Warren Teen Uses Web to 'Kickstart' Recording Plans

Watchung Hills Regional senior Gabriel Price has been building an audience for his original music in the area—and now he's getting ready to present his work to a wider audience.

He's set to take advantage of an offer from Nashville producer Russell Wolff—if he can get to the Music City for a recording session with engineer Vance Powell who has worked with Jack White, The Raconteurs and Buddy Guy.

To do that, he's counting on his fans to help, using an innovative website called Kickstarter to help raise the funding for his project. Kickstarter is "a funding platform for creative projects," according to the website—it works by collecting small donations to pay the often hefty prices of projects.

"My good friend Neale Eckstein, from Fox Run Studio (where recordings for an April release called "Odd Faces in Normal Places" were prepared), introduced Russell and me, and suggested that I use Kickstarter to raise funds because several of his artists had great success on it," Gabriel said. 

Gabriel hopes to raise $5,000 by Oct. 28 for his EP project—so far, 57 backers have kicked in $2,786, his Kickstarter page says. The project will only advance if the goal is reached. 

"The fact that I'm more than halfway to my goal with more than half of the time left to fundraise is extremely encouraging," he said. "It not only puts me onto a promising trajectory towards meeting my goal, but it also lets me know that I have fans and supporters who care whether or not I succeed for fail." 

Gabriel composed and performed all instruments and vocals on "Odd Faces in Normal Places," which is available on Amazon, CDBaby and iTunes. He's studied piano since he was six, added drums at eight, and took guitar and drum lessons at the  Somerville School of Music and Matt Lewis‘s Drum Studio in Somerville.

He also played drums at Rockit, the music program for young rock musicians at Redbank, and at Power Chord Academy, the summer program for budding band members on the campus of St Johns University in Queens.

You can find videos of Gabriel on YouTube under GabrielPriceMusic.