What…
I care.
I intend to offer guitar oriented music for the common good.
I believe it is music that you can share with your fan base or support network. Music that is not easy to categorize. Fresh, yet familiar. A top shelf kind of thing.
This is my gift to anyone who will receive it as such. It is my desire that any individual or organization, who shares this within their circles of influence, keep 90% of the $$$ generated. Though not required, I hope the other 10% would become a donation to BITS.
If your circumstances are so dire you need to keep it all, feel free to do so. I do not intend to regulate or monitor this event. Maybe when things start flowing for you again, you will remember to send something BITS way.
Once your family and friends have acquired your current music and merchandise, what next? Please consider my offer as a viable means of accruing some extra $$$ for you and yours.
Bottom line is, do you like the music. If so, why not pass it along to others with similar tastes. And maybe even help them and yourself in the process.
“i care suite 1” began in mid November, 2019. As the material began to develop, so did my vision of its potential. Initially, when this 1st started, I was only thinking about BITS as the beneficiary. Then other charities and non-profit organizations came to mind. Then individuals (any individual) that could benefit from some assistance entered the thread of possibilities. These ideas kept developing in my mind’s eye over the 2019 Holiday season.
4 months of this process brought us to mid March, 2020. Well, suffice to say, I was blindsided by the world crisis, just as you all were.
And now, we attempt to find our way in the midst of uncertainty. While the world is still recovering, we look for our niche, even as the dust settles around us.
After downloading the music, you can then upload it into your own digital storefront. Or you can pass it along to your favorite charities so they can put it on their site. This process can be offered to anybody you want.
If you made it to this point, thank you. Hopefully, this is the spark of an idea with benefits reaching far beyond our immediate circle of friends.
Whether over, around, under or through, I will see you on the other side of this mountain. Endeavor to be kind. Peace and wellbeing. John
Numbers and $$$…
I hope you enjoy what you hear enough to tell others about it. And if so, here are some numbers that are part of a scenario that can transpire over and over again.
Should you decide to share my music with your fan base or support network, it is my desire that you keep 90% of the $$$, after your banking service and internet fees. (Internet fees may arise once downloading significantly increases data usage)
Then I hope you send the other 10% to BITS via the DONATE page on the Cincy Blues Society’s website.
A quick run through of some possible $$$ numbers, rounded to make it easier to visualize.
Let’s say, using 100 as our rounded figure, you contact 100 people (may be more or less) who you feel would enjoy the music or who may know of someone who would enjoy it. You invite them to your site. Assuming they want to help you or your charity, suggest a $20 donation. ( the amount of $20 is a random number to enable our calculations and is not a requirement )
100 people times a suggested donation of $20 = $2000
You keep $1800 and send BITS $200.
That’s it.
“Please note, you are responsible for your own taxes and accumulated fees.”
My intent is merely to offer the music as a viable option to raise funds in these bizarre times we are in the midst of.
Think of all the times you have bought candy bars or cookies in support of a charitable cause. After consuming your investment you are left with an empty package. Not so with music as part of the commodity. If you like it, you have it to enjoy again and again.
I plan to release 17 CDs worth of music over the next 3 months. Then, starting in the fall of 2020, I intend to release 2 more projects per month.
So, if you add this door into your social radius, it is possible for this process to repeat over and over again.
A quick revisit to the earlier numbers. You find 100 people who enjoy the music. You raise $2000. You keep $1800. You send $200 to BITS. BITS makes $200. You make $1800.
I am OK with that.
How…
Whether you are an individual, or the representative of a group of people or a charitable organization, you could follow this brief process.
Listen to the music. If you like what you hear, download the music. This is just the starting point.
1 ) Once you get the music downloaded into your computer, upload the music to your own website. Or a friend’s website. ( If you do not already have one set up, you will need a store front page added to your site )
2 ) Create a PayPal button ( or the online financial service of your choice ) that will send the donation $$$ to your account.
3 ) Invite your friends to your site so they can listen to the music. ( feel free to include my letter of introduction along with your personal invitation ) Tell them, if they like what they hear, to download the music from you, by using your button from your site. Encourage them to follow the same process of downloading/uploading and offering the music to their families and circles of friends.
4 ) My hope is, once the donated $$$ are in your account, you will send 10% to BITS via the donate link on the Cincy Blues Society’s page. ( be sure to mark the “Blues In The Schools” square ) Likewise with those you bring into the process.
I do not plan to have hard copy CDs produced. My thought is to go digital.
After you have the music in your computer, the process can then be shared with anyone you choose.
I help you. You help your circle of acquaintances. They help theirs. And so on and so on…
Why…
What a thing we are in the midst of. Seen the movies, read the books. Didn’t really expect to see anything like this in my lifetime.
There was a time, before all this, when all of us were in different phases of launching into whatever was next in our corporate and individual lives.
A lot has changed over the last few months. Some folk are feeling the impact more than others. Many of us have found a different kind of gratitude for what we do have.
My before “all this” was a project I was in the middle of in support of “Blues in the Schools” ( BITS ), an outreach program of the Cincy Blues Society, located in Cincinnati, Ohio USA.
I’ve been involved with BITS for over 2 decades, working with the young folk who were part of what is known as, “the BITS Band”.
In 2015 I fell down 3 1/2 times, with varying degrees of injuries. This has greatly hindered my mobility and participation in life in general, so naturally my active role in BITS has been dramatically curtailed. I have accepted my limitations and know I can’t be as involved as I once was.
My care for the program hasn’t waned. I kept running different scenarios through my mind. I wanted to do something that would be a somewhat perpetual support towards the future of BITS.
In mid November of 2019, I began recording some guitar oriented music to generate $$$ for BITS. A sonic journey influenced by the many folk whose light has shone in my life, musical and otherwise. If you know me, you have influenced me and you have inspired me. I am who I am because of you (and you and you)…
Initially, when this project 1st started, I was only thinking about BITS as the beneficiary. Then other charities and non-profit organizations came to mind. Then individuals (any individual) that could benefit from some assistance entered the thread of possibilities. These ideas kept developing in my mind’s eye over the 2019 Holiday season.
On March 12th, 2020, Deb O and I had a conversation about the Corona virus. On March 13th, before we had heard of any states closing, we decided to put the open mics at Mansion Hill Tavern on hold for a few weeks. We started seeing our peers announcing gig cancellations. Then came the shutdown…
Now, here we are with lots of ??? about what happens next. What? When? Where? How?
My letter of introduction…
Hey there.
My name is John Redell.
I decided over the December, 2019 holiday season to create guitar oriented music for the common good, as a gift…
If you are reading this, it means someone you know has asked you to check out my music on their website.
It was my suggestion for them to do this. So visit the link they send you and listen to the music. If you like it, go ahead download it. If it is within your means to do so, leave a donation. You just helped your friend and “Blues In The Schools” ( BITS ).
But don’t stop there. The same offer is also available for you.
Put my music in your own digital storefront, on your own site, and tell your family, friends and support network about it. If they like it, they download the music from you. Not only did you help your friend and BITS, now you are helping yourself and the friends you invite, if they join in too.
How does this help BITS? My intent is that anyone who shares my music should keep 90% of the $$$ generated and send 10% as a donation to BITS. I am OK with the percentages.
I want to help as many folk as possible through and beyond these troubled times.
It starts with you going to your friend’s page & listening to the music.
Peace & wellbeing. John Redell
