STROUD poet Adam Horovitz and musician Joe Reeve have launched a new Kickstarter project to help launch an album and book to celebrate the idiosyncrasies of growing up in a small town.

Centred around memories of their, and other collaborators’ experience of growing up in Stroud, the project uses poetry, interviews with residents and newly composed music to weave a nostalgic but grounded tapestry of small town life.

The project began when this year’s Stroud Fringe committee commissioned Adam and Joe to write Little Metropolis as an hour-long show to be performed over the festival weekend. The duo spent months working on their collaboration, interviewing residents to get a broad view of what makes Stroud so distinctive, and using the interviews as triggers for 11 tracks featuring poetry and a wealth of newly composed music spanning many genres. The show was so positively received that the pair decided, with the Fringe’s support, to create an album and book for the project.

“We enjoyed the process so much, and got such a good response, that we felt we had to make an album of the show. But we can only do that with help,” said Adam.

The aim of the album is to tell a story of Stroud back to Stroud, providing a walk through the pubs, cafes, shops and streets. It also features a collage of voices built into the music, so it’s not just Adam and Joe telling the story, but is enriched by a wealth of knowledge from the interviewees.

The collaborators are excited by the new phase that the project has entered, and have launched a Kickstarter campaign which allows backers to pre-order limited edition ‘rewards’ in return for their backing, such as signed albums, books or posters of the album artwork.

“To a certain extent we’re providing a record of the town’s history, a record that helps to form part of it’s identity and documents some fantastic eras from Stroud’s past,” explained Joe.

“We’ve called upon some really wonderful professionals to help us create the album artwork and to help with the album production, and whilst they have been incredibly generous with their fees this all costs money.

“We really appreciate the support and positivity that we’ve received from the community which is why we have ensured that people’s pledges to the profit ensure that they get tangible in return, something that recognises what a great gesture they’ve made.”

Whilst the campaign got off to a tremendous start, with backers signing up to over a thousand pounds worth of limited edition CDs, books and album artwork, the project still has a long way to go before it reaches the funding goal it has set to ensure the album and book can be made.

Adam and Joe are calling on people to be part of the process and make the original Stroud Fringe Festival performance something tangible and permanent. And in recognition of the vital role that Stroud Fringe plays in the local calendar, not just in supporting Adam and Joe’s project, but also for many other local artists, they will be donating a significant proportion of any profits that the album and book make back to the Stroud Fringe Festival committee, to ensure that they can give other artists the opportunities they’ve had.

You can pledge your support in return for limited edition pre-ordered albums, books and other rewards here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/ 1386310206/little-metropolis-album-and-book.