Overview

Hello world! My name is Aaron Toronto and I'm a singer-songwriter here in the beautiful town of Brookings, South Dakota. Yes, that’s right, South Dakota. People live here!

I’ve had music in me from the beginning. My musical journey took me from piano lessons to boy choir to baritone to musical theater to guitar to composing and to fronting bands – Fenderhead, Damn Sexy Man and The Bliss. Over the years I’ve written hundreds of songs, including tunes for a musical once. And, I’m a troubadour at heart. Simply put, I sing as honestly and passionately as I can. That is my gift to the musical landscape along with my songs. This new batch of tunes desperately needs an avenue through which to enter the world for you to hear.

The material is ready and the musicians are waiting! This Plaid Dog campaign is the final step in creating my first, professionally-produced solo album.

This campaign is raising funds for my professionally recorded solo album with Bryan Brundige in Boston, MA. Bryan is a Boston-based producer and engineer with experience working with both established and up-and-coming musicians. Together, Bryan and I are digging into my original material, writing arrangements, and hiring local musicians to bring the songs to life. 

While we were able to cover the costs of producing one song, “Reaping What I Sow,” which you can check out below, when creating an entire album at this level studio costs add up quickly. This crowdsourcing campaign gives us a unique opportunity to collaborate closely and make great art together. Your donation will cover the following costs:

1. Pre-Production: This is where everything starts. Bryan and I will start crafting the arrangements for each song slated for the album. We’ll hold rehearsals to fine-tune the songs and arrangements and explore new and exciting ideas for how to approach the recording process.

2. Recording: This is when we enter the studio and start capturing the music! This is where the songs become what you'll hear on the album. Your contribution to this campaign will play a huge role in making sure we have enough studio time to capture excellent and passionate performances from each musician who plays on the album.

3. Mixing & Mastering: Each song is mixed to create the right balance between instruments, vocals, musical textures and colors. And, finally, prior to its release, the album is mastered (given one last musical polish) from beginning to end so that the listening experience is cohesive and rich with detail and sparkle.

What will you get for your generosity and support? Awesomeness!

In exchange for your generosity I've put together an exciting group of gifts that are exclusively available through your participation in this campaign. Check out some examples below and a full list to the right. I’m deeply grateful for any level of support you can offer.

It's hard to express how much this project would change my life.

Music has an incredible ability to heal us and unite us and to express emotions that are often beyond words. When I’m writing a new song a lot of emotion and often pain goes into its creation. It’s a vulnerable process. Thus, every artist or musician, myself included, has to muster unearthly amounts of courage to forge ahead. Your support in getting these songs out into the world truly helps me muster that very courage. I want to share what’s inside me with you in the hopes that what you hear might heal you or help you express a sentiment that you’ve yet to put into words. Music has that power. My job as an artist is to put myself out there and scream, “This is what I feel. Do you understand me? Can you empathize?” That’s scary. But, I’ve come to realize that this vulnerability is the thing that makes music so fundamental to our collective human experience. Music is alive in each of us. It’s passion and emotion and the specificity of experiences that may be mine or yours or ours. We connect deeply through the primal language of music. 

As I prepared for this campaign I had the opportunity to look through all of my contacts and social media accounts. In doing so, my mind was absolutely flooded with fond memories, warm feelings, moments of laughter and even a few tears as I thought about each and every one of you. Truly, it was an astonishing and mind-blowing exercise. How richly blessed my journey is because of you. I’m overwhelmed by thankfulness for dear friends and family and even associates who touched my life for but a brief moment. These are the true riches in life. And, further, so many of you have believed in me and encouraged me and helped me at just the right moment, in just the right way. 

Please help me muster the courage I need now to share these profoundly personal songs with you, with the world. Let’s make music together.

If you're ready to contribute, please click the "Back This Project" button on the top right of this page. Every little bit counts; I’m so grateful for your support!

If you have folks in your network that would be interested in supporting me, please feel free to share this page with them. Thank you for checking out my campaign page. I can't wait for you to hear the finished album!