It's the news SEVENDUST fans have been waiting for, and they wasted no time in grabbing the opportunity to personally get involved. At 9:00 a.m. PT on Friday, November 22, SEVENDUST launched a PledgeMusic direct-to-fan campaign to help fund the band's long-awaited and highly-anticipated acoustic album over the course of 130 days. At 9:00 a.m. PT on Monday, November 25, the Atlanta band reached 93% their goal with over 1240 pledges. However, the campaign is far from over, even after they reach their goal. Plenty of incentives are left, including the basic $10 pledge for an album pre-order and access to exclusive updates from the band as the album is being created, and any additional funds raised will simply be a bonus for the campaign. Additionally, even though the grandest incentive ($10,000 for a private acoustic concert at a fan's house) was scooped up the first day, the band decided to add two more of this very special offer. How'd they do it? Facebook and Twitter. Not only the band's official pages, but also the bandmembers' personal pages, where messages of thanks and excitement from fans were posted within minutes of the launch. The news quickly spread amongst the Family like wildfire. SEVENDUST has always said they consider their fans to be part of the SEVENDUST family, and they've certainly proven their love and devotion for the band with the immediate response to the PledgeMusic campaign. By popular demand, the Atlanta band Lajon Witherspoon (vocals), Morgan Rose (drums/vocals), Clint Lowery (guitar/vocals), John Connolly (guitar/vocals) and Vince Hornsby (bass/vocals) will enter Architekt Studios in Butler, New Jersey (where they recorded their current "Black Out The Sun" album) in January 2014 to record their highly anticipated and much-talked-about acoustic studio album, which will be released next spring. It'll be a collection of brand new songs along with re-recorded SEVENDUST classics. They asked their fans to be an integral part of the new project. Not only have they been asking fans for input of which songs to re-record, they partnered with PledgeMusic for a direct-to-fan campaign. Filled with exclusive incentives for ultimate access to have a hands-on part of the band's legacy, the campaign is granting fans the opportunity to get a digital download of the album before its available anywhere, exclusive updates during the making of the record, and much more. Ranging from signed drumheads and guitar picks, to joining the band in the studio for a day, to being included in the album's liner notes, to autographed guitars used on tour, to a private acoustic show at the house of the most generous donor, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for SEVENDUST fans. "We're very excited about the new SEVENDUST acoustic record," declares Lowery. "Knowing our relationship with the SEVENDUST family, releasing it through PledgeMusic and allowing our supporters to be a part of the process is what it's all about. This type of direct-to-fan project is a perfect fit for us and it will allow a very personal connection between the band and its supporters. We can't wait to get to work on this record and have the fans join us in this unique process." "We wanted our fans to be involved in the making of this record," adds Rose. "PledgeMusic is a perfect way to share the creative experience with them. We're really looking forward to it." Portions of the proceeds from the campaign will be donated to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, which works to find cures for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. "The reason for doing this is that you guys have made us what we are today and we want to involve you in a much deeper way than we have ever before," says the band in a combined statement on the direct-to-fan page. "We have been face to face with many of you, and some of you have been to over 50 shows and we have become family. We want you to have a chance to be a part of this process with us and make this record stand out." And as the entire band chimes in: Lajon Witherspoon: "For me, on an acoustic, I'm able to showcase my vocals more. This is just a little something different, you know, we get off the beaten path every now and then." Clint Lowery: "We've had a couple of specialty shows where we've played acoustic, so that was kind of the first taste of 'Whoa, we can be heavy, but we can be an acoustic band and the same fanbase will embrace us.' We have one more month to be out here on tour, we've been grinding it out for a long time. We're completely putting every bit of our energy into this acoustic record. We already have these amazing ideas circulating for it. We want to make a statement with it. I want to open a whole different door for our band." John Connolly: "This will be cool for us, to kind of go in and just focus on just the acoustic side of the band which is something that we've been trying to get back around to for eight/nine years now." Morgan Rose: "We wanted to do an acoustic run, but we thought we've got the time to do it, why don't we do an acoustic record and actually do five or six, seven random songs acoustically." Vince Hornsby: "I hope our fans dig it. We play the heavy stuff all the time. It's good to throw something different in there and change it up a little bit." It's not the first time SEVENDUST has explored their acoustic side. Their critically acclaimed "Southside Double-Wide" live acoustic album was released in 2004.
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