Hello and welcome to my debut album crowd-funding campaign! 

My name is Sheela Bringi and I am so excited to share my music with you.

These past few years traveling and performing, I have been overwhelmed by the love and support that I have felt for the music that I share.  So I have decided to take a step in faith in order to create something lasting.  Imagine ancient Indian mantras & melodies lushly arranged with harp, bamboo flute, heart-melting Hindustani cello, ecstatic Indian vocals, drums, and more. I hope that you will enjoy it! 

I am working with an ensemble of some wonderful musicians who are bringing my music to life, including: my friend & an incredible Carnatic singer Aditya Prakash (check him out recording on my song here), Jake Charkey, a dear friend & Mumbai-based Hindustani cellist (check him out playing with Master Saleem on MTV India here), my friend and frequent collaborator Masood Ali Khan, fellow CalArts grads drummer Gene Coye (Carlos & Salvador Santana, Larry Carlton), bassist Ben Shepherd (David Archuleta), masterful tabla player Javad Butah - as well as others. And my long-time collaborator Clinton Patterson from our band PremaSoul is my producer on this project, so you already know the kind of quality you can expect :-)

We have already begun tracking in the studio, but we need your help to make it a record.

The money that we raise through this campaign will go to my musicians, studio time, mixing, mastering, manufacturing the CD, promotion, and enable me to acquire a travel-worthy harp to take on tour to India, Japan, and Europe in 2013. see below for a estimated cost breakdown

BACKGROUND

I grew up in Fort Collins, a small town in northern Colorado.  My parents are immigrants from South India, both of them trained scientists, but also musicians and my first teachers.  Our home was always full of music.  Every Sunday morning, the other little Indian girls and I would learn singing from my mom, and the boys would learn drumming from my Dad.  Every Friday night, my parents would host Satsangs at our house.  During these gatherings friends come together to eat, meditate and sing collective Hindu devotional songs, called bhajans or kirtan.  During the summer time, we would visit our family in India, and I eagerly looked forward to the singing parties that would encompass everything from Beatles singalongs and Bollywood hits to full-fledged Carnatic ragas.

There have been a number of musical influences in my life and the longing and beauty expressed in Kirtans have continued to inspire me along with jazz and Indian Classical music.  I have had the immense blessing to study with masters of both of these traditions -- my bansuri (Classical Indian bamboo flute) teacher, Pandit G.S. Sachdev, and Ustaad Aashish Khan, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, as well as renowned jazz faculty, during my master’s degree in World Music at the California Institute of the Arts. 

With this album, I hope to express the songs of my two traditions with one artistic voice.  to honor my heritage.  to break down boundaries and uplift hearts.

And after performing, traveling and recording these past few years, I am finally ready for this project. 

You may have heard the music of PremaSoul, my collaboration with songwriter and trumpetor Clinton Patterson, or seen my Kirtan band this summer, when we opened for the Grammy-nominated world music pioneer Jai Uttal. This past year I also performed at the Bali Spirit Festival, the Ecstatic Chant Festival at Omega Institute in upstate New York, and played at other festivals around the nation backing up world-renowned Kirtan singers Gaura Vani, Wah!, Dave Stringer and my good friend and frequent collaborator Masood Ali Khan.  Last year I was honored to join Karsh Kale and his band Cinema Live at the Conga Room in LA and Yoshi's in San Francisco.  On the Indian classical side, I perform solo and with acclaimed artists such as sitarist Paul Livingstone, a foremost disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar, and I perform music for Kathak (North Indian classical dance).

In the studio, I have gained invaluable skills through co-producing and co-writing an album with PremaSoul, and appearing as a guest artist on a number of releases, including Masood Ali Khan's The Yoga sessions: Hang with Angels, from the Yoga Organix / White Swan label. 

I have put together an awesome team to help me with this project: my producer and long-term collaborator Clinton Patterson, composer Amritha Vaz, as well as other Indian, American and world musicians, to create this unique CD. 

WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING

Estimated cost breakdown:

Recording Studio: 1575

Artist Fees: 1200

Mastering: 1750

Mixing: 1300

CD priting / replication for 1000 CDs: 1300

Graphic design/artwork: 400

String arrangements: 1500

Promotion & Publicity: 2500

Travel Harp: 4000

Flight case for harp: 600

Indiegogo fees: 1375 

Total: 17,500

WAYS YOU CAN HELP

If you like what you see and hear, please spread the word.  The success of this campaign depends on the word-of-mouth of my supporters.  Let's make some noise!

You can:

-- Use the ‘Like’, ‘Tweet’, and ‘Share’ buttons on this page

-- Go to my Facebook music page to ‘like’ it: <www.facebook.com/sheelabringi> and 'follow' me on Twitter: <www.twitter.com/sheelabringi>

Thank you in all ways for your support.

With love and gratitude,

Sheela Bringi