Good morning backers,

Hard to believe our last update was mid-July, and we appreciate your patience as this project has continued. We are currently on the last batch of edits before the album goes into mastering!

Throughout the summer, PRSO director Andrew Greene has been working with the team at Arts Laureate to listen to the 427 takes it took to record the album (yes, that many), splicing together everything to make the final product. Initial editing was finalized in August, with mixing occurring during the month of September. Most tracks took 3-4 edits in order to assemble.

Mixing is going through each piece, once edited and assembled, and combining/adjusting multiple audio tracks to create a balanced, pleasing audio mix. Basically, it's making sure the violin isn't too loud, or the drums aren't too soft in places. During this batch of mixing, some wrong notes or incorrect rhythms may show themselves that weren't present before, so we've been doing careful listening to ensure everything is perfect.

Mastering is the final step, where another audio engineer listens through the entire album, adjusts the levels, balances various elements in the mix, monitors for any issues, and makes sure each track sounds its best across all devices and formats. Some songs are already mastered, while others will begin the process shortly!

Want to hear one of the mastered tracks? Take a listen: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/eat8c2eikug72ntwc2oh0/16-Slidus-Trombonus.wav?rlkey=yd8vsa8g0p2fclfybqgxae4ry&st=2d1z3vme&dl=0

PRSO director Andrew Greene is working furiously to get the liner notes done, and once the notes are complete, they are sent to Bryan Wright of Rivermont Records to be edited and assembled into the CD booklet. We expect the notes to be sent over by the middle of next week, and booklet assembly to begin soon afterwards.

The CD's album cover has been completed by graphic artist Joe Busam, and has been submitted for inclusion on the final album.

Once the final masters are completed, they are sent to Rivermont Records for final review, then the completed product - audio - liner note booklet - graphics - etc., are then sent to a CD plant for manufacturing. In the past, manufacturing has taken roughly a month or two, depending on how many other projects are ahead of us. 

If everything is sent over early October, we have a chance of having the completed album ready to send to backers by the Holiday season. Otherwise, it will be sent out early 2025. We realize this was later than anticipated, but we did not want to rush out a product that still needed tweaking. We thank you for your patience with this!

Once everything is sent off to the plant for production, we will begin preparing all of the backer rewards for distribution - digital and physical copies of the album, attributions on the PRSO website, complementary tickets to upcoming PRSO programs, behind the scenes videos/audio shared, etc. We will reach out to you individually if we need to to fulfill any rewards.

We thank you again for your patience, but we're starting to see the finish line ahead of us! We'll give you more frequent updates as we get closer to CD release!

Best wishes,
Andrew Greene
Director, Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra

This year, instead of shooting off fireworks or hanging with friends at a barbecue or pool side party, we're reviewing the first edits and in-progress cover art of our brand new recording, THAT ECCENTRIC RAG, and boy... it's sounding good!

First things first, here's the first draft of the cover art:

This art is based off of the original sheet music cover for THAT ECCENTRIC RAG (1912), our title song by J. Russel Robinson. This is not finalized, as we have some tweaks and other goodies we want to spruce up on it, but it's an exciting start! You can see the original piano sheet music cover below.

Please keep in mind that the audio we're sharing is NOT the final versions. These are IN-PROGRESS TRACKS that still need tweaking, balancing, some wrong notes/balancing issues addressed. HOWEVER, we wanted to share this with YOU, our backers and donors to get an early taste of what's in store.

Track #1 is a tune I'm sure all of you are well aware of, Scott Joplin's THE EASY WINNERS (1901), which you may remember is part of the score to the 1973 film THE STING.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hupjjdljocc5iuil10xzv/01-The-Easy-Winners.wav?rlkey=jpq1nh6tsxkc4daidshcbavv0&st=2qosq0w5&dl=0

Track #2 is one of our vocal pieces, featuring William F. Edwards bringing to life one of Irving Berlin's best, I'LL SEE YOU IN C-U-B-A (1920).

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/i9m8shs8yew3j1an21m6o/01-I-ll-See-You-in-C-U-B-A.wav?rlkey=ucoq7h2nmczho2qcuvm2ighjq&st=5c5m0dfz&dl=0

C-U-B-A was written just as America was beginning that ghastly age in the 1920s... PROHIBITION! So what better way for Americans to partake in both a vacation and in their libations of choice, but by visiting Cuba. This song has been covered numerous times since its original publication, and our version here is a transcription of one of the first versions sung by vocalist Billy Murray.

