It's fairly early in the morning and I'm preparing to hit the road for Homosassa Springs where I'll be performing the first of three shows in this idyllic Gulf Coast hideaway. Jae and I discovered it one year while seeking a new place to spend our anniversary and, after falling in love with the place, we've made it a point to return time and time again.

Now, we present the Florida Gulf Coast Dulcimer Retreat at the Homosassa Riverside Resort each January and I've also been playing regular gigs at the Riverside Crab House, which has been an absolute blast. I'll be there tonight and Friday night with a gig at the Homosassa River RV Resort on Thursday. Those who attended the 2014 edition of the retreat will remember that this is where the big Friday night Showcase Jam took place in front of dozens of campground residents; what a rush that was for us and for the retreat participants!

It was also a rush to wake up this morning and see that my Patreon campaign is almost halfway to the first milestone goal of $50 per MP3 or HD video! Big thanks to everyone who has signed up! Once we reach that goal, everyone who has pledged thus far will get a big PDF book of mountain dulcimer tablature that I've churned out over the years. At the $100 per item milestone, everyone who has pledged will receive the entire "Mountain Dulcimer In The Band" series, all six books on PDF with the audio files. These are not part of the basic reward offerings but are an additional "thank you" to those who have pledged to support my music and teaching.

Many of you are still wondering how this all works. Basically, you start by pledging a certain dollar amount ($1 and up) per item. In my case, the items are MP3 tracks from my upcoming albums and HD video uploads of "Dulcimerica" (even better than what you can see on YouTube.) Every time I upload an item, Patreon collects the funds - this is done at the end of each month. Though I plan on uploading an average of 5 items per month, there may be months which are more active. So, those who wish to keep to a specific budget can set a limit on how much you pledge per month. You can edit your pledge at any time and can cancel or sign up as often as you like. No sweat, no worries and nothing but gratefulness on my part; every little bit will help me continue to work full-time at creating music, teaching music and playing music.

For every level of pledge, there are rewards ranging from access to my patron-only stream and immediate access to those album tracks and videos to stickers, t-shirts, hard copies of my next five albums and 10% discounts in my store to private lessons, house concerts in your home and a free day at Epcot with me as your tour guide! To find out more about the campaign, rewards, and to make your pledge, please visit http://www.Patreon.com/BingFutch and be sure to watch the video at the very top before scrolling down and reading the descriptions on the page.

I am very grateful to everyone who has helped support my work over the past few years; you have helped me reach new heights, visit new places and create new music like never before! 2015 is already shaping up to be the finest on the books and, though I'm looking forward to the remainder of 2014, I'm already gearing up and preparing for what is going to be one incredible year.

The sun is starting to peek over the edge of the Atlantic Coast which means it's time to get rolling west. Rita's loaded down with my P.A. gear and we've got some hilly terrain to traverse this morning. Since her piston problem was diagnosed, I've been trying to take it even easier on her with regards to the temperature, so late-night and early morning drives will be the norm until we can get her fixed up. She's scheduled to go to an import motor specialist on September 12th. Part of your pledges will go towards "The Rita Fund", to help get her repaired and back in touring shape. This fall, we'll be traveling over 5,000 miles through Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Carolina, so this work is very much needed.

You are appreciated; thank you so much for your support and encouragement! I'm looking forward to seeing some of you this week at the shows. Keep watching this blog for pics from Homosassa and updates. Happy Hump Day!

Just About Halfway There