Jennifer Haase: News

We've raised $4,050 in just over FOUR WEEKS, OMG!!! I am so grateful to ALL OF YOU!!



Less than 10 minutes after I sent out my last email, stating that we had just $79 to go to reach the $4,000 mark, Mr. Frank Thompson donated exactly $79 bucks to make it happen. THANK YOU, FRANK! And this morning, having learned that we got to $4,000 and wanting to give me a nice headstart toward the big $5k milestone, Jan-Oliver Wenzel donated 50 more bucks. THANK YOU, JAN!



Because both men, Frank and Jan, have donated more than once....and because they each are so very talented in their own rights as a writer and filmmaker (Frank) and photographer (Jan), I'm including their websites below so that I can spread the word about their work. It's the LEAST I could do!



Frank Thompson: www.frankthompson.tv
Jan-Oliver Wenzel: www.janoliverwenzel.com


Thanks again, Gentlemen!



And thanks again to my generous friends Patty Ocfemia, Jennifer Lavonier, Mike Moran and Suzanne Henry who all donated gorgeous heaping piles of sparkly coinage over the past week or two, as well. YOU COMPLETE ME! ;)



Onward to our first $5,000!! just $950 needed to get there, YAY!!!





Our next recording session is just a few days away (Tuesday, Aug 11th in NYC) and I have to buckle down now and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Denny McDermott (drums), Mike Leslie (bass and record producer), Robert L. Smith (recording engineer) and I are all heading out to a Long Island studio to lay down some rhythm tracks for 3-4 new songs.



THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME PAY FOR IT! I look forward to telling you all about the session late next week.



Please keep sending me mailing list names and your fundraising ideas! Those are JUST AS IMPORTANT as actual monetary donations, so if you'd like to contribute to the cause but can't spare some dimes PLEASE KNOW that you helping me build my mailing list is a huge step toward building momentum, awareness and, don't forget, ALBUM SALES.



Amen.



Dear $5,000, get ready. Here we come....



Love to All,

Jennifer



To DONATE for the making of my new album called NO MORE INVITATIONS, please see details on the home page of my website at www.rhymeswithclassy.com


To follow the happenings of the donations drive and album progress, please visit www.nomoreinvitations.blogspot.com


To hear a brief snippet of a NEW SONG we're working on, called RESCUE DREAMS, please click on the "music" link at my website at www.rhymeswithclassy.com




"79 bucks, huh? Okay, you're at $4000. I'm a miracle worker, huh?" --Frank Thompson, PayPal donation message



"As the 79 USD slot in week 4 has been filled by others let's make a headstart to week 5 ... ;-)" --Jan-Oliver Wenzel, PayPal donation message

"Diamonds are only chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs, you see." --Minnie Richard Smith, poet



Dear J'Ha mailing list,



Former President Bill Clinton hopped on a billionaire's plane, had cup after cup of green tea with North Korea, and brought two weary, pardoned journalists home.



Now THAT, my friends, is a kick-ass NEGOTIATOR.



Mine eyes spilleth over with joy from this news. And my own negotiator spirit has kicked back into highest gear, inspired by this and by your voices in my ears.



Thank you for all your notes of encouragement this week! Our donation drive is one very successful month old today.



We've raised ALMOST $4,000, but there's STILL $79 to go to reach it! Please keep passing me along to new music lovers and WELCOME to those of you just joining us for this crazy, wonderful ride!



This week, I want your ideas. If YOU were raising money via donations to pay for an album, how would YOU raise it? Who would YOU contact? How would YOU build your mailing list more quickly? Where would YOU go for the support you needed?



Besides to the guy who gave Clinton a lift across the ocean and back.



Unless you have his number, of course. ;)



Please "idea" me!



Love to all,

jennifer



To see the GREAT perks & PRIZES you earn with your donations, please see the home page at www.rhymeswithclassy.com.



To keep tabs on our album-makin' and fundraising progress, please visit my blog at www.nomoreinvitations.blogspot.com.



To hear a brief piece of a NEW SONG called "Rescue Dreams" from my new album called NO MORE INVITATIONS, please click on the "music" link at www.rhymeswithclassy.com




"Keep swimming my friend! Soon you will see the shore - and maybe even some dancing penguins!" -- Matthew Gallagher, very supportive & a little bit silly email (muah!)

When I first moved from NYC to the Catskills, I was feverishly reading every biography I could find about women overcoming monumental obstacles in their pursuits of healing or happiness or both. One of my favorites is called SWIMMING TO ANTARCTICA: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer by Lynne Cox.



Lynne Cox is an incredibly tenacious athlete who for years made it her specialty to swim through sub-zero temperatures for long distances to beat unbeatable records and test her own stamina and strength. From a young swimmer training in swimming pools to a tough, seasoned medal-winner training between stunning ice floes, this woman not only convinced her body and brain that she could survive those crazy-cold swims she convinced many a persnickety hard-won foreign government she could swim their wild waters, too.



Back in the days before the Internet, Lynne wrote letter after letter asking permission to swim various wicked far away waves. If a letter wouldn't work, she'd show up and plead her case in person. And once given permission to make her swims, she needed sponsors, coaches, navigators, boat captains, interpreters, accommodations, and medical assistance at the ready should the freezing waters harm her like they would most warm-blooded folks like you and me.



Tomorrow marks the end of the 4th week of my Donations Drive and I can feel this swim, MY swim, starting to get harder. The $4,000 mark is eluding me by $129 and I experienced just a few indulgent moments today of self-doubt.



But then here comes Ms. Cox swimming alongside me, handing out some tough love over the choppy sea. Telling me to stop being such a Sissy and get a MOVE ON. "The water gets colder when you stay still, Haase!" And, wow, is she right.



