How to Raise $10,000 to Make a Record? Ask San Diego Musician Allegra Barley

When singer songwriter Allegra Barley got laid off from her desk job, everyone, including her parents, agreed it was the best thing that could happen to her. Though apprehensive and scared, she knew it was a time for a leap of faith. Allegra was tired of getting on herself about not doing the only thing that truly made her happy- making and playing music. So, in 2008, with absolutely no back-up plan and armed only with her guitar, her original songs, and her angelic voice, Allegra joined the ranks of professional musicians. Since then, she has toured and played her music constantly while always dreaming of the opportunity to make a record that she can be proud of and finally put into the hands of her fans that are always asking for recorded material. So, how does a musician go about raising the money to cover the expenses of the album making process? They ask people for it.

Starting last month on August 6th Allegra took another leap of faith and created a Kickstarter Campaign to raise the money. “I have never asked anyone for money before, so it wasn’t something I was comfortable doing” she told me. “And once I launched the Kickstarter campaign, I suddenly realized it was totally up to me to make this happen.” Kickstarter is an on-line donation campaign that pays off only if the money is raised within a sixty day period. So what made her think she could raise the money? “I was a little stand-offish of Kickstarter at first,” claims Allegra, “but once I made the video, and started showing people, the feedback I received made me a believer.”

Allegra’s Kickstarter campaign is called “Keep It Simple: A Brand New Album – A Brand New Pop Sound.” Her goal is to make a record that can encompass her over 15 years of songwriting. “I want to do something that I haven’t seen much of,” she explains. “Pop has gotten too complicated, the music has lost its purity. I want to make a record that reads like a book or flows like a good movie; a beginning, a middle, an end; a complete record that doesn’t rely on so many bells and whistles.”

Allegra currently stands under $1,000 dollars away from not only getting the money she needs, but getting the validation for being brave enough to chase a dream. “I am just blessed and really happy and grateful for being able to do this full time,” Allegra told me. “My dream is to travel all over the world playing music. I want to be able to share this album with as many people as possible.”


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