Neal E. Boyd's dream is held within his love and passion to honor his mother, who is currently battling breast cancer.
"She is doing great, still it has instilled in me a sense of urgency to get this music out this year," said Boyd. "Family, friends, and fans have asked for me to do a Christmas CD for three years, and I feel it's time for new music and for it to come out this Christmas."
Kickstarter as a method for funding has been around since 2008, so it's not a totally new concept. Similar to past fundraising of the Silicon Valley days, is a fun and rewarding way that consumers to personally and financially attach themselves to a project like Neal's Christmas album.
From the positive side, Kickstarter can create a forum for ideas that many times would not receive funding from normal funding methods. It is noted that for every great project, there are 10 to 20 ideas that do not merit your attention, or your money. So be careful.
With Neil E. Boyd's project, this is a local guy that has a proven track record of providing excellent material. The crowd-funding method is perfect as Neil can offer those that pledge funds to his project, known as "backers", specific rewards for different levels of contributions. These rewards range from personal "Thank You" letters to autographed pictures to VIP tickets to the artist Christmas concert.
It's very simple to learn more as Neal has provided you with a personal message to the project located on his Kickstarter site. Click the Kickstarter icon here to visit that site. Personally take your ownership in Neal E. Boyds "My Christmas Wish" album. Your pledge opportunity will end on March 22nd, 2013, so you need to hurry to make this "Christmas Wish" come true for Neal.
Neal E. Boyd Biography
Known worldwide as “The Voice of Missouri,” Boyd was born in the rural town of Sikeston, MO, the son of an African-American father and a Caucasian mother who separated before he was born. Along with his older brother, a hard-working single mother raised him, so money was frequently tight or nonexistent. Always overweight, Boyd had a difficult childhood, but his love of music helped him through, particularly after he discovered Opera in junior high when his older brother was forced to do a school project involving classical music and brought home a CD of The Three Tenors. His brother had little appreciation for classical music, but Neal was so enamored by the passion and skill of the famous trio that he started learning to sing in Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo's operatic styles.
Blessed with a strong and expressive lead tenor voice, Boyd’s unique talent was eventually discovered in the halls of Sikeston Junior High School by choir director William T. Grega, now of Parkview High School in Springfield, MO. Boyd began singing in school choirs and stage productions throughout high school, continuing to sing and compete while attending college at Southeast Missouri State University, where he studied with Dr. Chris Goeke, and then at the University of Missouri – Columbia, where he studied with Professor Ann Harrell. He would go onto win the Music Teachers National Association Vocal Collegiate Championship in 2000, which led to his solo recital debut at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall in March 2001.
Eventually he earned his BA in Music from MU and his BA in Speech Communications and Political Science from SEMO, graduating from both universities simultaneously in May of 2001. After teaching music for a year in his hometown of Sikeston, MO, he later attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA to study opera — which led to a lead role as the slave "York" in Michael Ching's World Premier Opera Corps of Discovery, A Musical Journey, commissioned by MU. But Boyd had grown into a practical man, and he shifted his focus to a more practical business career, becoming a successful insurance agent for Aflac.
All of that ended, though, when Boyd auditioned for NBC's #1 national talent show America's Got Talent. He ended up winning the 2008 competition, earning millions of fans in the process, and headlining his own show in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand followed by another at the Las Vegas Hilton Theatre where both Elvis Presley and Barry Manilow have performed.
Most notably, in 2000, he sang at the memorial service for former Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan died in a plane crash during his U.S. Senate run against then Senator and later U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. In 2005, he sang the National Anthem at the inauguration of Missouri Governor Matt Blunt. Boyd has performed numerous times for the last seven Missouri Governors, as well as performed for U.S. Presidents George H.W. Bush, William Jefferson Clinton, and George W. Bush. In February 2010, he performed a private concert in St. Louis, MO for current President Barack Obama.
Boyd was originally signed to Decca Records/Universal Music in 2009 and released his debut album, "My American Dream," that same year. It was less Operatic and more Pop-Classical, a fusion of contemporary singing with a trained classical twist, which is a genre he will continue on his Christmas album.