Lastly, is a first-ever recording of the 1927 piece, THE PARAMOUNT MARCH by Hugo Frey.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/58z2qyqpvgm294md78ibx/01-PRSO-Paramount.wav?rlkey=a6vf558lwrd0ky3ylsexsr24t&st=isrlkp26&dl=0

Our copy of the piece comes from the collection of Rochester, NY's Eastman Theatre, built in 1922, which still stands today. Today the venue hosts the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, but originally the Eastman Theater's theatre orchestra and theater organist delighted patrons with first-run silent pictures with a live orchestra playing... including this number here. We acquired the library of the theater back in 2018, and we're excited to finally bring some of the pieces from this collection to life once again. Perhaps Peacherine will once day grace the halls of this fine venue to play some music from its collection again...

While we wish we could share more right now, we still have much work that needs to be done on the album! Liner notes are in progress, which should be sent over for booklet construction in the near future. The edits will continue to be worked on, with a goal of having the final audio by the end of August/Early September. As of right now, we are still on schedule for a release later this year!

We once again thank YOU, our backers and donors for helping to make this new recording possible. As we have updates to share, you will of course be the first to know. 

Have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July holiday, and we'll update you again soon!
Best wishes,
Andrew Greene and the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra

Good evening friends! We're proud to report that as of 4:32 PM on Friday, April 5th, Peacherine's 15th Anniversary album is officially recorded! While we're still mentally and physically recovering from over 20 hours of recording, we wanted to share a few vignettes "behind the scenes" from the recording process with you. These were generously shared by some of the orchestra's members who captured the three-day process on their cell phones.

While we don't have any audio to share with you yet, we can tell you this: the album is definitely Peacherine's best to date! We're awaiting the takes to be sent over from our recording company, and we'll begin editing, mixing, and mastering this album post haste!

In total, Peacherine recorded 23 total selections: 8 vocal numbers, and 15 instrumentals. We'll be pairing those with several piano solos recorded by our director Andrew Greene, so you'll have plenty of variety! The music spans from 1899 to 1927, so you'll be able to enjoy selections from almost 30 years of American musical history.

We'll keep you updated as we continue to get this album ready for release, thank you again for your financial support to make this a reality!

-Andrew Greene and the musicians of the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra

Greetings friends and backers! Long time no talk, but we've been busy prepping for our recording and haven't had a moment to relax!

As of this email, all of the final music has been released to Peacherine artists, the venue has been booked, the recording company has finalized with us, and now we simply are rehearsing and working up the numerous musical works we intend to record for this next album!

In two weeks, Peacherine enters our favorite recording space to record our brand new album! Two days are planned of just the instrumental works, and then a third day to record the vocal numbers! Each session usually lasts 3 hours, and in a given 3 hour session, we're usually able to record 4-6 tunes. Several of the works have been Peacherine standards on shows for YEARS, so we expect many of the selections to be less stress on the ensemble (aka shorter recording times, less takes!).

Included here is one of those pieces, the 1st violin part to the never-before recorded PARAMOUNT MARCH (1927) by Hugo Frey. Frey (1873-1959) was a pianist, violist, composer, and arranger. After studying at the Chicago Conservatory, Frey went on to conduct and arrange for dance and theater orchestras, conducting the Victor Talking Machine Orchestra on a number of recordings from 1916 to 1924. This march, from 1927, was written during the "Grand Movie Palace" era of the 1920s, where large orchestras would play for motion picture shows. This march may directly reference Paramount Pictures and their associated "Paramount Theatre" chains, but it is unclear, but what IS clear is that the piece is FANTASTIC. Listen below at the link for a preview of Peacherine playing the "B" section of the piece (in the key of Db Major):
https://youtu.be/Lv7rAIxwxZw?si=rjPHMpDkbIbLT9Do

