Listen To My Heart: David Friedman Shares Inspiration for Producing New CD, Nancy LaMott Sings David Zippel

David Friedman recently launced a campaign to fund a new CD, Nancy LaMott sings David Zippel, which will feature a collection of songs from late singer Nancy LaMott. It will include many never-before-heard recordings of classics such as, You Can Always Count on Me (from City of Angels), How Can I Win? (from The Goodbye Girl) and many more of David Zippel's legendary collaborations. With 21 days left to go, Friedman has raised $40,000 of his $50,000 goal. He is asking anyone who has been affected by Nancy's music and talent to donate what they can to help get the album produced and keep her memory alive. Depending on the amount given, donors will receive anything from a CD to a custom song and dinner with David Friedman and David Zippel in return.

Read Friedman's full statement below:

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In 1991, after years of quietly writing songs for a few people, keeping many of my songs secret because it felt so vulnerable and "dangerous" to share them, (choosing instead to conduct other people's work and accompany and produce singers) I decided it was time to "come out" as a songwriter. So I booked a huge Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit concert at The Cathedral of St. John The Divine, and asked a group of amazing singers to sing 31 of my songs.

The concert was to open with Laurie Beechman singing Listen To My Heart. 20 hours before the concert, Laurie called to tell me she had to cancel. I was mortified, and with no one to sing the opening song, I had no idea what I was going to do.

A few hours later, Nancy LaMott happened to call (Nancy had spent the previous evening running around with me to all the open mics in New York, getting up, singing Help is On The Way and announcing my concert - that was just the kind of friend Nancy was) and asked, "Are you excited about tomorrow? To which I answered, "Excited is one way of putting it. Panicked about the opening number is more like it."

Without missing a beat, Nancy said, "I've always loved Listen To My Heart. I've never sung it, but I'll have it for you tomorrow night."

And true to her word, the next night, music stand discretely to the side with the lyrics she had learned that day, Nancy got up, and with that performance, changed my life. It wasn't just that Nancy blew the roof off the place, it wasn't just that from that moment on the song became "hers." It was that when she sang my song, it was clear that she was singing it on MY behalf. I was coming out to the audience as a writer, and as Nancy sang, "Here we are, you and I, at last, in the right place at the right time. Every dream I've dreamed has come to pass, 'cause you're right here and you're all mine. I can't believe the years of holding back are through, and I can finally share what's in my heart with you. Listen....Listen.....Listen to my heart," I realized that although I often think I'm writing songs about other people's stories and situations, in reality I'm always writing about myself. And I understood in that moment, why I'm a writer and why I have to write.

I will be forever grateful to Nancy for that evening, and for the 4 years that followed in which I had the privilege of being able to support her, as a producer and as a writer, in doing what she did for me that night, as she did it again and again, not only for my songs, but for the songs of so many other songwriters, whether contemporary or classic.

And then, suddenly, almost 19 years ago, Nancy was gone.

I know I will never get over her death, and I will never be able to repay the debt I owe Nancy for, in so many ways, giving me my life as a songwriter. But the best I can do is try and see to it that her music and her heart get heard, both to honor her legacy and to share the gifts she gave with as many people as possible.

I'm currently working on the first new Nancy CD in 8 years. This one will be Nancy singing all songs with lyrics by David Zippel. David was one of Nancy's first friends in New York, and he championed her as a singer as she championed him as a brilliant lyricist. It seems only fitting that their collaboration should be out in the world. David has since become a world-renowned Broadway and film lyricist, and it's a treat to hear Nancy sing some of the first recordings of David's songs that later became well-known.

I'm raising funds for this CD through Indiegogo, so if you are someone who knew Nancy, or who was touched by her singing, please join me in making this CD happen.

You can read about our campaign and decide at what level you want to participate by clicking on this link:

http://www.NancyCD.com

And if you don't know Nancy's music, or if you weren't at my 1991 concert, here's a video of her performance, that night, at The Cathedral of St. John The Divine.

http://youtu.be/v06ApJU6IzY

Thanks to all of you who are helping, in so many ways, to make this happen.

David Friedman