UPDATE: The train keeps on rollin' for Lester Chambers

The "publicity train" for my musical friend Lester Chambers in his efforts to raise funds to record a new album with his band The Mud Stompers keeps moving along.

Lester Chambers and The Mud Stompers (left to right, Kenneth Roy Berry, Marcia Miget, Kenny Susan, Lester Chambers, Chick Peteresen, Baron Chase)

As of this writing, with less than three days to go before the end of the Kickstarter fundraising campaign (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lesterchambers/lesters-time-has-come-today) Lester has going with Reddit.com co-founder Alexis Ohanian, the drive has 2,128 backers and it's raised close to $60,000 -- nearly $21,000 over its minimum goal to cover expenses.

January 3 provided a prime example of how busy life has been lately for Lester and his friends.  It started in the morning with an appearance at a television studio in San Jose for a recording on Press:Here on NBC -- with Alexis and Lester each being interviewed, followed by one of the funkiest performances of "Let's Get Funky" that I've heard yet out of the band.

http://www.pressheretv.com/his-time-has-come/

From the television studio, the group packed up their gear and headed into downtown San Francisco, where they appeared with Alexis at WeWork Labs in front of an audience of close to 100 people for a Q&A and concert, designed to show how musicians can use the Internet to take greater control of their own artistic destinies.

It was an evening that was captured very well in an article by Drew Olanoff at TechCrunch.com.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/04/the-weekly-good-a-star-is-reborn-the-lester-chambers-story/

It was a night of questions, answers, fascinating stories capturing moments in rock music history, and more musicianship from Lester and The Mud Stompers.

Since then, the phone calls continue at "Mud Stompers Headquarters."  A new CD is now in the planning stages, and recording will begin soon.

Yeah, Lester Chambers' train just keeps on rollin' along.  It could roll on to a marvelous comeback for a man who believes strongly in miracles, hopefully helping along the way to set the tone for musicians like him who want to be able to do something with their music, on their own terms.

It's a joy to behold.

The Kickstarter campaign continues on CNN

Lester Chambers' campaign to raise funds to record a new album eclipsed its goal of $39,000 by Christmas Eve, and the campaign won't even be over until January 9.

It was eclipsed thanks in large part to an article on CNN.com.

The CNN interview projected on a wall.  (Photo courtesy Dylan Chambers)

That made for a very nice Christmas gift for Lester and those close to him.

The day after Christmas, an early New Year's celebration started taking shape.  That's because Lester and his son Dylan got up early for a limousine ride to a San Francisco area television studio for a live, cross-country interview on CNN.

This is how a Kickstarter project to raise money for new music can get exposure.  It's good for musicians everywhere, and it's good for the fans.  A win-win proposition.

Welcome to the modern world of recording music!

Here's an excerpt from Lester and Dylan's live interview from Wednesday morning.

Lester Chambers makes the front page, goal reached

Lester Chambers and Alexis Ohanian have reached a goal in a fundraising pledge drive that was launched less than two weeks ago in order for Lester and his band of Bay Area musicians, The Mud Stompers, to record a new album.

The goal was $39,000 to at least cover minimum expenses by January 9.  They eclipsed that goal Monday afternoon.  By Monday evening, Christmas Eve, the campaign had raised over $43,000.  It doesn't have to stop there.

It helped to get an early Christmas present via a front page article on CNN.com.  Click on the link below to read it yourself.  The word is spreading.

CNN.com:  On Web, "Time Has Come" for '60s singer

Dylan and Lester Chambers

"Old school" meets "new school," part 2

Lester Chambers and Alexis Ohanian

I wrote here last week about Reddit.com co-founder Alexis Ohanian and soul/rock/blues/gospel music legend Lester Chambers teaming up on Kickstarter (at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1195088551/lesters-time-has-come-today) to launch a public funding campaign so Lester and his current group, The Mud Stompers, can record a new album in the coming months, and so Lester can "pay it forward" by giving money back to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund charity with part of the proceeds from his new album going to Sweet Relief through Ohanian's Breadpig site.

Tomorrow will mark a full week since Lester and Alexis' Kickstarter campaign was launched, and the goal of reaching $39,000 just to cover recording expenses by January 9 is under one-fourth of the way there as of this writing.

It's a busy time of the year, that's for sure.  One thing to consider during this time of giving might be to look at this campaign as a way of sharing a special gift for friends or loved ones in a variety of ways through the investment in/purchase of new music that could be given to music fans through the items that are available by pledging at the various levels:  a digital copy of the new album for a pledge of $10 or more; a limited edition CD and more for a pledge of at least $20; all of these items plus a specially designed shirt or an autographed copy of the new CD ... it just gets better.

And don't think Lester and The Mud Stompers aren't ready to get this thing going.  Here's a nearly half-hour taste of an appearance they made on a Bay Area public television program in the last few months.

A Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session with Lester Chambers

Would you like to see and maybe be a part of a fascinating "Q&A" session with blues/soul/rock/gospel music great Lester Chambers on reddit.com?

The stories Lester tells in this "Ask Me Anything (AMA)" session on Reddit today are like a trip through music history.  To see it all, click on the link below or copy and paste the address http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/14sk6a/i_am_lester_chambers_ama/

I am Lester Chambers:  AMA on Reddit.com

Lester Chambers and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian

"Old school" meets "new school" in music world

It's rare that I have or will ever "cross channels" between this blog and my other personal blog, but in this case I can't resist because it does involve music, and it involves my musical friend Lester Chambers.

Lester Chambers and Alexis Ohanian

Lester -- a part of the iconic 1960s and early '70s rock/soul/psychedelic/gospel group The Chambers Brothers -- is part of an impressive drive to get some new music of his out there.  It's even more impressive to know that internet entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of the social news and entertainment website Reddit and an activist who played a key role in stopping SOPA legislation in Congress earlier this year, is helping to back up Lester's effort.

They're doing it by kicking off a fundraising drive through the Kickstarter public funding platform online.  The effort was launched Tuesday morning.

New music has already been recorded by Lester and his group The Mud Stompers.  The funding is designed to cover the expenses of recording a new album by Lester and The Mud Stompers, featuring members of the legendary Tower of Power horns and others.  Part of the proceeds from the new album will go toward the non-profit charity Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which has helped Lester himself through the years.

Organizers are hoping to raise at least $39,000 in order to record the album between now and January 9.

For more information, click on the link below to my article at the blog A View From The Middle (Class).

Alexis Ohanian:  Lester Chambers' "time has come"