Though I'd still like to splash her right up the nose, just the same. ;)



Love to All,

Jennifer Haase



TO DONATE to the making of my new album called NO MORE INVITATIONS, please see details on the home page at www.rhymeswithclassy.com. To keep up with my making-of album happenings, please visit www.nomoreinvitations.blogspot.com. To hear a brief snippet of a song-in-progress off my new album, called RESCUE DREAMS, please click the "music" link at my website at www.rhymeswithclassy.com.





"The first time I heard Jennifer Haase sing, I got chills. She has an aching sincerity that you just cannot manufacture or cultivate. I think it stems from how deeply she throws herself into her songs and as a listener you are forced to feel it all with her and that of course is the good stuff." --Stephen Kellogg, http://www.stephenkellogg.com

Dear Haase Fans,



I'm listening to Michael J. Fox's audio book ALWAYS LOOKING UP. I'm reading THE TIPPING POINT and GETTING TO MAYBE: HOW THE WORLD IS CHANGED and THE SEED HANDBOOK: THE FEMININE WAY TO CREATE BUSINESS. I'm rehearsing, writing press kit bios & blurbs and networking on Facebook like a mad woman. I will soon be booking some local gigs and showcases. I'm meditating and praying and writing notes of intent to pass through the smoke of late night candle flames and then store under shiny chunks of amethyst and tiger eye. I'm falling asleep with the pages of Performing Songwriter magazine stuck to my face.



My dear friend Lillian Penchansky, who also donated to the making of my album, said to me about the fundraising work I'm doing "That's a full-time job." She is so very right. Most of the minutes not already spent on my day job are soulfully tied to this fundraiser and the making of my album and my life's biggest push toward a creative career. And I couldn't be more thrilled to be working this hard.



But there is a great deal of hard work to do, so I want to say a huge THANK YOU again for the donations you send and for the people you add to my mailing list. It takes a village and I'm very grateful that you are mine.



I'm aiming hard for the first $5k. I'm aiming for it until my eyes get blurry and my knees start to shake.



There's only $1,129.00 to raise to get there.



And I have a new, specific request based on the Law of the Few and Ye Ole 6 Degrees of Separation. If you send me just 6 names to add to my mailing list, of folks you think might love what I do and want to support it, I'll bet I could get to that first $5k in record time. Just six new people. Six degrees between this dream and you and me.



So send me six, won't you?



With their permission, of course!



With Great Gobs of Joy & Gratitude,

Jennifer Haase



Thanks for all your wonderful comments about my song-in-progress RESCUE DREAMS, which you can hear on the "music" link at www.rhymeswithclassy.com! Here are some more great quotes I've been receiving about the song, below.



To DONATE, please see details on the home page at www.rhymeswithclassy.com


To keep up with my "making of..." album blog, please visit www.nomoreinvitations.blogspot.com.




_____________________________________________

"Love it! Knew I would! Can't wait for the whole album!! Your voice makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!" --Michelle Ragle, Facebook Wall Post after hearing the song snippet of RESCUE DREAMS.

"Oh my freakin Lord!!!!! That is awesome!!!!!!! I loved your other album, but this little taster is even more up my alley, and you sound deliciously mellifluous!!! LLOOOOOOOOOOVVE IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT! Move over, Dar Williams! Rock on, Lady"--Susan Stillman, email after hearing the song snippet of RESCUE DREAMS at www.rhymeswithclassy.com
"No "B" sides just beautiful on all of your music, Jennifer. Me and my big mouth with spread the word. Keep on keepin' on and thank you for sharing yourself with us." --Kathryn Boccardi, Facebook wall post after hearing RESCUE DREAMS song snippet

"I'm liking this a whole lot, Jennifer. Makes me pretty impatient for the finished product. Get a move on!" --Frank Thompson, Facebook wall post after hearing RESCUE DREAMS song snippet

"It is beautiful Jennifer. I can't wait to play the new CD over and over and over and over!" --Denise Moser, Facebook wall post after hearing RESCUE DREAMS song snippet

"classic haase. i loved the rhythm (and rhyme) of 'to where our soulmates
aren't the bad guys
and a scandal's not a franchise
and you don't have to be
alone in this at all' i wanted to build on that sound. that's the power in this song" --Bill Baskett, Facebook wall post after hearing RESCUE DREAMS song snippet


"Hi Jennifer, fantastic song, keep the updates coming, i know England is a long way away but it needs more of your songs!!!! keep up the great work." --Nigel Sholl, Facebook Wall Post after hearing RESCUE DREAMS song snippet





All 1:21 minutes of the Rescue Dreams snippet is addicting! If this is any indication of the rest of the cd,i can't wait to hear it! Jennifer Haase has a voice that contains so many different feelings and emotions,it makes you want more. I've heard this woman sing in person. There is no studio trickery going on here. She is a naturally great singer and songwriter. And a pretty good 6-stringer as well. " -James Vasquez, Guestbook post at www.rhymeswithclassy.com


--

Dear Beloved Haase Fans,





I was once passionately kissed by a handsome complete stranger while standing on the sidewalk in Harlem NYC.



Picture it. Full sunny day. Girl easing down the sidewalk toward home.



Girl walks by Boy. Boy looks her up and down. Boy stops. Boy grins. Boy says a soft n' slow hello. Girl says "ooh, noooo you don't..." from her own grin, wags a "no-no" finger at him (blushing, delighted, her hips swaying just slightly more than before) and keeps on walkin'.



Girl feels good. Knows Boy is watching her go. Girl turns around to do the quick-peek-check and, sure enough, Boy is watching. And still grinning. And begins to slowly, confidently follow Girl.



Girl's heart gets all fluttery as she giggles, turns back around and keeps going. Girl rounds the corner of her block. Girl peeks again.



Boy is right there. Two feet away. Boy stops just short of girl and smiles. Boy asks Girl's name. Boy is wearing long shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. Boy's exposed skin is beaded with sweat and absolutely glistening.



Boy and Girl exhange names. Girl says to Boy "I think your name is Trouble." Boy smiles at this and shakes his head. Boy asks for Girl's phone number. Boy inches closer. Boy glances at Girl's lips. Repeatedly. There are several beats where neither Boy nor Girl say anything. Slow, warm blood-rushing seconds between two strangers who just might never see each other again.



