linda neil

Hi there. My name is Linda Neil. I am a songwriter, singer, and violinist. I play acoustic music and heartfelt, soulful songs delivered acoustically straight from my fingers to you.

A BIT ABOUT ME
I started off my musical life as a violinist and performed with orchestras, including the Bolshoi Ballet orchestra and rock bands. Later I recorded and played with some of the icons of Australian independent music such as Ed Kuepper, Kev Carmody, Steve Kilbey, and The Church, as well as English alt-pop sensation, Imogen Heap. I am also a writer: my musical memoir, Learning How to Breathe, was published in 2009. 

A few years ago, I performed a tour in Australia and other parts of the world, including India, China, and France. The concerts took place in people’s homes and other intimate spaces. I called it My Year of Singing Love Songs: The Lounge Room Tour. I didn't charge money for any of the concerts. Now I am asking for support to continue my work and finish producing and pressing the CD commemorating that epic musical journey.



MORE ABOUT MY YEAR OF SINGING LOVE SONGS: THE LOUNGE ROOM TOUR
I called the tour My Year of Singing Love Songs because the songs were about different types of love; they weren’t all romantic love songs, but songs about emotions, with titles like: Sorry, Forgiven, Depend on Me, Won't Give up on Love, Angels, Beautiful on the Inside and The Work of Love.

The tour presented music and performance at its most raw and pure. Most of the music was written in my own lounge room, just strumming my violin or guitar and singing. I wanted to recreate the simplicity of those moments by performing in other lounge rooms and intimate spaces, as simply and honestly as possible. Interest in the concerts spread through word of mouth and I performed where I was invited to play. I played and sang in the spirit of the minstrel of olden times, without microphones, amplifiers, or electrical enhancement. I became known as the love song minstrel.

The audience was an important part of each event, they were invited to participate, to sing, to harmonise, to be actively and musically involved. At the end of each concert, I interviewed members of the audience for a radio documentary I made about the tour for ABC Radio National. Many people observed that by the end they felt a differene in the room—that through the act of shared communication they could feel more peace, cooperation and harmony. As one participant commented: “At the beginning we were all separate beings, but by the last song something had changed in the structure of the air.”

The songs on the CD were originally recorded at the studios of ABC Radio National, so the sound is of high quality. The money raised will finance mastering and overdubbing of these recordings, as well as packaging—using recycled cardboard. This includes a 12-page lyric booklet and photographs of me playing love songs in various locations around the world, like Nepal, France and India—as well as promotion, production, pressing and distribution.

Budget breakdown
3080  Pressing and packaging 1000 cds of 13 songs (with 12-page lyric booklet and using recycled materials)
1000  Graphic arts' fee
750    Recording, remixing and remastering
750    Artists’ fees: composing, performance and musician fees
750    Licensing and copyright fees
750    Promotion and distribution
420    Misc, transport, postage etc
7500  TOTAL

One of the biggest challenges will be raising the money to release the CD. Being an unsigned artist trying to distribute your music without the backing of a mainstream label can be difficult.
Building the website for the CD will also be challenging but it will be a great way to spread the word about my music.
I also plan to network with artists I have previously worked with to spread the word about my CD.