Rebecca BinnendykHub Staff

Contemporary songstress Rebecca Binnendyk, a Saugeen Shores native, is ready to create her second album which will include 10 original songs, and like her first album, Some Fun Out of Life, her second one also has an Indiegogo campaign with just over a week remaining to reach the fixed goal of $20,000.

“I want to keep making music. I love the studio, I love connecting with people through my music and this time I have originals. That is the music I want to get out in the world and I needed help,” said Binnendyk in an e-mail.

The singer has been working hard since the release of Some Fun Out of Life in 2015, performing her music live in Waterloo, Toronto, Malta, and Honduras; and also took a song writing course, travelling to meet writers from Ireland to Toronto, and from December 2016 until August 2017 was in the studio recording.

Binnendyk has put a hefty amount of money into studio time, from paying the wage of producers, to hiring local talent. “I have a plan, but I really needed to know that I had the support to go with it. Music these days is not just about making the music, it's about being able to promote it. That costs a lot of money,” she said, adding that with her last album she paid a publicist $1,000 a month to get radio play across Canada.

“There's a monopoly and you can't get in unless you pay for some of these services, especially on air in regions where I'm not physically present,” she explained. “I had a first successful album and I wanted to see if I had the backing and support (both through love and finances) to keep going with my music career.”

Binnendyk attested that the majority of music is free once you subscribe to a music app such as Google Play, Apple Music or Spotify, but said that she hasn’t seen a cent from any of those companies even though her music is on all of them.

Like any Indiegogo campaign, if the $20,000 goal is not reached by the deadline the money raised will go back to those who donated, and like any Indiegogo fundraiser there are exclusive perks such as exclusive downloads of her music including Some Fun Out of Life and her new album, a signed 16 gig USB stick which features a pre-release of her original music, a digital album booklet, hidden tracks, a 30- minute Skype conversation with any fan, and in-house private concerts.

The songwriter said she had a lot of inspiration for her new album from the ending of one love and the start of new beginnings, from the experiences of travelling the world, and new and different views of life. “What better way than to share the stories through music. Also, songwriting has been something I thought I couldn't ever do successfully but once I started, even Dan Hill (Canadian pop singer/songwriter) told me I was writing material that could be easily used on TV/Film. That was humbling and amazing feedback to hear,” she said.

“It's one thing to know that and another thing to get it there,” she added.

Beyond the prospects of a new album Binnedyk has been using her talents for good around the globe, which took her to Uganda in March of 2017, part of a small NGO from Waterloo. In Uganda she was a vocal coach and created the Heart, Rhythm and Soul project, a mix of a Safari adventure and trip to spend time educating students of the Greenhill Public School in Namwiwa Town.

“I have this dream to connect local schools to the school in Uganda so we can change lives there... the school owner is now a friend of mine. He is studying law in the city of Kampala and his dream is to defend girls/women against abuse, rape, and child marriages. He's incredibly determined to educate the girls,” said Binnendyk, adding that this is something she wants to help him do.

More information on the Heart, Rhythm and Soul project can be found here www.srsafaris.com/safaris/uganda-heart-rhythm-and-soul or contact Binnendyk at uganda.rbm@gmail.com.

Binnendyk’s Indigogo page can be found at www.indiegogo.com/projects/rebecca-binnendyk-an-inspired-original#.

Video: Binnendyk is currently in Bangkok and stumbled upon and sang with two blind street musicians, https://youtu.be/RKadEHbrJ-k.