Vonda Shepard, the singer behind the theme song for Ally McBeal, recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise funds for her fourteenth album Rookie.
The campaign’s description reads, “Vonda Shepard is back with her eleventh studio album (and fourteenth overall), tentatively dubbed Rookie. It’s a title that bears no little irony, since this year marks 25 years since the release of her self-titled Warner Bros. debut. Being of independent ways and means now, Shepard doesn’t necessarily have to raise a fortune to make a record that’ll sound like a million bucks, thanks to the ongoing participation of producer/maestro Mitchell Froom (of collaborative Elvis Costello, Crowded House, and Bonnie Raitt fame), who’s been behind the boards for all of her albums since By 7:30 in 1999.
“The songs have been written and are rarin’ to go. The soon-to-be-recorded album promises a mixture of moods and tempos, with perhaps slightly more emphasis on the upbeat than some past efforts. ‘Half of the songs I’ve written are these super-funky, dancey tunes,’ Shepard says. ‘I felt a need to go crazy, a little bit, on this album. I’m making sure I’ve got a few songs that really focus on that element—the soulful groove, not as a cliché, but in my own way. And there are even a couple of really catchy, fun, pure pop songs in the lineup, and I’m excited about them, because they’re going to be great to play live.’ But the woman who wrote and sang ‘Baby, Don’t You Break My Heart Slow’ is never about to leave every eye in the house dry. ‘I’ve heard that Paul Simon fills four legal pads with lyrics for one song alone,’ she says. ‘I may not fill four, but when I’m writing an extremely honest, painful ballad, of which there are a few on this album, I do fill up about two!’
“The likely title track from the coming album, Rookie, is a song about… not being a rookie. ‘It’s actually the opposite of what the title suggests,” Shepard says. “It’s about a person who’s been around the block… around all the blocks! The chorus says I’m not a rookie, and it really conveys this feeling that I’m a ‘bad-ass’ who’s going to throw it down.’”
Explaining why she turned to the crowdfunding giant for help, Shepard told People Magazine, “After a long time of just hanging back, and still playing shows, and recording and writing, I decided to just dive in and try [Kickstarter]. So far, it’s going really well.”
Also sharing that some of the Ally McBeal cast have shown support for her album, including one of them giving her funds, Vonda shared, “A couple of people have just been so, so supportive… I’m still friendly with a few of the people in the cast.”
In regard to life after the hit series, Shepard recalled, “I just kept making records, touring in Europe a lot and then I had a baby in 2006, so my life has been very, very much family-orientated. But I can’t really stop doing the music because it really feeds me. The two together are a really great combo: the family life and then being able to go play some shows and write.”
Those interested in donating to the campaign have until January 7th.
__________________________________________________________
Have a crowdfunding offering you'd like to share? Submit an offering for consideration using our Submit a Tip form and we may share it on our site!