Statement by West Seattle musician Brent Amaker:

Dear friends and family,

My band Brent Amaker and the Rodeo has booked a tour in Europe next month and even with venues guaranteeing to pay us for shows, we still need help raising money for airfare and equipment rentals once we get there.

Normally we finance tours as a band but with high gas prices and a slow economy, we’ve lost money on every tour this year, even though our band is getting more and more attention from press and fans (it was featured in Rolling Stone!) This European tour is an amazing opportunity for us as we have been booked to play Berlin Music Week and a huge electronics trade show in Germany along with several dates in Germany and Denmark. We even got some publicity in a magazine that goes out to over 2 million households!

There is a website called kickstarter.com which helps bands raise money to fund projects like tours and recordings. We’ve started a fundraising campaign to help us pay for airfare and equipment rentals. We’re hoping to raise $3,000 (about ½ of what airfare alone costs) to help pay for this tour. Anything helps us reach our goal, even if you’re only able to pass this note along to someone who you think can help support this.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brentamaker/send-brent-amaker-and-t…

The West Seattle Herald asked Mr. Amaker for further clarity since he is a business owner in addition to being a musical artist, and operates the State Farm Insurance agency north of the Admiral Junction.

He explained:

"Since the inception of this project we have toured and tried to make it with money earned from performances. The guys in the band don't make much money and when we leave for a week or two, it's hard enough that they are not earning their normal income while away. We rarely make enough to even cover rooms and meals, so the band splits the money from shows and I traditionally cover the rest. Typically we are lucky if each band member receives $30 a day on tour."