Canal Street Revolution Album Fundraiser

Hello all!

I am writing in hopes that you will be a part of this very special record focusing on New Orleans' history as well as its future.

Canal Street Revolution is a project that I began back in 2020 fueled by a grant from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. With your help, I aim to treat this musical creation with the highest caliber of quality and care.

The project is an album based on stories from the 1960s sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement, and Canal Street in general through the years. I have been busy writing and honing this material, for an album of mostly instrumental and horn-driven fare (think old-school New Orleans R&B meets Astral Project meets Brass Band tradition).

After interviewing New Orleanian culture bearers (historians, poets & musicians), including Raphael Cassimere, Jr. & Kalamu ya Salaam, who spoke on first-person experiences of the sit-ins and the culture of New Orleans from the 60s onward, I spent a lot of time digesting the concepts discussed and realized it was deeper than just snapshots of historical events themselves, and are tied to the complex humanity and diverse range of emotions felt throughout the years in this unique city.

With that viewpoint, the songs have taken on a full, rich story of their own and I am looking forward to bringing them to life with fellow musicians who live and work in the Crescent City, along with interspersing audio clips from the interviews themselves for added context.

This process has been transformative in many ways and I'm very excited to share that with all of you. It has taken longer than initially expected, but I know the time is ripe.

I have 2 days booked at Artisound Studios with Keenan McRae at the beginning of April and am assembling a band of highly sensitive and talented New Orleans musicians. I also have a videographer for the sessions to capture the magic visually. I'm super stoked about it and want to be able to give it the best care and quality possible.

BUT!!!

I need your help! Making an album costs a significant amount of money from start to finish, and this is particularly so with many artists contributing their expertise, prowess, and humanity to the vision. With your gracious donations, I will be able to:

1. Pay for studio time

2. Pay musicians (between 8-10)

3. Pay the videographer

3. Mixing

4. Mastering

5. Album Art

My goal of $7,500 will facilitate covering all of these expenses. This album is about community and I invite you all to join in and be a part of this experience. With each donation, you will be recognized as a participating patron of this art.

If we surpass this goal, the excess funds will go towards giving this record the full visual and packaging treatment along with marketing and distribution. I also hope to press it on vinyl, so the visceral art can vibrate in your hands and emanate in the physical realm.

I hope to release this by the fall of 2023, and with your support, I believe this dream can become a reality.

For more info and background on myself, you can check out www.evanoberla.com.

Thanks so much for your generosity and kindness of spirit.