Overview

Hello world! My name is Bree Mays, and I'm a singer-songwriter here in the beautiful city of Los Angeles.

I’ve been in love with music for as long as I can remember- from recording songs into voice memos in my childhood bedroom in Seattle to waking up at 5am to drag myself to high school jazz choir. Within the past year I’ve begun making music and performing around LA.During this time, as I exited the college days and wrapped up my adolescence, I began wanting to make a project which honored my “growing up” period and also honored the musical styling that shaped me. This project covers every terrifying element of growing up, learning to love, feeling less than, beginning to pay your own rent and pave your own way. This album is for anyone who’s ever found the world at their doorstep and felt ill equipped to welcome it in. It’s for the adolescents- which at some point or another, is all of us.  

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 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 “Gimme Love,” and you can check it out below!

While I’ve been able to fund the recording process for “ Gimme Love" 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. Mike 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.

Music is the joy of my life. As a believer, I have always viewed music and songwriting specifically as a gift from God. I genuinely believe it is how he speaks to me, how I speak to him, and how I can speak to others from him. The ability, and thus the responsibility, to write has made me more authentic, more observant, more empathetic, and more truthful. It has allowed me to connect with people who I know deeply and who I don’t know at all and show them they are seen and loved through words and a melody. I haven’t experienced a greater gift than that in my short life. 

Logistically this project has the potential to really push me forward in my music career, hopefully opening new doors and allowing me to meet and play for new people. But beyond that, it also will allow me to produce and album that I feel is very timely and necessary for our generation. With all of the chaos of the past few years, I feel everyone has undergone a sort of transformation process. We have been thrown into unfamiliar water and told to swim. The goal of this album isn’t to remedy the pain, but to make people feel seen in it. Sometimes community can be the greatest comfort. 

Lastly, it also allows me to give back to people that have shaped me throughout my adolescence. My parents, my siblings, the boys who have broken my heart and the friends who have helped put them back together- this is for them. 

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.