Lea DeLaria Crowdfunds David Bowie Jazz Album

Winnie McCroy READ TIME: 3 MIN.

"Orange Is the New Black" star Lea DeLaria has announced her new crowdfunding project, a jazz rendition of the greatest hits of David Bowie. The project, which is posted on Pledge Music, comes with a very diverse array of exclusive gifts for funders.

"You may not know it, but I have five records on the Warner Brothers jazz label," said DeLaria in a video on the website. "So now, I am working on 'House of David: DeLaria + Bowie = Jazz'. I'm recording 12 David Bowie tunes, and I'm swinging the hell out of them."

If you can't imagine what Bowie's glam rock stylings would sound like performed in the jazz oeuvre, well, you don't have to. DeLaria lays it out in a video recorded on November 27 at Smoke in New York City.

"The trick is to make the people want to hear it in a completely and entirely different way. I think we've got it," said DeLaria. "When you see the beautiful ballad for 'Life on Mars' and the big church number in 'Modern Love,' and the bossa nova version of 'Golden Years,' it's a completely different sound of Bowie, but all very much within the confines of who he is."

The people seem to agree. With 44 days of the campaign left, DeLaria has already reached 53 percent of her goal. For a $10 donation, you can get an AccessPass to unlock videos, music, behind the scenes photos and private updates.

Twenty bucks gets you a copy of the CD, and $25 gets you either an exclusive T-shirt that reads "Have Screwdriver Will Travel" (watch "OITNB" if you don't get the joke) or 20 questions answered by DeLaria via email.

Mid-range donations come with the usual coterie of gifts, from the VIP concert experience to a personalized call and voicemail, to signed notes from the studio, about which DeLaria writes, "Let's face it, I smoke a whole lot of weed, so I need plenty of notations to map out a recording session. You can own these scribbled insanities. Hell, I'll even sign them."

Want that screwdriver and a signed copy of the script? That'll be $500. A private performance will run you $1,500. A tour of the lesbian scene will run you $2,500, and for three grand, DeLaria said she would come to your home in costume and clean your commode. For $4,200 she's come to your home and cook an Italian dinner for six. And for five grand, she'll marry you... meaning she'll officiate at your wedding, as a registered minister of the Universal Love Church.

"So excited. Just can't hide it! I'm about to lose control because I am teaming up with my friends in Pledge to make it possible to have all of you onboard and walk through this experience with me!" she writes on the website.

"Through Pledge, all of you will have access to peek at all the dirty secrets that happen behind the scenes, from videos of making inappropriate scat to photos of recording sessions in the studio. And guess what, through pledge, I am able to make available some never seen before exclusives, merchandises and experiences, just for you!"

"So what are you waiting for? I have a feeling that this is going to a wild ride that will take us to some interesting places!" writes DeLaria. "If you can, maybe you could help a butch out."


by Winnie McCroy , EDGE Editor

Winnie McCroy is the Women on the EDGE Editor, HIV/Health Editor, and Assistant Entertainment Editor for EDGE Media Network, handling all women's news, HIV health stories and theater reviews throughout the U.S. She has contributed to other publications, including The Village Voice, Gay City News, Chelsea Now and The Advocate, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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