Peacherine's director Andrew Greene met with vocalists Bill Edwards and Karen Vincent this past weekend outside of Washington DC to review all of the vocal tunes. Planned to be recorded are:
Take Me To The Land Of Jazz (1919) by Pete Wendling, Bert Kalmar & Edgar Leslie
That Mysterious Rag (1911) by Irving Berlin
I'll See You In C-U-B-A (1919) by Irving Berlin
Some Of These Days (1910) by Shelton Brooks
Mr. Moon Man, Turn Off Your Light (1910) by Jack Norworth & Nora Bayes
By The Light of the Silvery Moon (1909) by Gus Edwards and Ed Madden
He'd Have To Get Under, Get Out And Get Under (To Fix Up His Automobile) (1913) by Maurice Abrahams
If You Talk In Your Sleep, Don't Mention My Name (1911) by Nat D. Ayer, A. Seymour Brown & Gene Buck

Several of the above numbers have become standards, such as "Some of These Days", while others (a la "Talk In Your Sleep") remain as one of those gems of a tune that carries a good tune, and even better lyrics. Bill, Karen, and Andrew are all eager to get going and get these tunes in the can.

When the initial concept for the album was designed, the original title was thought to be "Fluffy Ruffles", taking our inspiration from the opening piece to the album, FLUFFY RUFFLES (1919) by Geo. Hamilton Green.

After considerations, we think a catchier title will be another selection that we intend to record, THAT ECCENTRIC RAG, taken from J. Russel Robinson's work from 1912.

For a preview of what the piece will sound like, take a gander here:
https://youtu.be/5xlELP5WvHk?si=ghYPvvON-NnbjHpw

The new "working title" for the album is THAT ECCENTRIC RAG: ODDITIES AND GEMS FROM THE RAGTIME ERA. We think that will fit well with the past titles we've had, which include That Teasin' Rag, Step With Pep, Elite Syncopations, Jazzin' The Blues Away, and now... That Eccentric Rag.

Thanks to a generous ragtime fan, we intend to have a nice 4k camera set up at the back of the venue we'll be using to record the musical selections, which will allow us to capture the recording process for you to enjoy! We'll edit down the recording "takes" and will put together videos/audio as we're able to preview what's in store on this next album!

Want a taste of what some of this behind the scenes stuff may be like? Here's two examples:
https://youtu.be/D2rFrCwTl_0?si=YDql0tq_FJHxtolf
and
https://youtu.be/kWZgETHJv-8?si=pz5X3uuwXqkleZz5

Hopefully this little preview of things to come "whets your whistle"! We're so excited to finally get this album in the can, and will be sharing things with you as they become available.

More coming soon!
Andrew Greene
Founder & Director
Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra

Hi there folks!

Andrew here from the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra. Since ending the campaign a few weeks ago we've been busy behind the scenes working on our new recording. Since our last update:

Some of you may have attended our most recent performance in Maryland last week - thank you to those who attended! Peacherine used this as a "proving ground" for a few of the selections, which were well received. One of them is a piece we teased in our announcement video, L.A. Clark's A GREASY RAG: AN OILY PROPOSITION (1912), which was captured by an audience member and sent to us after the performance. We thought it fitting to share it with you, at the unlisted link below:

https://youtu.be/2B67o2jxptQ?si=88QF_MAI_DHmAgEz

Please forgive the quality of the video - it is as it was provided to us. But you'll still be able to hear this charming, and never-before recorded selection!

We're also including another number here for you, our donors to enjoy, and we guarantee you know the tune! Click to hear which one it is:

https://youtu.be/de5gBl1GJMA?si=2TOhKYPQDgm4kEep

More updates will be coming as we approach our recording date, which is aimed for sometime in April. Thank you again for your support, more information will be coming soon!

Best,
Andrew Greene
Director, Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra

Hi there Peacherine friends and fans,

Our fundraising campaign ended a few days ago, and now that the dust is clearing we're tallying up the final numbers. As you can see on our site, we raised $9433 through Fractured Atlas. As previously mentioned, we received a check for $4000 which was written to the orchestra directly, and just this past week we received another $500 check towards this cause.

This puts our total fundraiser to a whopping $13,933 USD, just under $14,000!

Because of your generosity and commitment to keeping culturally important American popular music alive, we're able to raise the largest amount Peacherine has ever done in our 14 year history. You, our fans and supporters, are the ones helping to keep Peacherine's mission moving forward, and we could not have reached this point without your support. Take a moment to pat yourselves on the back, we're so excited to have reached this point.

