Tom Waits, Sinead O'connor and Lucinda Williams have signed on to record tracks for a new Blind Willie Johnson tribute album - if fans fund the project online.
The Blind Boys of Alabama and Rickie Lee Jones have also agreed to perform a Johnson cover for the album following the launch of a Kickstarter.com crowdsourcing campaign on Tuesday (15Oct13).
A post on the project's new site reads, "Our mission is to shine a light and acknowledge this important and influential artist currently representing mankind in outer space.
"Nasa recently confirmed that mankind has left the solar system for the first time with its Voyager 1 spacecraft entering interstellar space after a 36 year journey. Onboard the spacecraft is a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk, carrying the music of Bach and Mozart, and Blind Willie Johnson's recording Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground. Meanwhile back on earth, Blind Willie Johnson's significant contribution to the world of music is far too often overlooked."
Record producer Jeffrey Gaskill is hoping to raise cash to complete God Don't Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson - and he's offering backers the chance to share in the album-making process.
(posted on www.contactmusic.com 10/16/13)