Overview

Hello world! My name is Jessica Smucker, and I'm a singer-songwriter here in the beautiful city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

My story is a little bit different than most of the musicians I meet. I was never that kid with a guitar in high school or college trying to “make it.” In fact, I didn’t start thinking of myself as a songwriter until I was in my early 30s.I studied English and creative writing in college and spent most of my twenties in the literary world, writing and publishing poetry and nonfiction.

I always loved to sing, and as a child I regularly performed solos in church. I also took piano lessons from age 5 through most of my childhood, and I loved to play by ear but I never really took to music theory or sight-reading. As an adult, piano was just something I dabbled in to relax. I occasionally wrote songs but never intended to do anything serious with them…until I met a mandolin player named Jeff who changed my trajectory as an artist.

Early in our friendship, when music was pretty much all he wanted to talk about, I bashfully admitted to Jeff that I’d written a few songs. When I played them for him, he was mesmerized.

He insisted we go out and perform them at some local open mics. I didn’t feel great about my piano skills, and my voice was weak and untrained (I hadn’t performed in church or anywhere for at least a decade), but he told me he could accompany me on the guitar and we’d figure it out. And we did.

I didn’t start out with an ambition to be a performer; but from the first time I performed my songs for an audience I could see and feel that people were connecting with them, that there was real communication happening, people were opening up and feeling things – sometimes things they’d been bottling up for a long time – and that felt like something worth pursuing.

More than 15 years and several albums later, it still does. Lately, I’ve been really hitting my stride as a writer and performer, writing some of my best material and feeling more confidence and satisfaction in my work than ever before. But since I quit my “day job” last year to pursue music and writing full-time, I’ve also hit a wall in terms of being able to finance my own recordings and keep putting my songs out into the world.

The material is ready, and the musicians are waiting – this Plaid Dog campaign is the final step toward creating a new professionally produced studio EP.

This campaign is raising funds for my professionally recorded EP with Mike Davidson in Boston, MA. Mike is a Boston-based producer and engineer with 15+ years of experience working with both established and up-and-coming musicians. Together, Mike and I 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 “The Last Sweet Bite,” and you can check it out below!

While I’ve been able to fund the recording process for "The Last Sweet Bite" on my own, to create an EP 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. Mike and I will start crafting the arrangements for each song slated for the EP. 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 EP. 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 EP will be mastered from beginning to end so that the listening experience is cohesive and carefully choreographed from start to finish.

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!

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

In addition to making the next recording feel logistically and financially possible for me, a successful campaign will also help me to feel emotionally sustained and more directly connected with my fans and supporters.

This business is so hard sometimes, and these connections make a literal difference to my health and well-being as an artist.

If you're ready to contribute, just click the "Back This Project" 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.