Otters find their flow in the Wood Shop – guitarist Nick King records a track last week for the band’s full-length debut album. Photo submitted
Pioneer Staff
There was no shortage of success to come from Christmas in the Valley album released in December 2013 by the Windermere Valley Musicians Who Care, and a few of the same artists will be joined by many more valley musicians for a new album this summer.
From now through May, the valleys finest musicians are booking themselves in at Wood Shop Productions, Ben Camerons recording studio in Windermere.
Theres about a third crossover with groups that were on the (Christmas) album; theres a lot of fresh stuff and a lot of younger people on there, said Fraser Smith, a board member with the Musicians Who Care.
It was through their debut album in December that the group was able to attract even more talent.
People came forward through hearing about the Christmas album; they wanted to play on this one, he said.
To make the record possible, a crowdfunding campaign has been launched on indiegogo.com. The album will cost around $9,000 to produce, and the team is looking to raise $5,000 of the bill through the online community. The link is igg.me/at/songwritersinthevalley, and their video-pitch can be seen at tinyurl.com/o8as4yh .
There are levels of incentives depending on the amount of support one is willing to pitch in. A $25 donation will earn the supporter a CD of the finished product, and rewards range up to $2,000, which will get the donor a private concert from one of the bands featured on the album.
If you cant donate, you can still support the album by spreading the word through Facebook and Twitter.
Proceeds from the album will promote the quality of music in the valley, with half of the money going towards a sound system at the multi-use community centre to be built in Invermere.
Its all in planning stages, but looks like it will be one facility to serve many purposes, so the sound system would be used as a public address system, for weddings, sporting events, and performances well need a quality sound system.
The other half of money raised from sales will go towards future endeavours of Musicians Who Care as they support developing a live music scene in the valley.
One of the songs to be part of the new album gained local fame earlier this year. In the Whiteway video by the Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce, the song Take Me There by The Dandelions is played, and will be a featured track on the new record.
Also on the disc will be Otters, who were recently featured in The Pioneer after taking a shot in the CBC Searchlight Contest.
Another track on the album will come from The Pioneer and Echos upcoming editor Nicole Trigg, who was featured on the Christmas album.
Drummer Ryan Stimming of the band Otters. Photo submitted
There will be younger voices on the record too many students of Oso Simple will be part of the record.
Mr. Fraser hopes to have the album ready for sale at the Steamboat Mountain Music Festival in July and the Invermere MusicFest in August.
A lot of the artists that are on the album will be playing at those events, he added.
Guitarist and lead vocalist Al Fraser of the band Otters. Photo submitted
Bass player Andrew Turgeon of the band Otters. Photo submitted
The Musicians Who Care is a not-for-profit group of musicians that formed one-year ago. They sold more than 1,000 copies of Christmas in the Valley, to which they were able to donate $5,000 to the Columbia Valley Food Bank and Christmas Bureau, and $5,000 for the local musical community.
