Gray Young at Local 506, May 2011

Raleigh’s Gray Young—whose first record was praised by this paper and second record was panned—is raising funds via Kickstarter to record its third LP. This Friday, with 11 days left to reach its $5,000 goal, the band will play Slim’s in Raleigh to raise awareness for its fundraising push.

“It’s a free show because it’s all about thanking the people who have contributed and trying to raise awareness to the people who don’t know about it,” says guitarist and vocalist Chas McKeown. There will be a computer at the show for people who want to contribute to the Kickstarter. Mostly, he says, it’ll be free rock and roll—donations optional. The yet-unnamed, yet-unwritten record will be self-released, much like debut album Firmament. Gray Young wouldn’t go into detail on its relationship with 307 Knox Records, which released sophomore LP Staysail.

“So we basically figured $10,000 is what we are needing to get everything done,” McKeown says of the entire recording and production process, plus PR. The Kickstarter campaign aims to fund half this amount. As of Tuesday afternoon, the band had raised $2,572.

“I was apprehensive about doing it, but I’ve come to see it as a way to bring people into the process with us and less of us asking people for money,” McKeown says. “It’s more of a way to simultaneously pre-order a record while investing in it.”

The band posted a new video Sunday, featuring demo track “Dead Air” (below). In a symbolic hint, a tugboat pushes a container ship toward its destination.

Perhaps you could say the tugboat is giving the container ship a kickstart. Eh? Eh?