Mon. March 31, 2014
When Chicago-area native and openly gay independent artist Steve Grand launched his Kickstarter campaign on February 26, he never imagined it would close with more than four times the original goal of $81,000.
"I am so overwhelmed by the love and support from my fans," Grand told ChicagoPride.com on Monday. "Today I am back home after a productive month of recording in LA. It always feels good to be home -- and I am sending a big shout out to all my fans in Chicago."
Just 17 hours into the campaign, fans and friends, which Grand humbly refers to as his GrandFam, fully funded his Kickstarter. On March 6, the project became one of the top 10 most-funded music projects in Kickstarter's history.
The campaign wrapped up Sunday, March 30, with pledges of $326,593 from 4,905 backers, making his debut album the third most-funded music project in Kickstarter's history – and the most-funded music Kickstarter among musicians who have never been affiliated with a major record label.
Related: ChicagoPride.com interview with Steve Grand
This time last year, Grand was a little known singer-songwriter, but that changed on July 2 when his self-funded music video, "All-American Boy," a song about unrequited love between two men, posted to YouTube. The video quickly went viral, accumulating more than 2.75 million views, landing Grand in the national spotlight.
Grand, who graduated from Lemont High School in 2008, discovered he was gay in eighth grade. Although "All-American Boy" is based on his own experience falling for a straight friend during summer camp, Grand said the story is one that transcends sexual orientation.
"We've all fallen for someone that we can't have, but it especially rings true in the specific story for LGBT people," Grand said in a July 18 interview with ChicagoPride.com. "It is the story of my life since I was 13. I was always crushing on the straight guy."
Hailed as a "viral sensation" and one of America's "first openly gay country stars," Grand then released a second single, "Stay," then a third, "Back to California," which offers a sneak peek at what fans can expect on his first full-length record later this year.
"I am shooting for summer," Grand told ChicagoPride.com about the expected album drop date. "But the most important thing is getting this record right. My fans deserve nothing less."
Grand has been in a Las Vegas studio with Aaron Johnson, who is best known for producing the first records from The Fray, working on the second set of songs - twelve in all - that will be on the album.
"This album is pulling from a very large catalog of music that I've written all on my own for all the years that I've been writing," Grand told ChicagoPride.com earlier this month. "Some of the music is songs from when I was 18 and some songs that I've written over the last couple of months."
Grand said that the additional funds from the successful Kickstarter campaign will be used to market and promote the album properly.
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