• Official Launch of the Indie Music Angels Patronage Page
• NEW ALBUM in the works!
• Upcoming Concerts 

Friends,

I hope this message finds all of you doing well.  Summer has been zipping by, though I now have 3+ weeks “off” the road (which means I can finally catch up on emails, housework and my never ending to-do list! ha ha!). I am attempting to get outside every day on my bike and soak up time in nature, as well as reconnecting with dear friends and loved ones.  And every once in awhile I get to swing in my hammock. :) 

2025 so far has been pretty non-stop, with concerts, music camps, creating/writing new music and more, but it's also been soul-filling and heart-soothing. I'm keenly aware of how important and valuable my community is — it sustains me, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have deep connections wherever I am.   

Introducing the Indie Music Angels Patronage Page!

After many years of internal debate and deep thought, I’m finally taking the plunge and launching a patronage page: the Indie Music Angels Family!  Check out the info video HERE as well as the webpage.  Everyone is welcome! 

Why am I doing this?

American author, philosopher and civil rights leader Howard Thurman once said, “don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive.  And then go and do that.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  What powerful words, and such wisdom!  When I ask myself that question —  what makes me come alive — the answer is music.  It's always been thus.  Music is my vocation, my calling.  Whether I'm creating it, performing it, teaching it, arranging it or sharing it, I am alive and present to life and to the world.  It is worthy and worthwhile work.  It has value.  

I believe music, like all art, is an essential element of a fair, just and decent society.  It transcends barriers, borders and ideas.  It can inspire and unite, soothe and heal.  Music connects us to each other, to our common history and, as Rosanne Cash says, "it is the premier service industry for the heart and soul. We cannot survive without music.” 

It's not a traditional career path.  To quote Rhiannon Giddens, "there is a dissonance between the art we make and the world we’re forced to peddle it in.  We’re relied on to create this connection to a non-capitalistic world — a world of human emotion, a world of connection, a world of history — and yet, we have to do it as soon as possible, preferably yesterday, please. Music is art, family, empathy, love.  But we’ve made it about money.”   

So how does an artist survive these days, where most income streams (ie album sales) have dried up, and we're trying to make 2025 expenses work on 1984 pay rates?  

Enter the SuperFan, the Patron, the Believer, the Support Community.  Enter the Indie Music Angels Family!   

I was one of the pioneers of the album crowdfunding model (back in 1997), and now I'm finally venturing into the world of Patronage   But move over Patreon, I'm doing this my own way (in classic Cara Lovely Luft fashion): no intermediary, no middleperson, no percentage going to a 3rd party site.  

I was brought up by folk-singing community-oriented parents, who drilled into me this whole beautiful notion that we all do the best we can with what we've got, so: There's only one tier to this whole thing. Sign up at whatever rate makes sense to you; pay what you want/can.  The system has been set at $5 min/month, and allows you to add what figure you wish.  

All monies that come in help to keep me doing my job — offsetting tour expenses, paying team members a fair wage, covering work permit costs, getting me to music camps, covering writing and rehearsal time — allowing me to be fully ALIVE to my community and continue offering my light to the world, without getting burnt out.  To echo RG, I want to stay focused on what I can do as a human being, not on how famous I can get. 

I believe music, particularly home-grown and hand-made music, helps make the world a better place, a place I'd rather be alive in.  Come join me on the journey! 

Whatever the size and form of your support, know that I am grateful for it.  You’ve made my music career possible. You are part of the web the universe weaves through music.

And on that note I shall sign off.  Wishing you all peace, love and hope. In the words of Vaclev Havel: “Truth and love will overcome lies and hatred.”

Love Cara