Overview

Hello world! My name is Miriam Benjamin, and I'm a singer-songwriter here in the beautiful city of Nashville.

Music saved my life. I grew up in a very abusive house and everything I did was controlled-even music for a while. There were many times I wanted to end it all and I honestly wouldn’t have blamed myself if I did-life was a living hell…but I heard a song by Owl City called “Beautiful Times” and many others that made me feel seen and like I could go on. On the hardest days, music saved me and embraced me and helped me embrace and save myself.

And now here I am.  All I have for the moment is now and that is plenty! I have been working through so much in my life over the past 7 years and much of my processing has been through songwriting. It’s a beautiful process really and I’ve always wanted to do an album-many albums really-this is just the beginning and the songs fell together rather organically. Music is a huge part of what healed me and now I want to use it to heal the world. If you’d like, you can help me do that and if you did it would mean so much.

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 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 “Lila Rose,” and you can check it out below!

While I’ve been able to fund the recording process for "Lila Rose" 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.

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.

I am going to be bold here and say WHEN not IF we hit the goal, it will  mean the world. There are no other words. I have big goals and big dreams and want my heart and soul out there to inspire and heal and this would be such a giant step towards those dreams! This is what I love. This is what is worth losing sleep over. It would mean the world.

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.