Boy leans in. Boy holds Girl's face between his big, warm hands. Boy softly touches his mouth to Girl's and kisses her like she's the only girl alive.



A few years later, Girl writes about it to her fan base while trying to decide if this story actually has a relevant point.



Other than as a damn good attention grabber, of course.



Maybe the point is to illustrate the Art of Attraction. Attracting abundance (donations) so that I can finish my album is a little like attracting a man on the sidewalk. Have faith in yourself and walk confidently forward and certain special folks will see the beauty in that and follow.



Though I find it helps to sway the hips a bit, in both situations, just in case.



Maybe the point is to ACT NOW. Fight for what you want and need and when it gets hard, work harder. Live like you only have today. Take a leap. Kiss a stranger. Trust yourself. Trust yourself. Trust yourself.



No, we didn't meet our $4,000 total funds raised goal by yesterday, the end of our third week of my NO MORE INVITATIONS making-of-the-album donations drive.



But we WILL raise it. And we WILL surpass it all the way to our final goal of $15,000.



How do I know?



Because I know how exciting it's going to be to follow it down the sidewalk toward home.



Because I know what toe-curling good stuff waits for me when we get there.





Thank you for your donations. Thank you for spreading the word. Thank you for supporting the Creative Girl in Me.



Love to All,

Jennifer Haase



TO DONATE, please visit the home page at www.rhymeswithclassy.com. To hear a snippet of a new song-in-progress called RESCUE DREAMS, click on the "Music" link at www.rhymeswithclassy.com. To keep tabs on our album-making progress, please visit www.nomoreinvitations.blogspot.com




"congrats jen and more bravery putting up this partial song - you sound really great and that line 'a scandal's not a franchise' is genius. the whole idea of a song about rescue dreams is super good. gee, i think you'll go far!!! i know this will get you a lot lot lot of attention - all of it good, too. you go!!!!!" --Anne Carley, email after hearing RESCUE DREAMS song snippet at www.rhymeswithclassy.com.

_____________


"I just listened to it Jen and it is BEAUTIFUL.


This is going to be the most gorgeous album.

I am really proud of you." --Carrie Beehan, email after hearing RESCUE DREAMS song snippet at www.rhymeswithclassy.com.
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"You go girl!!!! Just listened to the snipe of Rescue Dreams…………Love, love, love it!!!! I am so happy that you are getting all these donations………..Well deserved!!!

Go for your dream!!!!!!"--Lillian Penchansky, email after hearing RESCUE DREAMS song snippet at www.rhymeswithclassy.com.

___________



"Like all of your other masterpieces, this little gem gave me the goosebumps on my arms and warm feeling in my heart that I have come to love and expect from all of your music. I am so excited! It's really happening!" --Melissa Gray, email after hearing RESCUE DREAMS song snippet at www.rhymeswithclassy.com.
_____________

"That's fantastic, Jennifer! And, I love the song - and you." --Mom, Facebook Wall Post after hearing RESCUE DREAMS song snippet. (Thank you, Mom! I love you, too.)

Dear Classy Haase Fan List,



Well, I was so certain we'd reach $2,000 total dollars raised by midnight the end of week two of my NO MORE INVITATIONS Donations Drive, but I was sorely mistaken.



We reached $3,471 total funds instead!!!!!!! OMG!!! OMG!!!




I got two final donations that bumped us up that high in the final hours.



First, an ULTRA CLASSY HAASE EX-BOYFRIEND WITH CLOUT & A MERMAID, Clyde Hollins, donated a very generous $100. :) As I stated on my Facebook page last night, maybe I wasn't quite as crappy a girlfriend once-upon-a-time as I thought I was, eh Clyde? haha! Thank you so much!



And second, weighing in at a whopping $2,000, was my very own dad. Doesn't that just make you say "awwww!!" with your hand over your heart? Actually, that huge donation came in the way of a debt to him dissolved. I recently sent him a check for $2,000 to repay a loan, which he ripped in half and sent back to me with "Jennifer Haase, ATTN: Donation Drive" written on the envelope. Soooo sweeeet!! So instead of paying back my father for helping me with a new house rental deposit and other bills paid, I get to put those funds into my NO MORE INVITATIONS Piggy Bank. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, DAD!



WHAT NOW, JEN?


You shall hear a song-in-progress snippet off my new album!! Let me huddle with The Boys and figure out what we'll send you and beg them to let me send it later this week. Stay tuned!
We've already booked our full day Drum Session for August 11th in NYC, Wooo-hoooo!!! We're bringing back the GREAT Dennis McDermott on the skins & my producer, Mike Leslie, on bass to knock out rhythm tracks for 3-4 songs. More details to come.
We keep on working toward our final goal of $15,000 by sending out press releases this week, booking a few fund-raiser gigs, seeking corporate sponsorship, issuing a "limited edition" EP, linking with organizations that support our cause, etc. etc!


You will hear about all that AND MORE in the days and weeks to come!



THANK YOU!!



Love,

Jennifer



For details about our NO MORE INVITATIONS making-of-the-album Donation Drive, please visit www.rhymeswithclassy.com. To follow our progress, please check out my blog at www.nomoreinvitations.blogspot.com.




"This is one TALENTED, smooth voice little lady. After hearing Listening Chair, anyone would want to see a second CD happen. But beyond my own listening pleasure's selfish reasons, this is one very cool Gal." --Clyde Hollins, PayPal Donation Message

___________


"I'm pulling for you, Jennifer!" --Kelly Roberts, Facebook wall post

___________


"Hi Jennifer, wow what a nice person you are. And a great fundraiser - you just got a 50 bucks donation from my paypal account." --Jan-Oliver Wenzel, Facebook Message from Germany after donating the first time (Jan donated again the following day)

___________


"Jen: So excited to hear about your new album. That is so great. Of course, I will steer anyone and everyone your way." --Dave James, Facebook Message

___________


"Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!!! Yay! So glad you made your goal! Can't wait to hear the record girl!!!" -- Snow Bunny, email after donating

___________


www.rhymeswithclassy.com
www.nomoreinvitations.blogspot.com

The words below are the latest email I sent to my fan base.....thanks for reading!.....


