Jen Wood’s gearing up to release a new album, her first since 2010’s Finds You In Love (and her first that will feature piano-based songs instead of guitar), and to make it all happen, she’s trying something new–Kickstarter. Wood is signed to the Tampa, Florida-based indie label New Granada. “When talks of making a new album started stirring, it became clear that we were going to have to get creative as to how to come up with the cash to actually make it happen,” Wood told me in a recent email. “Being that New Granada is a true indie label, they rely on their bands to pay for the costs of recording, touring and promoting etc. They are able and willing to pay for what they can, and they are as generous as their checkbooks allow, but it’s truly a team effort.” Using Kickstarter wasn’t Wood’s idea: “Honestly, I was initially pretty leery of going this route,” she says. “The thought of asking people to donate towards me making a new album made me uncomfortable; it brought up some emotions as to my notions of what success is and what failure is, the whole idea just sparked a lot of issues that I think most every artist has faced at one point or another in their life. And most people, whether or not they are artists, don’t enjoy asking for money for a personal project. Long story short, it took me almost six months to finally warm up to the idea of going the Kickstarter route. It took some courage. It took me letting go of my pride and not feeling like a failure or something. With the help of my producers, Steve Aguilar and Blake Wescott, my team at New Granada, my husband and the musicians on board… they pretty much all convinced me to get over myself and just do it.”

Wood’s gotta be glad that she decided to try Kickstarter–as I write this, 93 backers have already pledged $4,642 of the $6,000 she needs, and there are still 16 days left to go on the campaign. (She’s got some sweet prizes–a song written for you on the subject of your choice, a house party performance, the Game Boy that’s being played in the above video). August 5 is the cut-off date for the campaign. Visit the Kickstarter page to find more details on how to contribute, if you’d like to, which you should–Jen Wood’s one of the loveliest musicians this city’s got.