(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Two great new valuable perks just got added to the Dust Bowl Faeries Indiegogo campaign thanks to the generosity of the folks at Club Helsinki Hudson. As of this moment, a $60 donation gets you a pair of free tickets to see Femi Kuti this coming Saturday night, June 6, 2015, at Club Helsinki Hudson (an $80+ value), plus the CD with original artwork by Ryder and download when they are released. A $75 donation gets you a pair of free tickets to see Martin Sexton this coming Friday night, June 5, 2015, at Club Helsinki Hudson (a $90+ value), plus the CD with original artwork by Ryder and download when they are released. Premiums are limited, however, and the clock is ticking on this amazing offer.

Music critic and author Seth Rogovoy will produce the debut album by the electro-folk ensemble Ryder Cooley & Dust Bowl Faeries. The album will be recorded in September 2015 at Three Horses in a Wood studio, where it will be engineered by musical visionary, composer, and legendary drummer/percussionist Bobby Previte, and mixed by Rachel Alina, of Hudson, whose credits include Katy Perry, Pink, Rivers Cuomo, and Stephen Marley, scion of the first-family of reggae. The album is scheduled for release in February 2016.

A 30-day Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to cover recording, mixing and mastering, manufacturing, duplication, and distribution costsraised over $7,000 in its first week. It has now passed the $8,600 mark with one week left in the all-or-nothing effort. The campaign needs to raise a total of $10,000 for it to be successful; if it falls short of that amount, the pledged funds will be returned. “We’re hopeful that we can raise at least $2,000 before next Wednesday, so while we continue to encourage people to pre-order a download at $15, or a CD plus download at $25, we are also hoping people will consider larger donations to win the free concert tickets, as well as offers of original artwork by Ryder Cooley and private concerts, which are available at higher levels of participation,” said Rogovoy, whose producer duties include attaining the financing for the recording.

Rogovoy and Cooley first met after he reviewed a Dust Bowl Faeries concert at Club Helsinki Hudson last summer. Cooley felt that Rogovoy understood what she was attempting to put forth with Dust Bowl Faeries, and captured it in words as no one had previously. During an informal conversation, Cooley talked about the difficulties of recording an album when one is simultaneously the bandleader, lead singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter. The two quickly realized that the missing element was a sympathetic ear who could spearhead and organize the project, and see it through all its stages, including running the recording sessions in order to capture a sound and aesthetic that best contextualized the gothic-folk songs that Cooley writes for Dust Bowl Faeries. Rogovoy volunteered for the task, Cooley accepted, and they were off and running.

“Over the years, I’ve recorded several albums, mostly in friends’ homes and make-shift studios,” says Cooley. “These recordings are so important to me as both archives of my work and as musical offerings for the world. However, they are low-budget, bare-bones recordings that haven’t garnered the benefits of more sophisticated studios and recording techniques. After years of doing everything by the seat of my pants/skirts, I’m excited to be working with Seth and our team of artists and musicians to make a professional album, full of magical, aural wonders.”

“I’d always wanted to produce an album,” says Rogovoy, “but it was just a question of working with the right musicians at the right time.” After 30-plus years of reviewing recordings and live performances, Rogovoy says he has a sense of what works and what doesn’t. “I have my favorite sounds; I admire the work of certain producers; and I have a really strong sense of how a Dust Bowl Faeries recording can in and of itself be a work of art, especially given how Ryder is more than just a bandleader – she’s a multimedia artist, a visual artist, a performance artist. Her work with Dust Bowl Faeries is very visually evocative, and our goal is to make a recording that not only sounds great, but that evokes a sense of place – the mysterious world of Dust Bowl Faeries.”

The ensemble includes well-known Capitol Region electronic keyboardist Sara Ayers and lap-steel guitarist Karen Cole. With Cooley on accordion, musical saw and ukulele, the instrumentation is unusual and helps create a unique sound. The group recently added two new musicians, percussionists Jen DuBois and JoAnn Stevelos. For the recording, Rogovoy and Cooley – who co-hosts the weekly open-mic night on Tuesdays at Club Helsinki Hudson — will draw upon the region’s wealth of musical talent for an enhanced musical palette in the service of the songs.

A video about the project can be streamed here.