It's Tuesday Morning, last day of week two of this here NO MORE INVITATIONS album Donations Drive. Early morning, lunchtime, and all through the eve I'm knockin' on doors, dancin' on subways and generally making a happy fool of myself asking folks to support the arts, in particular mine.



Yesterday, we raised another $161, YAY!!! My dear friend Lillian Penchansky, my own record producer Mike Leslie (what the? I pay HIM!) and none other than THE Rosanne Cash, who already donated her gorgeous voice to my new song "Oneonta", donated funds to the cause. To say that I'm pleasantly surprised is a huge understatement. To say that I'm deeply grateful is just not strongly said enough.



To meet our goal of $2,000 by midnight tonight ('cause it just makes all of this more FUN when you get your Telethon On!) we need to raise an additional $629. A mere drop in the proverbial bucket toward our final goal of $15,000! But don't think I don't know how much money that is to most people. And don't think for a second that it's not a TREMENDOUS amount to me, too, or I wouldn't need to be here in your inbox shaking my coin can under your benevolent nose. :)



As your incredible donations and support emails keep coming in, I'm getting lots of questions, too, that I'd like to answer for you below. Keep those cards and letters a'comin', kids! And I'll keep answering to the best of my ability as we go.



And check out the NEW quotes from donators and other supporters below. Seems you all loved the quotes from yesterday and I have to agree that my fans are wonderfully quotable folks!



Thanks for making all this hard work fun, Everyone.



Love,

Jennifer

To DONATE, please visit www.rhymeswithclassy.com. And to keep up with our "making of..." album happenings, please visit www.nomoreinvitations.blogspot.com.



"This is payola. That harmony vocal comp better be stellar." --Rosanne Cash, PayPal Donation Message

___________



"All I need to say is that Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris are gonna be BUMMED they weren't on this one." --Robert "Lucky" Smith (NO MORE INVITATIONS Recording Engineer, a way cool nod to both me and to the incredible R.C.)

___________



"i'm completely floored by how you've taken this donation thing and made it work. you are truly a force, missy." --Mike Leslie (NO MORE INVITATIONS Record Producer)....(email prior to donating....stop donating! I owe you money!)

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"I've been a fan for many years...I love to play the 1st CD when driving...Can't wait for the next one!!! OK Jen I promise not to play it when we're driving together!" --Lillian Penchansky, Facebook wall post prior to donating

___________



"I am so proud of you for taking this leap of faith." --Amy Cassner-Sems, Facebook message after donating

___________





"Hey good to hear from you Jennifer, glad that things are going well for you and I am looking forward to hearing some new material from you. I would be happy to spread the word about your music to my friends so will ask as many of them as I can think of to visit your website :) You take care and you never know we may meet one day on your world tour!" Stuart Crawford, Facebook message from Glasgow

___________



"Its incredible how much has been raised so far and long may it continue. Its a shame you couldn't bottle up that voice of yours as you could sell a million bottles of that there honey!! Take care and keep on running." --Ricky Weaver, Facebook message (from the UK) after donating

__________





FAQS:



Q: Hey Jen, is it possible to donate to your NO MORE INVITATIONS album Donation Drive anonymously?

A: Hey, you betcha! Yes, of course, you can donate anonymously. I will know who you are, but if you prefer that I don't splash your name and/or your donation amount across my blog, website and emails, I am happy to thank you privately and leave you be.



Q: Yo, Haase! If I donate today and then donate again in a few weeks, does that bump me up to the appropriate higher Perks & Prizes Level in your donation drive?

A: YES, INDEED, IT DOES! For example, my good friend RBW donated $30 which made him an Ultra Classy Haase Fan. Then RBW decided that he needed, and I quote, "more CLOUT" so he donated another $20 in order to be at the $50 ULTRA CLASSY HAASE FAN WITH CLOUT level. Yes, if you donate more than once, we will keep bumping you up to each new prize level you've earned.



Q: So, Jennifer Lynn...how long will you be conducting your NO MORE INVITATIONS album Donation Drive?

A: Very good question and very easy to answer. We'll keep going until we reach our goal of $15,000! No matter how long it takes, Baby.



Q: Jen, I read in your Donation Drive announcement that you've already spent over $10,000 of your own on this project, PLUS you're looking to raise a whopping additional $15,000??? C'mon, Girl, this is the age of very affordable DIY basement recordings with an Mbox for 1200 bucks! Why in the world would you be spending so much money to make a record?

A: Ah, yes. I was wondering when that question would come. I didn't make an album at home in the basement because I wanted to make a really REALLY good one. See, I'm no techie. I'm just a songwriter. I had to hire someone to run the recording gadgetry. So I hired the best engineer I could find to make my REALLY good album. I had to hire someone to give me direction, who has a musical mind and a calming presence, to guide me and hire musicians and be able to speak musician-speak to us all. So I hired the best producer I could find to make my REALLY good album. And, folks, when you have Very Special Guest Vocals by Grammy-award winning Rosanne Cash on your album, you don't make that album in your basement for 1200 bucks, you feelin' me? Trust me, $25,000 total to make and promote (remember, some of those funds are for marketing costs, too) an album is a handful of PENNIES in comparison to the bulk of albums made in New York City. And we fully believe we'll earn that money back, when our REALLY good album returns our investment and then some, someday.



Q: I don't understand why your donation drive is called NO MORE INVITATIONS. Explain please!

