I didn't grow up believing I could become anything. My childhood was marked by abuse and experiences that left me with a very simple understanding of myself: keep your head down, survive in silence.

The strange thing is that I didn't keep my head down. As an adult I became a performer. I learned to stand in front of hundreds, even thousands of people, entertain them, make them laugh, tell a darn good story and truly hold an audience.

I found myself on stages, film sets and in extraordinary rooms with extraordinary people. But the one thing I kept hidden was my singing voice.

There was one person I never quite managed to convince that I could actually sing...

Me.

For years, I could believe in everybody else's talent more easily than I could believe in my own.

That's changed. And that's why I'm doing this now...

Meet BRONSON.

And the first album already has a name:

Close Around Midnight.

This isn't a tribute act. I'm not trying to be Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett or anybody else. I want to take the elegance, swagger and intimacy of the great crooner tradition and bring it to songs I love—from Beyond the Sea, Mack the Knife and Cry Me a River to Queen, Springsteen, Chris Isaak, Adele and songs you might never expect to hear this way.

Because a great song doesn't belong to a decade. And neither does BRONSON. The truth is, I want to be a successful recording and performing artist.

There. I've said it.

For much of my life I would have found a hundred ways to qualify that sentence, laugh it off or explain why it probably wouldn't happen. I'm not doing that anymore.

I’m ready to back myself. And I’m asking you to back me.

Your support will help me take BRONSON from a concept into something real: working with a producer and arranger, hiring professional musicians, getting into a proper studio, recording and mixing the first songs, creating the website KitBronson.com, producing photography and video, and ultimately building a show I can take onto stages and perform live around the world.

Whether you contribute $10, $25, $50, $100, $1,000—or simply share this campaign—you’ll become part of the very beginning of BRONSON.

Please note: No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, promotions, gifts, goods, services or rewards are offered in exchange for any donation made to this GoFundMe.

I’ll also be sharing the journey...

I’ll keep supporters involved throughout the process with studio updates, rehearsal footage, behind-the-scenes video and the story of how each stage of BRONSON comes together. I want the people who back this project at the beginning to feel that they are genuinely part of building everything.

You’ll be able to follow the music as it comes to life and see the journey from a lone microphone to the first BRONSON show.

My goal is to raise $25,000 to get BRONSON off the ground. That money will go directly into the things I can’t do alone: professional production and arrangements, studio time, musicians, mixing and mastering, photography, video, the website and the materials I need to take BRONSON out into the world.

Where the money will go:

Producer / arranger — $3,500

Professional studio + engineer — $3,000

Session musicians — $5,000

Mixing & mastering — $2,000

Flagship performance / music video — $3,000

Website, domain & booking materials — $1,500

Photography, artwork & graphics — $1,000

Distribution, licensing & admin — $1,000

Promotion & launch advertising — $2,000

Contingency — $3,000

Total: $25,000

What I’m building is more than a collection of recordings. I want to create the foundation for a real live act: professionally produced music, a visual identity, performance video, a website and the material needed to approach venues, agents, event buyers and audiences with something I’m proud to put my name to.

I’m already investing my time, equipment and money into BRONSON. This campaign isn’t asking you to build it for me; it’s asking you to help me take it to the professional level I can’t reach alone.

The goal is to create the first 8 professionally produced BRONSON recordings, along with the visual and promotional material needed to launch the act.

And when I finally walk back onto the stage and hear those first notes fill the air, I’ll know I didn’t get there alone.

For years, I waited for someone to tell me I was good enough.

I’m done waiting.

The microphone is here. The songs are waiting.

It’s time to become BRONSON.

If you believe I should take the risk, back me—and come with me.

Because the truth is, I’m ready to believe in myself.

But please know this: it would mean the world to me to know that you believe in me too.

I’m ready. I just need to know that you’ve got my back.