With just under $14,000 raised, this gives us the funds to proceed with the audio recording as planned! We have all but one musician in place for recording, and are reaching out to the recording company, Arts Laureate, to get a date scheduled to record the audio for the album. Our hope is to have the album "in the can" by May. Audio editing for this project is slated to take a few months, which we'll also use to design the final booklet of liner notes with our partners at Rivermont Records. Overall, the CD and digital album release is slated to go on schedule for a release in Holiday 2024, in time for Peacherine's 15th Anniversary in early 2025.

The one part of the project that will be affected are the music videos/video recording. In order for us to record the music videos, we'll need to have the musicians available for a day of filming, plus a multi-man crew with our recording company, plus space rental. Thankfully, all video editing can be done in house using Peacherine members (who are donating their time to complete this), so that will help to keep costs down. Overall, the video recording part of this project is budgeted to cost around $5000 - $6000, which is the portion that we have not raised in this campaign.

We are hoping to work with a venue that we are scheduled to perform at later this year to use the space for the videos, but we are unsure whether we can work out a financial trade (performance fee discount for use of the space for an additional day, or similar) to help offset costs. Depending on what funds are available for us at the time, we may elect to defer production of the music videos until there is enough funds on hand to cover the cost, rather than take a deficit up front with a hope to recoup the costs later. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to figure out this part of our project. Not raising the funds for this portion of the project does not mean we will not move forward with it, it simply means we may need to delay production until we are financially able to do so.

So long story short, the audio portion of this project will remain unaffected, the videos will.

Peacherine does have several upcoming shows, which we are using to test/acclimate the orchestra to some of the final numbers that we're hoping to record. We have a program finalizing for the latter part of April 2024 near our home base in Annapolis, MD. We are hoping to record that same week if all pieces fall into place. The audio recording in the past has taken 2-3 full days, divided into two three-and-a-half hour sessions each day. In years past, we've been able to record 5-8 selections in each session, with the first 3.5 hour session as a "read through" without the microphones capturing audio, to do any final tweaks/adjustments before hitting record.

Once everything is in the can, the recording team takes some time to process each take and send them over for review. This process usually takes 2-3 weeks to choose which take to use where, and then everything is pieced together to make the best sounding selection. From there, the audio editors will work their magic, and will work with PRSO director Andrew Greene to make everything sound the best that they can. This process usually takes 1-2 months as we work through each selection. 

Once all of the audio is pieced together and approved, final mixing and mastering of the selections occurs, which again takes roughly a month on turn-around time. While this is going on, our director will work with the team at Rivermont Records to get the final liner notes created, photos and images inserted, and orders placed with the pressing plant to create the physical album. As soon as the final audio is received, we send it off so the CDs can be created. CD creation and shipping can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 2-3 months, depending on the current number of orders ahead of us in the queue. 

If funding is in place for the music videos, once we have the final takes we can then go in and record the videos for it. The videos themselves can be recorded in a day, but then will take several weeks to match the audio with the video and put together cohesive videos.

All in all, this project is slated to take 6-7 months to produce from the moment the baton is raised for the first selection, which would get us to roughly October/November of 2024. Once the final CDs have arrived from the plant, we will begin fulfilling backer rewards and will give all backers an exclusive window to access the recordings before they are released to the general public. We anticipate this exclusive window to be anywhere from 1-2 months, with general release occurring afterwards.

For the physical and digital copies of the finished album, those will be sent to you via physical mail/email with a download link once we have them ready for shipping. We anticipate this to be closer to the holidays, as noted above.

If your backer reward package included tickets to any upcoming Peacherine concert, please reach out to us directly at info@peacherineragtime.com to arrange your tickets. Current upcoming dates are on our website, including this Sunday (for those of you who live in the greater Baltimore/Washington area): https://www.peacherineragtime.com/events. If your reward bracket included a private concert on piano, please also reach out to us directly at info@peacherineragtime.com to coordinate.

Any vinyl releases, behind the scenes pictures/video/access will be coordinated directly with those backers. Don't worry, we'll still push regular updates here, too! 

At this time, we do not plan on having an album release party. We are exploring options for a larger celebration for Peacherine's 15th Anniversary, please stay tuned for more updates.