A: Oh, gosh, sure! NO MORE INVITATIONS is the name of my new album-in-progress, which is named after the new song of mine called NO MORE INVITATIONS. There, see? At some point during the donations drive we'll share a snippet of this song, but because it's the title track of the album we'll probably save it until the very last. Anticipation!! Can you dig it??!! :)





www.rhymeswithclassy.com
www.nomoreinvitations.blogspot.com

Dear $790,

Sweetie, it's time you came home now. Settled down and made something BIG of your life. Got a good job making me some music in New York City. Help put some' food in my drummer's fridge and help keep my whole musical team alive for another day.

We miss you. We love you.

And we absolutely NEED you to keep on keepin' on.

Get on the bus, baby.

Mama's waiting for you.....

Love,
Mama

Dear Jennifer Haase Mailing List,


It's been a week and change since we started this fabulous NO MORE INVITATIONS donations drive and our totol to date is $1,160. I keep staring at my paypal account total with my mouth wide open and a fluttering in my chest. We have accomplished AMAZING stuff in record time and I THANK YOU!


But the recording work doesn't start happening again until we reach $2,000 and lemme tell you what that buys...


1. 8-10 hours in a recording studio in NYC for a very important drum session for 3-4 songs

2. Producer for said drum session

3. Engineer for said drum session

4. Drummer for said drum session

5. Bass Player for said drum session

6. Food, gas, tolls to get players to said drum session and keep their energy up and their musical minds and hands workin' hard


So that $2,000 mark is where we're all trying to get as soon as we can get there. That $2,000 mark is when our recording work comes back to life in a VERY BIG way.


Which is why I'm going to add a couple of fun benefits to helping me get there THIS WEEK! Yes, you read that right. We're going to reach $2,000 by midnight Tuesday night, the end of week two, and if you have your doubts about that then don't touch that dial because we're about to blow your mind, baby!!


If (WHEN!) we reach $2,000 total funds raised by midnight Tuesday night, July 28th, we will....


1. Release a snippet of a song-in-progress for NO MORE INVITATIONS so you can hear EXACTLY what your generous donations are paying for! When you help me reach my $2,000 goal THIS WEEK, I will share that song snippet with you later THIS WEEK, too!


2. At our drum Mermaid Session, which the $2,000 will buy us, I'll record a Donations Drive anthem that I am writing right now as a very special ode to everyone who is helping me. Post-session, we'll share that song with you along with details of what we accomplished at the session itself.


As of today, we have a MERE $840 to raise by Tuesday night.

EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY, Friends and Neighbors!


And I thank you in advance for all you are doing to help us get there. It's really incredible to be taking this journey with you.


THANK YOU FOR PASSING THESE EMAILS ON to new/other folks you think would like to be part of the journey, too.


Love to You & Yours,

Jennifer Haase & The Donations Crew



To DONATE, please find the details on the home page at www.rhymeswithclassy.com. And don't forget to keep up with our "making of..." blog posts at www.nomoreinvitations.blogspot.com.

About midway through this first week of our Donation Drive that finds us bravely doing what it takes to earn the $15,000 it will take to finish my new album called NO MORE INVITATIONS, we decided that we could reach $1,000 before the week came to a close.

Well, the last day of our first fundraiser week is tomorrow, Tuesday, and we're right at $925 raised to date, YAY!!!

That means just $75 more is needed to meet our first milestone goal and have it done before our first week ends.

Please stay tuned because WE'RE GONNA DO IT!!

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated. Everyone who has sent new music-lovers our way. Everyone who has sent emails and placed phone calls of support and shared excitement, WE THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

I'll update you again on Wednesday, when our 2nd Donation Drive week begins!

Love to All,
Jennifer

Dear Jennifer Haase Mailing List,



It's the dawn of day four of my NO MORE INVITATIONS album Donations Drive and I'm so sincerely thrilled to say we've got our first $150 bucks in the tank of this here music dream machine!! Wooooo-hooooo!!! My very deep gratitude goes out to the first people to give and if you'd like to learn more about those very generous people, you can read my sentimental blogs posts about them over at www.nomoreinvitations.blogspot.com.



Let me tell you what $150 means to me.



Every very basic recording session hour I spend to make this album costs a minimum of $100. So I have just been gifted the opportunity to "lay down" a new harmony vocal. Or add a rhythm guitar track. Or get Mike (producer) back on the Glockenspiel.



Though Robert (engineer) and I would probably agree that we should never EVER get Mike anywhere near that particular instrument again. (See my blog post called "Maestra & The Glockenspiel" at the above blog link if you want to know why...)



So I cannot express strongly enough how much I appreciate and REVEL in this first $150 bucks. We have far to go, but this is how great accomplishments begin. 150 inspired bucks at a time.



As you know, I'm patterning my Donations Drive after the successful one Jill Sobule hosted at www.jillsnextrecord.com. She earned over $75,000 in just 53 days, WOW.



And I think I've figured out the key to her huge success. I think I know EXACTLY what key unlocked that big, daunting fundraising door and what most inspired her fans to give.



What was the key?



Jill's mom. :)



Jill Sobule's mother wrote notes to Jill's fans, posted to her website, that urged them to help her baby girl make her new album happen. And who, I ask you, can resist somebody's mom saying "Please help my kid"?



So I asked my own mother to do the same for me. You might be able to resist me, but I dare you to TRY and resist the urging of my mother.



My mother, who is one of the most intelligent, creative, thoughtful, eloquent women on the planet who loves to sing even more than I do and is a talented writer I've been attempting to emulate my entire life.



My mother, who said "I'd love to" when I asked her to write a little something for my Donations Drive promotions and who wrote something so lovely for me I got all weepy from the reading of it. And it reminds me that I am just as proud of her as she has always been of me.



Here is her note, from she to you...



