Anyone who follows Cusses on Facebook saw the barrage of posts and pleas last month from Bryan Harder and Brian Lackey — but mostly from Angel Bond, who willingly became the poster girl for the band's Kickstarter campaign.
The band was looking to raise $35,000 in fan and friend contributions, to fund the second Cusses album and its attendant distribution and promotion.
Angel even made a last-minute video, in which she sat demurely on a porch swing, none of that bright pink stuff in her hair, and sweetly encouraged the band's friends to "embrace their inner rascal."
We are all, she reminded us, lil' Cusses.
When all was said, done and counted, Cusses' "LP2 Bazaar" campaign had raised a cool $37,500. "It was a humbling experience," Bond says, "to see all these people come out of the woodwork and be very generous."
To pay for their self-titled first album, the totally-DIY trio pooled their savings and took out a bank loan. This time around, therefore, they knew what it would cost.
High rollers on the Kickstarter deal were promised Cusses swag including "lifetime guest lists," admission to a listening party, custom skateboard and race helmets, Savannah holiday packages hosted by the band, and the opportunity to watch the recording sessions at Echo Mountain Studio in Asheville, N.C., the same place Cusses was cut.
"We really love working with them," Bond enthuses. "It's a big, beautiful church sanctuary where we record. We worked with (producer) Dan Hannon on the first record, and we really feel like he made us better musicians. Because of the Kickstarter we were able to talk him down on his price!"
In the meantime ... "We're back in the boardroom. The Wormhole is being nice enough to let us practice there until we find a permanent practice space, because at the moment we don't have one.
"We're just trying to fine-tune all these new songs for the next month. Then there's a couple of short tours, and hopefully we'll get into the studio by the end of September."
Haviland's back
On Sunday, Aug. 4, we welcome back cabaret singer Haviland Stillwell, whose semi-annual concert appearances here are usually for the benefit of charity. This one's no exception: Proceeds from the 7-9 p.m. show will go to the Ronald McDonald House.
The daughter of Savannah City Attorney W. Brooks Stillwell, Haviland is a Savannah native who's had significant success on Broadway, with a debut CD and in clubs, and on the Internet TV comedy Unicorn Plan-It. She lives in Los Angeles.
The show is poolside at the Lanes' house, 32 E. 65th St. Tickets are $75 at 313-9751 (champagne and other swanky swag is included with the price of admission).
Her longtime accompanist Steven Jamail will be on piano, with Ashley Reed (drums) and Sam Gerwick (guitar).
This weekend
Check out Wave Slaves (the artist formerly known, more or less, as Free Candy), with Charleston's Tape Waves and the always-charming Lovely Locks Saturday (Aug. 3) at Hang Fire ... Guitarscape wizard P.M. Goerner and his fuzz trio Blackrune (the subject of a feature story in these pages a few weeks back) has a gig Monday (Aug. 5) at Hang Fire, with Philadelphia's Nothing and our own Sauna Heat ... First Saturday of the month means Comedy Planet at the Wormhole. This time around (Aug. 3) it's an 8:30 show from Phil Hogan, a North Carolina comic who also sings, plays a mean guitar and does rock 'n' roll impressions. Afterwards, the Virginia band Mammoth Indigo plays ... Black Tusk returns to the Jinx next Friday (Aug. 9) ...
New shows
Country music queen Loretta Lynn has been booked into the Johnny Mercer Theatre for a show on Oct. 6; on Oct. 4, comedian Eddie Griffin performs in the venue. Other new Savannah Civic Center bookings include rapper T.I. and Friends (Aug. 15), comedian Mike Epps (Nov. 9) and the return of singer/songwriter Corey Smith (Sept. 5).
Of course, you've heard that Sandra Bernhard has a Club One appearance planned for Sept. 8 (for some reason, it's at 4 in the afternoon). All tickets, for all shows, are on sale now.
