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Special offer!! I am going to restart the song-to-order thing. Initially, I said I would take 20 orders, for a limited edition of 20 songs. But I stopped taking orders after I'd gotten 11 of them -- as the orders came in, I became scared that I wouldn't be able to write and record 20 songs in my self-imposed 3-month deadline. But now I have nearly completed the initial 11 songs/recordings, and I think I may even beat the 3-month deadline. (I have marked each of the 11 songs as one out of a run of 20, to make this second wave possible, and to stay true to my original plan). The whole process has been surprisingly gratifying and exciting for me. I worried, when I first announced I was going to do this, that it would be hard for me, a grind, a slog, a plodding exercise in whoring myself out for money. How would I write about and care about people I didn't know? BUT I have been really blindsided by how much I have enjoyed the process and how it has brought me closer, in an enlightening and wonderful way, to humanity in general and to the unique subset of personalities that is my superfanbase. Before I embarked on this challenging project/experiment, I was totally burned-out on songwriting, burned-out on singing about myself, and now I am completely re-energized and inspired again. In a part of my brain and a part of my heart, I was secretly hoping for this sort of a result -- feeling, somehow, that it was never just an exercise in whoring myself out for money. I have received only positive responses from the people who have so far heard their songs. I will not reprint any of their comments here because I'd rather keep that stuff private. It's personal. If you missed out the first time and have the money to spend and would like to take part in the second wave of the project, read below. I have changed one important bit -- I will not be accepting payment from paypal this time around. And I will be having a second (free) lottery.
For the price of $1,000 I will write an original song tailormade just for you, to you, and about you, and I will record it in the mostly acoustic style of my newest album, “Peace And Love”. After you have sent payment (see below), send an email with my name in the subject line to yeolderecords@earthlink.net and in the message, first let me know that you have sent payment for a song, and then tell me what you would like me to put in the song -- your name, your hobbies, your thoughts, your problems, your loves, your favorite things, your job -- tell me something about yourself so I can create a song around a version of you that I can absorb from what you tell me. Nothing dirty or gross, please. I don’t want you to send me a long book but rather some impression -s- and your name -- to give me something to work with. I will work on a first-come, first-served basis. Please give me three months (starting when payment is made and personal details have been sent) to complete the writing and recording and delivery (by mail) of the song. Please send payment by check or money order made out to Ye Olde Records to: I can handle only a very limited amount of orders -- I must cap it at 9 songs I will deliver the one-off song in the mail in a hand-painted (by me) cardboard CD sleeve -- most likely it will be an abstract acrylic -- nothing too fancy or involved. Your name also will be painted onto one side of the CD sleeve. Each CD sleeve will also be signed and numbered by me. Because of the high price, I will also have a free lottery. To enter, just send a message to yeolderecords@earthlink.net with "song lottery" as the subject line. After all the $1000 orders are taken (that is IF there are any orders), I will choose one of the lottery names/email adresses (out of a hat) and then I will contact the winner, who will get the same deal (a song, CD art signed and numbered, etc.) as the big money payers. The money will help go toward future projects. I have to insist that there will be no returns accepted and no money refunded if you aren’t satisfied with what I create and deliver. It will be too complicated otherwise -- too much grey area. By signing up for this you acknowledge that you are going into this with a certain amount of faith in me and my songwriting abilities and that you will not/may not be refunded. I will put my heart and my head and my imagination into this and I will do my best to come up with some good songs for whoever can afford it and for the lottery winner. I hold myself to high standards and if I think I have failed to create an inspired, good-enough song for a particular person or persons, then and only then will I refund the money. But it will have to be my decision. I need to ask of everyone who buys a song that they do not profit financially in any way from the song -- it will be copyrighted like every song I write, and I will own the copyright. I do not plan to ever release any of these songs to the public -- the songs are only for the people who order them. Thank you. -jh
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