I raised Jennifer in the heart of rural Nebraska. She even made her first CD in Nebraska before the music inside her was just too big to let me keep her where I thought she would always be safe. I’ll always be her Mom but it’s you – her fans, friends, mentors and fellow musicians – who have allowed her to take her amazing talent and nurture it and share it. Some of you have also helped keep her safe and I will always be grateful to you. I know that you, like me, can hardly wait for this new CD. You would think that her mother would have had a sneak peak, maybe a little advance listen-in, but I am waiting just like you are. I am anxious to hear Jennifer’s beautiful voice meld with the incredible Rosanne Cash harmonies. I have heard so much about this teaming of artist, producer, and engineer that I know we are going to love the finished product so much. It will be exciting to know that we have been a part of making it happen.




So, to Jennifer’s fans, friends, mentors and fellow musicians - I thank you in advance for your contributions to this project. I see that Jennifer is offering some very classy incentives for your donations. Let me offer one, as well. It’s not easy for me to share this one but I will allow it this one time. For your donation to the completion of “No More Invitations”, you will earn a share of a proud mother’s bragging rights. It’s a beautiful thing!



--Chrys Olson (Jennifer's Mom), July 2009











Thank you, Mom. I love you.



Thank you, Fans and Benevolent Donators. Yes, I love you, too.



--Jennifer Haase



Details for how to DONATE are on the home page at www.rhymeswithclassy.com.







--

I launched a huge and frightening Donations Drive yesterday and I feel a bit like I just threw an egg over a cliff and can't bare to look at where--and how--she lands. But I believe I can do this. And I'm making endless lists of ways to support this fundraiser of mine, hoping to check some of these "to do" things off every single day.

For example...

Write Press Releases
Send Press Releases to local papers and local arts guilds
Send Press Release to paper back home
Send Press Releases to papers, venues, art guilds in Oneonta (the name of one of my new songs, named for the town)
Make New Music Lover Friends on Facebook (Maybe 20 a day? 100 new friends a week?)
Talk to New Music Lover Facebook Friends
Tell New Music Lover Facebook Friends that I'm a Singer/Songwriter
Sell more of my first CD on Facebook to New Music Lover Friends!
Beg Mother to write a glowing letter for my Donation Drive Promo
Beg Sister to write a glowing letter for my Donation Drive Promo
Add new quotes and reviews to album blog
Get more paper for more lists like these

I swear, I can't concentrate worth a damn at all these days. There is so much spinning in my brain right now as I work to make a really good go of this music thing.

So the lists?

Priceless!

j.

For the past couple of months, I've been bouncing wildly between the walls of my musical life both from intense excitement and impatience. Having been strapped to a heart monitor for 24 hours in April is proof enough, I suppose, of the way my entire physical self has been reacting to the momentum of the recording work we're doing now. And I'm just talking about a handful of recording sessions between then and now, but those experiences have truly reawakened me in a way I haven't quite been able to contain or even want to.

But this morning I found this really wonderful place of peace and balance and clarity. I had a very calming epiphany while standing with eyes closed under the hot shower spray, arms tucked in with fingers of both hands intertwined up under my chin. I was thinking of how deeply I am attracted to water and how much being in the water heals me. And not just being in the water, but being naked in the water. When you're alone in the shower or the bathtub, cleansing away everything you need to release, you are (in my opinion) the most beautiful and brave you can be. It's there that you can be naked, you're expected to be naked, it's totally OK to be naked. Everywhere else? In our culture? Your nakedness is uncomfortable, unacceptable, maybe not thought of as beautiful--in fact, possibly even deemed unnatural.

So as I was standing there under that cleansing warm water and, yes, quite naked and enjoying the shit out of it....I realized that this is how I became as a songwriter when I moved to the Catskill mountains nearly 2 years ago. After years of living with roommates....after years of trying to hide my less than "perfect" body as a woman....after years of trying to keep a respectable lid on my voice as a writer....I came up here, in this house alone, and figuratively pulled off every protective layer that had been confining me. I started writing from this fully naked place that was so intensely emotional at first, I honestly didn't know if I could keep writing that way for long. And if I did, what would I do with the songs that came out? I mean wouldn't everyone cringe while trying to listen to this stuff? Wouldn't everyone tell me these songs were way too personal and I'd best cover up my writerly nakedness again if I didn't want to clear the whole dang room?

But what happens when you allow yourself to be fully naked as a writer is not that you necessarily expose every part of yourself, though you certainly do lots of that. What happens is that you start to actually become COMFORTABLE with yourself and your expressive nakedness. At first, like I did, you might spend a LOT of time in the Wail N'Rage state of baring your all in the writing of songs, but eventually you also--like I did--might find yourself running playfully naked through the sprinklers in a song or two, as well. And what sometimes happens--as it did for me---is that others see/hear that naked place you wrote from and the connection they feel to it is so strong that it opens up a new place of comfort and longing and respect for being bare in their own creative (or otherwise) lives, too.

I will never forgot playing a song I wrote called "Oneonta" for the first time for other people and how truly fucked-up frightened I was to do so. I maybe have never been so naked as when I wrote that song. And I loved going to that place, while writing it. I loved how that felt and how cleansed I felt when it was done. But taking that song to a couple of grown-up men to hear at the recording studio in Chinatown was maybe one of the bravest things I've done as a songwriter yet. I was so grateful that I was playing it for them in a room fully detached and invisible from where they sat, from where they worked the musical machinery that captured the performance of it that we ended up keeping for the album. And I will always be unbelievably grateful for the looks on their faces---those grown-up men---when I joined them for the playback and we all looked at each other like we'd been diving for pearls and very clearly had one in our hands.

I don't think the goal of a songwriter is to always be naked. There is a great deal of value in writing from the poignant surface of our experience, fully clothed. I've done lots of writing that way and appreciate that perspective just as much.

But I am forever changed as a writer for having bravely disrobed and trusted that what I had under there was worth sharing and treating as a very very beautiful side of me.

Real-girl flaws and all.

hey, kids!

well, i just caved into the call of twitter.com today. what's cool about that is nobody had yet snatched up the name Jennifer Haase so you can find me there As Is! I've started adding folks to "follow" and included Kevin Nealon on the list. And, as expected, I've been snort-laughing coffee out my nose while reading his hilarious "tweets." I love that guy!!

another fun and productive recording session has been checked off our list! this time hosted at my engineer's (Robert L. Smith at www.defyrecordings.com) apartment where we pounded out some guitar tracks, finalized a melody vocal and started shaping a new song, called "as the record spins", into what she will someday soon be. with my producer on guitar for this one (Mike Leslie at www.citizensofcontraryknowledge.com) i know it's going to be so beautiful, yay!

i'm working on new merch design, shopping for publicists, rehearsing for more sessions and REALLY feeling the buzz of all this musical magic coming together.

good things really DO come to those who wait!

jennifer

So I just had this INCREDIBLE week of recording sessions in NYC with Rosanne Cash adding some harmony vocals to "Oneonta" and Denny McDermott adding his masterful drum skills to "This Dragon", "Rescue Dreams" and "No More Invitations" and I somehow worked myself up into such a ball of nerves and excitement that I am right now wearing a heart monitor as a result of my trip to the emergency room yesterday after heart palpitations and a tingling feeling in my left arm and hand.

Talk about a deep physical reaction to some darn cool happenings!

EKG was fine. Blood work was fine. We think this is strictly from the buzz of being someone blessed to work with the incredible people I work with, after a long dry spell of not working musically at all.

The heart gear comes off later today and I look forward to a few yoga poses I'm going to curl myself into when I get back home again.

Did you read all about my sessions with Rose and Denny and Mike and Bob, in the email I sent to my mailing list members?

WHAT??!! You're not on my mailing list yet?

Well, SEE what you just MISSED? :)

Go sign up for the mailing list here on my website then leave me a note in the Guestbook that'd you'd like to read that email, too, and we'll send it to you. Or just wait for future updates as they come in.

We're full-speed ahead now and it's so awesome!

If my lil heart can take it, that is.

j.

Great News, J'Ha Fans!

OK, great news for ME and that's we're hitting the recording studio (two of them, in fact) next week in (and around) NYC and I couldn't be happier. I've been sittin' by the door with my keys in my hands for DAYS just waitin' for the "it's time!" clock to strike.

I have learned--as has my poor album-makin' crew--that I tend to be sluggish about this stuff for months at a time and then BINGO I want it done NOW! I hide away for countless weeks and then you can't get me off the phone for a month 'cause I'm so full of big plans and I want them to happen yesterday.

So I am working on balance this week. Living in the moment and trying not to overwhelm myself (and said album-makin' crew) with my "let's go!" madness.

A tall order? Maybe. But I could sure use the balancing act practice.

We've got Maestra on vocals at Avatar and Denny McDermott on drums in Long Island City. I'm so EXCITED about working with these two people I can hardly keep from bouncing in my chair. I'm going to try hard to remember this moment...the "before" moments...because I think that just these two sessions are going to change my DNA forever.

j.

How lovely, this new dawn of spring.  It's been sprinkling snow since March 20th, as winter throws her confetti over our new season parade.  Farewell, winter.  I am always to happy to see you and then later so happy to have survived you.

We're back in the recording studio in April, just two short weeks away.  All my songwriter seams are stretched to the point of popping from the excitement I feel to be back in the saddle again.

In the meantime, I'm listening to Steven O. Hanson's disc "Songs from the Fire."  Steve produced my album "Listening Chair" and has put together a really wonderful collection of bluegrass, gospel and old-timey tunes for his latest solo record.  It makes me miss hearing him play at local gigs and during my music lessons at his Lincoln NE studio those many years ago.  Please check out his website at stevehansonmusic.com.

More from me soon, when I come back in here to rave (or, yes, rant) about the musical journey ahead.  I'm so grateful to be on that road again and feeling capable of the ride.

jennifer

Happy New Year, Everyone!

There is the most uplifting light across the Catskills snow this morning. It's FREEZING out there, so don't be fooled. But the sun speaks of warmth to come and I trust her.

Wow, 2009. I predict this year will be really poetic, but unlike last January I refuse to predict the tiny details. I know some things about what's next, but I think I'll keep those to myself for a spell. Savor them, trust in them, push toward them with a fearlessness I seem to only be capable of in secret. But capable I am. Just watch me.

I have new songs in the incubator, as the ones already planted are being encouraged to bloom.

You will hear from me this year, I can tell you that. And I look forward to hearing from you right back, too.

j.

Slowing down. Breathing consciously. Sleeping deeper. Wanting more, but trying to ache for it less. Moment to moment, day by day.

It's OK, it's OK, it's OK.

Maybe the writer fills pages and musical spaces for the same reasons you fill a schedule, a plate, a belly, a glass.

We are sometimes over-whelmed by any signs of emptiness.

Stillness is sometimes a deafening drone.

But I still seek it and yes I will try that and, OK Michael....we'll figure out January when we get to January. And so on...and so on....and so on...


Happy Holidays, Everyone....

There are days when this big ole world just isn't spinning fast enough for me. When my musically-inclined self wants ACTION and RESULTS. When I'm repeating what seem like fruitless affirmations about a living, breathing songwriting career, while wishing I could somehow put my very busy producer in a headlock until we reach even one of my zillions of lofty song-sharin' goals.

I found my quiet corner. I curled up here and wrote and wrote and wrote. I stretched and I slept and I wailed. I came out of the cave with these new songs and this new spirit and a new DRIVE that finds me just spinning in the parking lot due to various poignant delays.

I keep saying lately that I'm a believer in timing and I truly am. But I also believe in those times in your life when it's monumentally essential that you reach over and take the wheel.

Stop lights are important pauses. But I've seen my share now, thank you.

I am very VERY ready to roll.

2008 is picking up speed down the hill, in her bright red toboggan with her Ugg boots lifted high. I'm going back to Nebraska for Thanksgiving, a first since becoming a New Yorker, and then it's a series of quick-n-sleepy blinks through to the New Year.

I know something's about to happen with the music I make. A little more organic and a lot more progressive, the recording work--I predict--will start us all back up the make-a-record hill again come January. If I have anything to say about it, that's the next new push.

I'm writing now in poetic blips that I really enjoy. An idea hits and I immediately give in to it, laptop on knees.

If writers had darkrooms, what images would be hanging from lines of string? On mine today you'd see tattoos and Paris and circus balloons.

Of tomorrow's? Stay tuned...

I've been writing more songs again lately and it's astonishing to me how much simpler the structure of these tunes of mine are getting, even as my experience as a songwriter deepens and stretches and grows. How is this possible that the "better" I get at this craft, the fewer tools I seem to want to use?

What's funny is that, in general, I'm a pretty complicated girl. I bounce swiftly and often from emotionally-charged highs and lows within each 24 hour period. Maybe this is why I'm attracted so much to simplicity. Complicated chords make my head hurt because there are already too many complicated thoughts and emotions filling up the brain space within.

And, come to think of it, this is probably why I love working with men so much. Not all men can be catagorized as "simple" creatures, but many of them have this really calming appeal to me because of their basic on/off switches compared to my extensive board of flashing switches and non-labeled knobs.

This is a metaphor I stole from my producer, actually, and we've joked about this male/female difference many times. Both my producer and my engineer have those proverbial on/off switches that I have come to learn mean the following things:

ON=Functioning and Fed, Having Slept, Get to Make Some Music and, if lucky, Get to Watch Some Baseball.

OFF=Wiped Out, Need Food, Need Quiet for Sleep and NO I'm not thinking all that shit you think I'm thinking!

Just like with the songs, I'm starting to figure this Man Simplicity out, especially with the boys at the wheel of my musical machine. And what's funny about the simplicity of men is that--whether they admit it or not--THEY are attracted to complication, my friends.

Oh, yes, you heard me. They LOVE it. It drives them BATTY, but they love to scratch their heads over equations, story problems, flashing switches and non-labeled knobs. Don't think I don't know about the puzzled "I don't know, do YOU?" looks that are passed between my producer and engineer when my head is turned, but don't tell me that those gents don't sometimes enjoy trying to figure even me out. I know this to be true because there are AHA!! moments they each have when they slide into some realization about what will help me perform a song better or feel more comfy doing so. They love the process, the tinker, the techie-guy epiphanies that happen when Messy Girl + Rockin' Electronics = Killer Recording. Looky there! Girls Plus Math suddenly give girls some semblance of sense.

As for me, it's the simplicity that drives me, comforts me, inspires me. Here's to open chords, math-lovin' boys and quiet rooms in which to croon.

Like a gardener churns the earth, I seem to be seeking more fertle ground in places I haven't yet bothered--or dared--to look. Fertle writing ground. Fertle income ground. Fertility in the forms of a more satisfying life and a deeper inner peace.

I shut this website down for about 3 weeks and then begged to have it back again. Thank you, HostBaby! Sometimes it takes a bold and ridiculous attempt to disappear to make yourself aware of how much you really want to stay.

October is gorgeous here and the early morning frosts have become so thick and glittery the past couple of days. The ground is harder to dig, but dig I shall. Gratefully.

Jennifer

Good days. Bad days. I'm suddenly irritable and edgy, somewhere stuck between a pit of sludge and fertle earth.

whatever THAT means.

So Derek Sivers sold CDbaby to Disc Makers. I have a lot of respect and like for Derek and I wish him well, but DISC MAKERS????? Wouldn't Micah and the gang at Oasis make the better choice? Humpf, I say. Hurrumpf!

Prove me wrong, Disc Makers. Please.

I'm writing a jingle this week for a bank commercial. It's kinda fun, but I've given myself this new deadline, for the pre-scheduled recording session of said jingle, that I'm not sure I can meet. Ah, well, who cares. There are more sessions to be had if more time is needed.

Yes, I know this blog post is seriously lacking. I can't find my ground today. (ie the sludge I previously mentioned?)

If you want to read a GREAT blog, read Amy Speace at her myspace page. www.myspace.com/amyspeace. What an eloquent, interesting, talented girl.

As for me, "there's always tomorrow for dreams to come true."

If you can remember who sang that, I'll buy you a brownie.

But I'm eating one first.

j.

It's the first Saturday of August and the village near where I live is hosting an Arts & Crafts festival. It's a beautiful, cool day for the middle of summer, but I'm way too happy sitting in my living room, wearing a sweater and flip-flops, eating marshmallows and reading Clapton's autobiograpy. I know I should go out, check out local music at the festival and people-watch in the Catskills, but for now I am at peace burrowing in.

My living room here, in this rented house in the mountains, is where I've written many a tune over the past 12 months that I've temporarily called this space my own. But there are still songs that over-power me, overwhelm me, make me sensitive and bratty and brooding.

One of those songs is one I'm penning with my producer. It's this little bud of a 12/8 tune that has potential for bloom, but I keep scraping myself on the sharp corners of the topic and the somewhat inflexible rhyme scheme I can't seem to uncommit myself to.

It just hit me today, as I was strumming the long-ago written chord structure to this song, hoping words would slip out and settle over the change from A7 to C, that this thing needs a living room. Not MY living room or his living room, but a communal space where two writers, two guitars and one pad of paper converge and collaborate.

I think I know where that living room is. It's in Harlem, with two old off-white sofas against opposite walls the color of dark mustard, with a chime hanging over the door leading to the back courtyard below.

We need to borrow the living room where I used to live when this here new record started taking shape. Where we first tested new songs I was writing and we rehearsed for a gig at the Baggot Inn. Where we shuffled note cards with song names and wrestled with a complicated 8-track machine that I ended up reselling for well below its worth.

Maybe I'll suggest this, to said producer and to the folks who still own that living room in Harlem who just might let us get back in there for a song-making afternoon.

In the meantime, this living room i'm in will do just fine for this particular summer weekend, for fluttery-tree gazing and many 40-year-old girl musings from the laptop, the 6-string and the occasional journal page.

j.