Update

So far I have 20 artists who have agreed to contribute to the project! I am not sure if all will be able to participate...but I have been informed by a few that extending the deadline another month sure helped out! Hey, whatever I can do...this is an important project and I want to make it work!

And so far I have 10 songs by six of the contributing artists! Thanks to those of you who have showed your support to the extent to offer more than ONE track! So as of now I have a fairly full CD. There is plenty of room on the disc available, however...I want this to be a full length CD with many and varied tracks.

I am EXCITED about the prospects of this coming out. It's been great to see the support of this project coming together. Thanks to all the contributing artists who have helped make it come together.

And another thing that is exciting to me is the number of artists outside of the Kansas City area committed to contributing! I am SO grateful! I have to say I haven't had much luck with Kansas City area bands, which I totally understand if they don't have the studio time right now to record a new Christmas song, so no hard feelings...but it will be exciting to see this come together! I think it will be a great collection!

Project News

It's been a long, yet short summer! It's truly amazing how time FLIES by. And the time for the end of this project is soon.

So...how has it been going you ask! First, the good news...

• I have 11 artists interested in contributing, who have each told me YES! They support the project! That is EXCITING!
• I found an economical way of getting the CD produced without breaking the budget, and I think I may have somebody who could make a contribution in the name of Wayside Waifs to cover the cost of the CD production, which would mean more MONEY going to the charity! Remember: 100% of the proceeds will go directly to Wayside Waifs! The contribution to cover CD production costs isn't done and final yet, but it's looking good!

And no bad news, just some realistic things I am looking at here:

• Of the 11 artists contributing so far, that's out of 111 artists I've contacted! I knew not everybody I contacted would be jumping over themselves to contribute...for some it just may not be possible to lay down a professionally recorded song, or they don't have an idea, or they don't want to contribute for whatever reason. Cool. But I hoped at least by now I'd have 20% committed to contributing!
  
• Of the 11 artists contributing, I've only had TWO songs turned in so far! Of course, there is PLENTY of time left to get your songs to me. But not that much more time! YIKES! Did I say before time is going FAST?!?

So, that all taken into consideration: I am extending the deadline for the songs to be submitted to me!

All songs are now due OCTOBER 31st.

( If you are mailing your songs via post, I will provide my mailing address via email...feel free to contact me.)


But that doesn't mean take that long and procrastinate if you have a song! Hopefully I get the bulk of the songs before then so I can arrange the tracks, get the ready for CD production, and all that good stuff and have the final product ready for production ASAP after October 31st.

The CD production I am looking at is a 10 day turn around, so I should have the final product by the middle of November with that time line. It's going to be hectic, but it's do able, and I am willing to put my back to the wall on this because I honestly believe in this project with all my heart and I have a passion to see it succeed.

So, please, SPREAD THE WORD on this project! Share information on your blog/Christmas site about it if you have one. Submissions are welcome from anywhere and everywhere. So if you know a band or a musician who would like to contribute a song for this charity project, share this information with them. Believe me, I won't turn away any submissions because I didn't solicit them personally! I HOPE I get unsolicited submissions! It would MAKE MY DAY!

An update of sorts

OK, previously I had a link for a rules and submissions form for artists to sign. After long and serious consideration and consultation, it has been decided that this is not necessary for this project. The link has been removed. If you previously downloaded it, you don't have to fill it out or submit it.

So, if you are submitting a song, hopefully this makes the process MUCH easier for you.

By submitting the song, you agree to allow me to use the track on the CD and for the purposes of which benefit the Wayside Waifs animal shelter. Your song will only be used by me for this purpose, whether it be through the sale of physical CDs or by making the album available for download.

All artists retain FULL RIGHTS to their song.

Please see the post below for more details.

And thank you SO MUCH for your interest and contributions. Keep the word going around about this and let's get more people involved!

General rules and other hoo-hah you should read before submitting your song.

For those interested in contributing, here are a few simple guidelines for the submissions...

CD entries are encouraged for optimal sound quality. No DAT or Mini Disc, please. Audio files are welcome, and can be emailed to TheToneKing@comcast.net Supported files include mp3, wma, or wav. For optimal audio quality, please submit WAV files or MP3 files encoded with 320 kBit 44100 Hz stereo are encouraged. MP3 formats will be accepted with at least 192 kBit, 44100 Hz stereo. Please do not sacrifice sound quality to email your songs, and send the highest possible file you can.

Songs should be five minutes or less in length. This is to give a chance for greater exposure and contribution of the individual artists interested in participating.

All entries must be postmarked or received via email by September 30^th, 2008.


