New Release! (almost)
“Please Take Care” (demo)
Public Release Date:
August 30, 2024
Music Credits:
Eduardo Torres (Percussion)
So admittedly this one is a bit of a placeholder. I got about this far before Vault night on July 16, and then I wasn’t able to really make progress on it after that. Partly this is because time has been limited, and I’m about to leave town so will be losing a few days in the month that I might have otherwise spent trying to finalize it (as many of you know, I don’t have a computing device for recording and heavy admin that I can travel with, otherwise I probably would have tried to finish it up while out on the road). I also partly could not complete this because I use two services to complete all my recordings (some sounds and mixing/mastering), which I am sad to say I have not been able to pay for this month.
I talked about it quite a bit on the Vault night stream, but I’ve been really struggling to keep the LoveLetter business afloat this summer (not to mention keeping my bills paid) - the summers tend to be financially challenging in general (with the same amount of expenses yet less revenue coming in), but this year was particularly rough. My husband and I also lost about a week each of work and possible work revenue by catching Covid in a staggered fashion. Fun!
Bluer skies are coming up on the horizon for me here, with events and other paydays to relieve the burden in August and September, but in the hours spent working on not-immediately-monetizable assets (recordings) and biding time until then, I’ve had to make some personal sacrifices to keep the absolute most vital business expenses covered (like this website and the membership plugin subscriptions, the Holly Frost website subscription, distribution, web hosting, etc… which you’d probably be surprised costs as much as it does). The good news is that before I completely completely ran out of “funding,” I was able to make some good progress on getting the Holly Frost machine running, and we’ve got some momentum going that I think will get us through the rest of the year okay, and then, hopefully, a little better than “okay” from then on. Honestly, I’m still kind of in panic-mode about the next couple weeks. But after that, we should be fine! 😅 Ah, the life of an artist.
Of course, keeping this thing going would have not been possible without your support here at The Vault (and on the livestreams, if you participate there), so, truly, THANK YOU. Obviously the financial aspect is taking central focus in this post, but probably more importantly, is that in these harder times it gets more challenging to persist in this pursuit. Knowing you’re here cheering me on and caring about what I make helps get me through these valleys.
In the July Vault night, I did discuss possibly having to give up on running The Vault, simply because I’m barely breaking even on it currently and it might not be tenable for me to continue… however, since then, I think I’ve come up with a way to make it work. More on that in the “Hello August” update, though!
Despite the hardships, I’ll be excited once I’ve gotten a chance to develop the production on this a bit more: I’ll be replacing the bass you hear here with my go-to upright bass sound, and I still need to retrack the vocals and guitar(s) for a final version. Eduardo was kind enough to contribute drums and percussion for me again on this, and I like where it’s going.
I’ve been wanting to release the original songs at the beginning of each month when possible, but because I need two weeks of lead time to submit to the distributor, I can’t pay for some of my software right now, and because I’m about to leave town for a week, I had to make a concession and be okay with finishing this up after I get back and getting it submitted for an August 30 date by August 15 or so.
So I’m submitting the rough mix for you now as it currently exists so you can hear the progress. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be able to share the final mix with you during our August Vault Night on August 20 😊 along with any new stuff I’ll be releasing in September! 🍁
Merit Badge for this release:
I’ll be giving away a Merit Badge on Release Eve during the Instagram Live listening party (August 29), and during the Crooner Coffee Hour release-day event(s) on August 30. In the drawing during the July Vault-Debut Night event that took place on July 16, Lisa T was the live-attendee to win this one! 🎉 For-purchase badges will also go live on 8/30 🌟
You’re already doing so much for me with your support here, but since I’ve already embarrassed myself to you with this vulnerability so far, I may as well throw it out there: if you happen to be in a good place and would like to make my life a little easier in the coming days, there are of course release Merit Badges I can send you, print-on-demand and pre-0rder merch items you can sport (for all four projects), and, of course, a virtual donation receptacle if you’re feeling flush.
Thanks SO MUCH for making this such a great month with the new releases, and for your help keeping me going through this difficult period, both financially and spiritually,
you’re the best!
❤️ LoveLetter FKA Lex AKA Holly 😜
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