If you did not have the opportunity to support this campaign until now, or are discovering our fundraiser after the close of the campaign, we still would LOVE to have your support. You can do a direct donation via Fractured Atlas above: https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/peacherine-ragtime-society-orchestra/general_support. Email us and we can also work with you directly to make sure the funds/rewards get to you.

Regular updates will be sent out as we have them, in the meanwhile we need to prep for our upcoming concert this Sunday! Once again, THANK YOU to all of you who helped with this cause! We look forward to bringing this new album to fruition!

With best wishes,
Andrew Greene
Founder & Director, Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra
www.peacherineragtime.com

THANK YOU!
Because of you, we've hit the 50% mark on our fundraising campaign. We are incredibly humbled by your support, and feel blessed to have reached this point so quickly!

But wait! Your fundraising campaign here only says $6k+? How are you 50% funded?
Earlier today we received a check from a Peacherine supporter for $4000! The check is on its way to Fractured Atlas now, which will be updating the official number in the coming days. We just couldn't wait to share the updated number with you!

With the 50% mark reached, we're now beginning preliminary conversations with Arts Laureate, our recording company, as well as Rivermont Records for scheduling recording sessions and planning the video segments. It's very exciting! And we couldn't have reached this point without your support.

Here's a few more previews of the music we're currently planning on for this new recording. Please keep in mind these selections may change as development for the new album continues, but we're eager to make the final selections for the upcoming sessions!

Vocalist Karen Vincent will emulate the one and only Sophie Tucker with "Some Of These Days" by Shelton Brooks from 1911 - https://youtu.be/oFrGiEUNTkI?si=46Sf5GlxxQ0rXems

Vocalist William Edwards will bring to life one of Irving Berlin's popular favorites from the early 1920s, emulating one of our favorites, Billy Murray, with "I'll See You In C.U.B.A." - https://youtu.be/cevqCV6Nv2s?si=raHmoPXVk9iwgllP

The orchestra will play an instrumental version of "Pretty Baby" from The Passing Show of 1916 - https://youtu.be/7OkMqDn5XZ8?si=E9EhmtJ8IK7FAKRD

And lastly, you'll love to hear a number by George Gershwin, SWANEE... but not the version you know! Swanee Rose from the early 1920s -  https://youtu.be/akGUDy2NXAI?si=_RdRa41Bv2u8Vxpl.

For those who have already contributed to the campaign, THANK YOU AGAIN! For those who have been holding off, now is the time! Your tax-deductible support will help us get closer to our $20k goal. We've already raised the first half in 3 weeks since launching our campaign, let's keep the momentum going to get us across the finish line!

Thank you again, and have a great holiday season,
Andrew Greene
Founder & Director
Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra
www.peacherineragtime.com

Hi there friends and fans!
Since we launched our campaign two days ago, we've had a very positive response, and along with the public donations here (plus a few donations that have been pledged to us privately that will be added to the campaign soon), we've reached $2000! 10% of the way there in two days!

We wanted to give you a few previews of what's to come on this new album:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y7TvyZrdzCs?si=T7NGtNI9x0RCpfQx" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Above is a never-released video of Peacherine behind the scenes, at a recent rehearsal at Utah Valley University from this past October. Peacherine is rehearsing George L. Cobb's 1922 syncopated novelty, THE GHOST WALK. As far as we are aware, this selection was never recorded, and we're looking to finally give it the attention it deserves with this new recording. Take a gander (and don't mind the few mistakes - that's what happens during a rehearsal sometimes!)

Alongside numbers like THE GHOST WALK, we're also selecting works that most audiences have heard before. On the docket are two of the King of Ragtime Writers, Scott Joplin's works: EUPHONIC SOUNDS (1909) and THE EASY WINNERS (1901). Both are some of Joplin's best work, and we'll be recording them off of the original, historic orchestral scores as they were released over a century ago. Take a listen to THE EASY WINNERS as played by Peacherine:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v96a_V3930A?si=mtdpi2EnJKhd7t5n" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

We still have a ways to go to hit our goal, please consider donating to our campaign, and share it with your friends! Music like this deserves to be heard, appreciated, and shared with audiences of today. Be a part of preserving American musical history with us!

-Andrew Greene
Founder & Director, Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra