JEAN LEON
A TEXAS SOUL ReCORD
I am very excited to announce my debut, full-length album, Jean Leon, which contains ten original tracks that introduce the new “Texas soul” sound. This is undoubtedly by most ambitious and most personal project yet. Recorded in the picturesque studio of Grammy Award-winning engineer Steve Christensen (Khruangbin, Steve Earle, Robert Ellis) and co-produced by Ty Robins, this homegrown project features over a dozen of my favorite people/musicians in the city of Houston. After 30+ hours of pre-production band practice and over twelve months of preparation, the writing, recording, & production process is almost complete.
I am very proud of the work we've done and so grateful for your support of my music over the years. I am proposing this investment agreement to ask for your support in the next phase of this journey. The essential step of mastering will be in the hands of world-renowned engineers, Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone, and I've teamed up with a group of talented creatives to develop tailored content campaigns for the record. But in order for this project to reach its full potential, I need your help.
Listen
The heart
Simply put, this record is my testimony wrapped up in Texas soul. Growing up in a far-from-functional household, I believed a lot of lies about myself: the kind of man I was going to be, the type of husband & father I would become, the virtues I would stand for. I believed that the same demons that tore my family apart would have their way with me, my wife, my marriage, and my children. But the honest truth is: through Jesus, I have the power to write a different story. In Him, we have hope. In Him, we have solid ground. In Him, we have both defense and offense. This is the heart of Jean Leon.
In the middle of production last April, the Lord gave me the most vivid dream of me playing my live set in front of a huge audience. I woke up in the middle of the night, couldn’t go back to bed from excitement, and just had to text my band about it:
April 26, 3:14am
We sounded so great. Just so tight and vibing with each other. My dream started with a dim lit stage. Then Ryan, Jake, and Theo vamped/swelled hard on the Water & Oil hook. After some of that, Joel counted it off and we went into the song. It was disgusting. Sounded so good.
My dream ended with Christ being magnified. Me proclaiming His name and making Him known. I said something along the lines of “if you have any questions, doubts, or anything you need to know about Jesus, me and the band are here after the show. Ask any one of us. Christ has done so much in our lives, and we’d love to share that.”
That’s how I know this dream was from Him. Whenever he wakes me up wide awake in deep thought at 3:00 in the morning, it’s usually for a good reason. So I guess I’m texting y’all to say, prepare your weapons. Prepare your testimonies. Be ready to share His love and His life. I hope and pray that our music and our shows open up hearts. Open up conversations to be had that He‘s prepared us and them for.
This was a cool confirmation. It almost felt in my spirit like God was saying “Just keep going. Keep working. It’s gonna be dope.”
This is the most important reason why you should support the record.
His Kingdom will advance through these songs. I know it. Already, I’ve had dozens of Christ-filled conversations with non-believers who worked on the project. Even in my songwriting, something felt different. It felt like I was channeling more than my wit and poet’s prowess to craft these songs - like there was another source. The Lord has time and time again provided lyrics, music, capital, resources, & talent for this project, and I am confident he has more in store than I could imagine. I always hoped my music would become my ministry, and now I can confidently say it has.
INVESTMENT agreement
Investment Amount: $15,000
Promotion & Distribution: $6,200
Mastering: $2,925
Design: $2,695
Mixing: $1,750
Production: $1,600
Expenses Already Paid with Personal Funds (as of October 2021): $14,892
Promotion & Distribution - $6,200
Pressed PR (publicist) - $2,000
Music Video Development - $2,000
Paid Social Ads - $2,000
CD Baby - $200
Mastering - $2,925
Calbi/Fallone with Sterling Sound (master, instrumental, & vinyl) - $2,925
Design - $2,695
Texas Soul Branding Manual - $1,895
Album Artwork - $800
Mixing - $1,750
Ty Robins - $1,750
Production - $1,600
Strings - $600
Arrangement - $800
Vibraphone - $100
Organ - $100
Project: Jean Leon (album)
Masters & Decision-Making: Remains with artist
Management Responsibility: Remains with artist
Timeline:
Production completed by November 1, 2021
Mixing completed by December 1, 2022
Mastering completed by January 1, 2022
Jean Leon single release January 14, 2022 (TBD)
She Will single release February 18, 2022 (TBD)
Album released March/April 2022
Credit: Executive Producer credit on the album
Recoupment:
Investor share of royalties pre-recoupment: 60%
Investor share of royalties post-recoupment: 50%
Post-recoupment period: 12 months
Recoupment Goal: 36-48 months
Royalty Shareholders:
Ty Robins - Producer (owns 15% of lifetime royalties)
Jason Melton - Executive Producer
Micah Edwards - Artist
1st Year Forecast/Goals
This investment would be such an answered prayer. I was fully prepared to put the entire project on hold - with personal funds running dry and the baby & house on the way. But I wasn’t stressing too much because God has provided every step of the way with this record, and He’s coming through again with this opportunity.
I am deeply thankful for your consideration, and look forward to your partnership and investment in my craft.