Overview

Hello world! My name is Holly Cinnamon and I'm a singer-songwriter here in the beautiful city of New York, NY. 

I’ve been singing and writing songs since I was born, completed my MFA in Musical Theatre at the Boston Conservatory and have been blessed to work as an actor and musical theatre performer on stage and screen my whole life (with credits like Marvel’s Daredevil, Hocus Pocus 2 and Succession). During the pandemic, when my acting work was put on hold, I started producing my own original music from my tiny home studio with equipment I bought online, releasing five singles in 2022, available on all streaming services. It was a dream come true to be able to hear and let others hear my own voice and original expression in this medium. However, my own production skills can only take me so far. That’s why I’m partnering with Plaid Dog and producer Carter Sanders to bring my songs to the next level. I’ve written over sixty songs throughout my life and I’m hoping to produce ten of them with your help, but producing a high quality album with ten songs costs a lot of money for session musicians, producer fees and studio rental fees. That’s why I need you. I cannot share my original songs with the world at the production level that I hope without your help. 

The material is ready, and the musicians are waiting -- this Plaid Dog campaign is the final step toward creating my first ever, professionally produced studio album.

This campaign is raising funds for my professionally recorded album with Carter Sanders in Boston, MA. Carter is a Boston-based producer and engineer with experience working with both established and up-and-coming musicians. Together, Carter and I and my co-arranger Matthew Lowy are digging into my original material, writing arrangements, and reaching out to local musicians to bring the songs to life. 

We’ve been able to cover the costs of recording and producing one song, which is ready for you to check out right here on this page. This first song is called “Small Town Queer,” and you can check it out above!

“Small Town Queer” Credits:

Music, Lyrics & Vocals: Holly Cinnamon

Co-Arrangement & Keys: Matthew Lowy @sweetnlowy

Electric Guitar: Abigail Zachko @abigailzak

Acoustic Guitar: Carter Sanders @cartersandersmusic

Bass Guitar: Claire Davis @clur.jpg

Drums: Adam Salameh @adamsalamehdrums

Recording and Engineering: Carter Sanders & Plaid Dog Studios @plaiddogrec

While I’ve been able to fund the recording process for "Small Town Queer" on my own, to create an album of songs of this quality, studio costs add up quickly. With that said, this campaign can give us a unique opportunity to collaborate and make great art together. Your donation will cover the following costs of my project:

1. Pre-Production: This is where everything starts. Carter 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 talk through 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 and where the songs become what you'll hear on this album. This campaign will play a huge role in making sure we have enough time to capture great performances for every member of the band.

3. Mixing & Mastering: Each track will get mixed to create the right balance between instruments, texture and color that make up a track. As a final step, the album will be mastered from beginning to end so that the listening experience is cohesive and carefully choreographed from start to finish.

As a queer singer-songwriter, visibility and representing my authentic voice and identity in the music industry are at the heart of my musical practice. Here are some of the songs I plan to produce with your help:

Small Town Queer - about growing up queer in the Midwest

Sacred Shrine - about bodily ownership, integrity and healthy sexuality

Smile - about rape culture and cat-calling culture

Skeletons - about trauma recovery and survivor empowerment

Wishbone - about women’s bodies, pleasure and anatomical reality

Transcend - about the freedom to love who you love beyond labels

Seeing Red - confronting the stereotypes and sexualization of redheads

Boo Hoo - about being who you are, regardless of the haters

Ginny - about toxic internalized misogyny

And what will you get for your generosity and support? So many awesome things!

I am so appreciative and grateful for any support you can lend to this campaign. In exchange for your generosity, I've put together a really exciting group of gifts that are available exclusively through your participation in this campaign.

Check out some examples below and a full list to the right!

You will be able to select which mug or tote you want after donating!

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

It’s been a lifelong journey for me to hear and understand my own voice, as a human being, queer person, trauma survivor and creator. My music has been a really healing and affirming process for me, to hear and understand my own point of view, creative self-expression and truth through the lens of my songwriting. My songs have really healed me in various ways and I hope they can enlighten, heal and support others on their journeys of self-discovery and self-affirmation. As a queer person, I don’t feel represented by the vast majority of pop music. I think our culture has made incredible progress in terms of representation and cultural awareness around identity, trauma, inclusion, body positivity, honoring boundaries but I don’t always hear that reflected in the realm of pop music. My music seeks to bridge that gap with songs about my own trauma, my own healthy boundaries, my own sexuality, my relationship to my body, my own experiences of gaslighting and sexual assault, my own unique queer lens and way of relating to the world. I want these topics to feel fun and normalized and able to be discussed not only by social scientists and trauma-informed therapists, but by everyone, not only in group therapy or diaries, but at bars and clubs. I want saying no or owning your gender identity in a unique way or discussing your boundaries and sense of safety to be something that is okay in any space, and can be approached with playfulness and empowerment, and that’s what my pop music seeks to bring into mainstream public spaces. To give you a little taste, song titles include “Skeletons”, “Smile”, “Red Light Green Light”, “Transcend”, “Sacred Shrine”, “Boo Hoo” and “Wishbone.” Only with your support can I release these tracks and let you in on the stories that each one tells about my journey with my body, sexuality and safety. 

If you're ready to contribute, just click the "Back It" button on the top right of this page! Every little bit counts, and I’m so grateful for all 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 so much for checking out my campaign page. I can't wait to share this music with you.

If you would like to learn more about me, you can find out from the links below!

Learn more about My Music: www.thefemalegayze.com

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holly.cinnamon/

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/HollyCinnamon

Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefemalegayze/

Visit Acting website: https://www.hollycinnamon.com/

View IMDB page: https://www.imdb.me/hollycinnamon

To learn about Photographer Shani Hadjian (they/she): https://photography.shanihadjian.com