond the aural experience. To help them to help others.
So many around the planet are struggling in ways we can only imagine. Lots of effort is being expended to assist in whatever way possible. For me, that involves the guitar. I seem to draw from a bottomless well as I sit & just let the music flow out. To offer it as a gift is not nearly as lofty as it sounds.
“Give a man a fish & you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish & you feed him for a lifetime.”
Remember when you were in school & there was a fund drive? You were given candy bars (or some other commodity) to take home & sell to your family & neighbors. After the drive was over, the school received a percentage of the profits after the initial costs were covered. Usually this ends up being a profit margin of 50-60% (sell $1000 worth of candy bars to net $500-600 in profit). In order for this to pan out in a substantial way, you need hundreds of people going person to person to sell the candy bars. There is the acquiring, storing, selling & distributing to be considered, so a lot of legwork & labor is involved for this to accomplish the final results.
Sticking with the candy bar analogy, once the candy is gone, all that remains is an empty wrapper. Nothing left to be enjoyed after consuming the candy. Not so with music, which can be listened to for a lifetime.
Here's how this could work in real life scenarios.
Scenario 1:
For this you, or someone you know, has to have a digital storefront. If your storefront is already in place, just add any of the suites from this page to your own site. Invite your support base to acquire the music from you. You can say whatever you want and the page design for your storefront is up to you. All $$$ generated are yours to manage. You or your cause are responsible for taxes or any $$$ your site requires for bandwidth usage or download fees. You can sell my music for as long as you want & keep all the $$$ generated after taxes & other associated costs. In this scenario, beyond the initial cost of the suites, there are no other strings attached. (I do ask you to please consider donating some $$$ to BITS. I do not intend to keep track or follow up in any manner.)
Scenario 2:
If using your own digital storefront is not feasible at the moment, send me an email describing your charity, cause or situation. We will pick a 3 day period to focus on. Once the dates are set, you can begin promoting those dates to your support network. I will monitor the sales of these suites for those 3 days. Once the dates are past, I will send your cause 75% of what comes in from these particular suites. Again, you are responsible for any taxes accrued for the $$$ you receive. I will keep 25% to cover the taxes & costs or fees charged by my site's provider.
In summation, if you use my site as the focal point, it can only be for a few days at a time in order to help as many folk as possible. But using your own digital storefront will enable you to sell the suites for as long as you want.
Hoping to be on board our starship Earth for quite a while longer. But we are in seemingly uncertain times. No guarantees. So to quote one of my favorite musical poets, “I’ve got my own life to live. I’m the one that’s got to die when it’s time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to. Yeah. Sing on brother. Play on drummer.”
Below are links to different ways to use my music to generate $$$. One is aimed at helping established charities. Another is geared towards causes. Any cause. Your needs or someone else's. Whatever you want to apply the $$$ toward is completely up to you. One is a way for venues to gain extra $$$. And one is for musicians & artists to present to their support base. These are just possible ways to word some emails or texts.