Marian Call

To finish off my 6-month western U.S. tour successfully, and to help compensate for some unexpected very hard times, and because so many of you asked how you could help: heres the game plan.  I asked you what you wanted, and you told me, so here it is:

T-shirts, stickers, and other merch are finally in the pipeline.  There will be some terrifically funny ones  in fact, folks at the new (& growing) LiveJournal fan page will get to vote on some of the initial designs next week.  Volvos and Zombie Cheerleaders and Donuts and Mosquitoes are featured.  Stay tuned for links to the new merch store.

CDs now available in bulk  businesses, nonprofits, clubs, or individuals can resell Vanilla to make an extra buck.  Buy for $8 via Paypal, sell for $15 (or whatever price you like), minimum of 5.  Get them all autographed for an extra dollar per unit.  E-mail for details or to order.

****Update: the specialty and auction items below are no longer available, though some may come available again in later fundraisers or at special events.  The information on the Donors Circle is still accurate, though a more current description now resides at MarianCall.com/purchase.php.****

Specialty items on sale for a short time:

- Professional archival prints of one of four Brian Adams photographs, autographed by Brian & Marian, custom message if you like. These are gorgeous.  $65 +S&H (value $125). Order before April 15th. Click & scroll down to view available photos & details

- The last 15 prints of Marians very first full-color poster, designed for the release of Vanilla, autographed with the message or show date of your choice.  *This is the poster design with notes from my first fans myspace comments.*  Only $10 plus shipping.  Ships rolled, not folded.  Click & scroll down to view & order

- Seats at a private dinner with Marian in Los Angeles, CA on April 22nd or in Austin, TX on May 14th.  Dinner at a vegetarian/vegan-friendly restaurant is included (though alcoholic beverages are not).  This event will only take place if 4 or more fans purchase tickets to each meal; $60 per head includes dinner & concert.  Click & scroll down for details

A very small eBay auction with very special items:

This auction will take place at the end of March on eBay.  Photos of all these items and full details for each will be available before the start of the auction.

- A Limited Malcolm Reynolds stunt pistol by Quantum Mechanix, with certificate of authenticity, together with a print of the photo Aim to Misbehave by Brian Adams.  Both the gun and the photo will be autographed by Marian and the photo back can have the handwritten message of your choice.

- Two gorgeous handmade Maid Marian wood carvings (I own the third), featuring my alter ego from the cover of Vanilla with her badass sword and cell phone.  Autographed with a personal message on the back.  Made from Premium American Cherry wood by fan @edrafalko.  Click to view

- Hand-written, framed lyrics to Dark Dark Eyes and Good Old Girl on stamped handmade paper (2 items).  Yes, it will be my handwriting.  Yes, my handwriting is pretty.

- The original chicken-scratch drafts of four Marian Call songs as a set, all handwritten, messy, and with rejected original lyrics.  These are less pretty, but more collectible, as they can never be duplicated.

Freebie for all participants:

Because I love you and I love giving stuff away, everyone who purchases ANY of the specialty items or bids on an auction item (even if you dont win) will also receive a free MP3 only available directly from me: my track Vanilla with audio commentary.  Ill e-mail the MP3 to participants in shifts about a week apart  your should get yours a little while after purchasing.

If you bid in the auction, even if you dont win, Ill send you (as an MP3) the same audio clip you might hear if you call my phone and get my voicemail.  Its sung a capella:

Thank you for calling, leamme a message please

Tell me what day and what month and what year it is

Cause Im not here, no baby, Im not home

The lights are on for sure, but maybe the occupants have flown

Ill catch you later lo-ove, uh-oh, goodbye.

Perfect to put on your voicemail message, or, if youre into a capella vocal ringtones, it works for that too.  Its a free audio phone toy snippet thing.

Last but not least, since so many of you asked:

The Donors Circle

I think of the Donors Circle as my very own Zombie Cheerleaders  they keep me rolling and keep me independent, and they own my music in a very real sense.  Im accountable to them to keep the art coming, and to keep it real and meaningful.

Im inviting folks who are interested to purchase shares of my next album.  It wont come out for a while; Ill probably start recording this winter.  But its never too early to start getting people on board.  Shares start at $200 with different levels of commitment  and you can pay in small monthly installments if you want. *Any specialty item or auction purchase this spring will count towards the purchase of a share if you wish to do both.*

There will be major perks to being part of the donors circle as I start the next album, including preview tracks, commentary, VIP concert treatment, blooper recording reels, and more.  For more details on the perks, the new album, and the donors circle, click here for an explanation and scroll all the way to the bottom.  Its really easy to do. And great art is worth it.

Clarification:  This is an investment you make because you want the album to exist, not to make money.  If you want to make money, consider purchasing CDs in bulk.  There will be many benefits & exclusives for the Donors Circle, but a cut of album sales is not one of them (the legal hassles alone would be insurmountable).  But if you have more ideas of benefits youd like to see, or items youd like to see offered for sale, let me know!