The Minnesota Child house concert, listening party & album fundraiser

Join us at the Courtyard in Berkeley for an early evening of storytelling and live music from our activist and musician friend Ethan Buckner, visiting from Los Angeles.

We'll gather at 4pm. Ethan's performance will run from around 4:30 - 6pm.

We'll provide snacks; feel free to bring drinks. Please dress appropriately for an outdoor event in the winter in Berkeley.

We are 5 blocks from North Berkeley BART. If you drive, there is street parking available - we don't have off-street parking. The performance will be the backyard. From the Sacramento Street driveway, walk all the way to the back; that's where you'll find us.

We ask that everyone wear masks at the event, and please note that we won't have restrooms available except for emergencies. *If you are unwell or have been exposed to COVID-19, please sit this one out.*

Below is more about Ethans' performance and his project, in his words.

Look forward to seeing you on Dec 3!

- Jen & Scott

From Ethan:

Hi friends,

I am so excited to return to the Bay Area and share with you all what I've been working on since I made the move to Los Angeles.

Over the past nine months, I've spent hundreds of hours in studio with the brilliant Justin Glasco recording my first full length record. This project means more to me than I can possibly describe in words - so I'd love to show you what I mean.

This event won't be your typical house concert. I'm going to perform some of the new songs live, we'll listen to some of the unreleased tracks, and I'll share photos, videos, and stories that offer a behind-the-scenes window into the record. I so honored and thrilled to share all of this with you!

As part of the event, I'll be offering the opportunity to pre-order and invest in this record. I really believe these songs can have an impact, but I don't want you to just take my word for it. Come enjoy the night and if the music moves you, I will be honored to invite you to join me in helping bring this record into the world.

Can't make it?

About the fundraiser:

Making music at the level that feels ambitious, authentic, and impactful, takes a lot of resources. Recording costs, including studio time, engineering, session musicians, and production, costs upwards of $16,000. Mixing and mastering will cost an additional $4,000 -$6,000. I believe that everyone involved in this process deserves to be compensated well for their labor. Lastly, to give this record the opportunity to reach a broader audience, I am budgeting an additional $5,000-$10,000 for content creation (art, videos, photography, and merch), distribution, and PR. In total, this project will cost between $25,000 - $35,000.

Thus far, between my own savings and through this fundraising effort, I have raised about $16,000. Through my album pre-order fundraising campaign, I am inviting supporters to help meet my goal of $10,000 to finish this project and bring this record to life, with a stretch goal of $20,000.

More about the record:

For more than the past decade, I’ve been writing, recording, and performing indie folk/pop music under the pseudonym The Minnesota Child. This year, I decided to make an enormous leap in my music career, and fulfill a longtime dream to create a full length record. The new album, true a labor of love, is by far the most personal, vulnerable, introspective, and exploratory story I know how to tell. About what it means to be alive in the tumultuous times we’re living in. About my own struggles with my physical and mental health. About living and loving as big as I know how. And about acceptance of things I cannot do and change.

I am beyond honored to be working with producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Justin Glasco to bring these songs to life. Justin’s career has included work with artists ranging from Andrew Bird, Matt Berninger (The National), Blake Mills, and Wild Rivers to Meiko, Anderson East, Jukebox the Ghost, and Avril Lavigne, among many others. Justin also toured internationally as a contributing member of the indie folk band The Lone Bellow. From our first introduction early this year, I immediately felt that our creative synergy and shared values would make for a powerful partnership.

I’m also so grateful and excited that my brother, drummer Matthew Buckner, is collaborating with me on this project. Matthew and I have been making music in some way, shape or form together practically our entire lives. And so every time we have the opportunity to work together, it feels like magic.

I’m giving this all I’ve got. That’s where you come in.

Learn more and pre-order now:

Host or Publisher The Minnesota Child