Au Revoir Simone and Langhorne Slim Help Launch Sake of the Song

With the launch of Sake of the Song.com, the independent music community rings in the holiday season with the first alterna-merch site featuring products musicians make that aren’t music. The online store features everything from one-of-a-kind art by Iceland’s Sin Fang Bous, jewelry by Los Angeles’ Eagle Winged Palace and astrological readings by New York City’s The Morning Pages, three of the many multi-talented bands from around the world using multiple talents to subsidize their careers in music.   

“This is the first online store that allows fans to simultaneously gift themselves and others while directly supporting the musicians and bands they love,” says Jody Orsborn, site creator and founder of the folk and country music blog When You Awake.com.

Orsborn, who watched with concern as the changing face of the entertainment industry impacted the amount of money actually making its way into the pockets of the musicians, decided that something needed to be done to keep the music alive. “I wanted to create a space where musicians can use their other skills and abilities to make money, while promoting themselves at the same time,” says Orsborn, who also produces concerts, such as the recent Neil Young Tribute and Benefit in Los Angeles, which attracted 300 people and raised $1700 for the non-profit organization The Children’s Music Fund.

She began contacting some of her favorite bands and within a week, had 10 artists signed on to sell with more coming on board every day with additional products and services. Among the bands featured on Sake of the Song include Brooklyn keyboard band Au Revoir Simone, Appalachian crooner Sam Quinn (ex- Everybodyfields), bi-coastal indie folk rocker Langhorne Slim, NYC creative collective Uninhabitable Mansions (feat. Robbie Guertin and Tyler Sargent of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) and many more with products from The Entrance Band, The Hackensaw Boys and Golden Animals coming soon.

The only criteria to sell on the site is that the products featured must be made or designed by the musicians themselves. “And I have to like their music”, adds Orsborn.  

The site profiles not only the products and services being sold, but biography’s of the musicians and bands with links to their sites, videos of their music and a pop-up music player featuring a song from each musician. Prices range from $8 for handmade books by Uninhabitable Mansions to $270 for original paintings by Sin Fang Bous with both domestic and international shipping available.