1. If you are mailing your songs via post, I will provide my mailing address via email...feel free to contact me.

2. Original compositions are encouraged. All submissions should contain subject matter pertinent to Christmas and/or the holiday/winter season. ALL songs pertaining to the Christmas/Holiday season are welcome. Please be encouraged to think outside of the box. Use your imaginations and have fun! Creativity is a must!

3. Novelty songs will be considered not necessarily encouraged. Most novelty songs are only good for a few listens. If you feel your track is way above and beyond the normal novelty songs heard during the Holiday season, I am more than happy to consider them. Parody songs are strictly not welcome, mainly due to legal reasons, unless the original music is public domain.

4. Cover versions are welcome as well. But, please, before you record your version of the familiar holiday standard, please consider looking for a more obscure song to cover that you don’t normally hear on a compilation this time of year. “White Christmas” and “Silent Night” and others are wonderful songs…but as I said with rule number 2: think outside the box; creativity is a must! Cover versions of traditional standards are welcome if your version offers something completely new and refreshing previous versions have not offered.

NOTE: If you would like me to recommend something off the beaten path to cover, I will be happy to peruse my personal collection and try my best to suggest something that fits your style! Just let me know!

5. Please consider the submission being intended for a family audience. It doesn’t have to be children’s music, but submit something that could get airplay on the radio. The purpose of this contest is to have FUN and to keep it CLEAN. Songs that use profane language will be rejected from consideration.

6. Contestants may enter as many songs as desired.

7. Submissions by anybody interested and willing to support Wayside Waifs of Kansas City is welcome. Local artists are encouraged to participate, but this is open to all interested contributors.

8. Eligible songs for the final CD will determined by me, as will final track selection and track order. Songs are selected equally on originality, lyrics, melody and composition. Each chosen submission for the CD will receive a track on the Wayside Waifs 2008 Holiday Charity CD (name of the compilation will be chosen at a later date and more than likely based on the title of one of the songs.) Entrants and their collaborators will retain full rights to all work submitted for the compilation.

9. Final track selection will be determined by October 31^st, 2008. The final track selection will be posted at this blog after that date but before the CD release.

10. No entrants or any participants in this project or friends or family members, or anybody involved will receive free copies of the CD. The holiday CD is for charitable purposes only, not for the profit of any party involved. All profits will go directly Wayside Waifs of Kansas City.

11. Submissions will not be returned to entrant. If you require your submission to be returned, a fully paid SASE must be included with entry.


12. The contributing artist/musician will not be receiving compensation for the song and that by submitting they are consenting to distribution of said song for charitable purposes that benefit the Wayside Waifs. By submitting the song to this project, you have agreed to these terms.

I hope this answers any questions you have. If you have any questions, please sound off in the comments section or email me.

I also wanted to add that ANY type of music is welcome. If it's good, I want to consider it for inclusion on the CD. And just because this is a CD fund raiser for an animal shelter, the songs don't all have to be about animals. The topic of the songs can be anything Holiday related...again, this is about being creative, thinking outside of the box. The purpose is to have fun and to raise money for a good cause.

Though I hope somebody does a cover version of this song....

Adam Faith-Lonely Pup in a Christmas Shop

(If you do choose to do a cover version of this song, please let us know in the comments section so I am not swamped with multiple versions of the same song!)

I also want to say if you are interested in contributing but you do not have an original composition to share, and would like a suggestion on a song to cover, please contact me. I may have some suggestions of some pretty obscure songs that might fit your style.

Wayside Waifs Charity CD

I am announcing that I am going to produce, assemble, oversee the production of, and sell/distribute a means to raise money for Wayside Waifs.

Ok, you ask, "Why Wayside Waifs?"

1) Wayside Waifs is an animal shelter; I love animals

2) Wayside Waifs allowed me to adopt a wonderful animal from them in December 2005 that has touched my life in so many ways.

3) Animals are among those who cannot help themselves, and are in need just as much at the holiday times as children or families in need, and the charities that raise money for children and families are very fine, and I applaud them, but I wanted to do something for our furry friends who cannot help themselves at all.

What I intend to do is:

1) Contact independent/unsigned musicians/bands to see if they would be interested in contributing a song to the compilation. It can be a newly recorded track or a track they previously shared online or on a CD they released. Original songs by local musicians is a plus, but I am welcoming as many contributors as may be interested in helping this charity.

2) Produce the final CD through Disc Masters. My goal is to produce an actual pressed CD, not a CD-R, 1000 copies. Copies will be sold online, in local stores, and I also hope that area veterinarians and pet food stores will also help me sell the CD.

There are details to work out, however. Please keep watch on this blog for more details on how to submit your music.