Mackyrin Holmes is a 15 year old WORKING MUSICIAN who leads TWO classic New Orleans jazz bands. He has played with luminaries like Questlove and the Roots and he is now trying to record his first album.
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Most people don’t grow up knowing exactly what they wanted to do when they grew up. Mick Jagger studied to be an economist. Hugh Jackman was a PhysEd teacher before he was an actor. And supermodel Cindy Crawford wanted to be a chemical engineer.
But Mackyrin Holmes knew exactly what he wanted to do when he was 6, and he didn’t wait to grow up to do it.
“I want to be a bandleader,” he told filmmaker Aira Vehaskari. “I want to be great, but I want to make my bandmates greater.”
Today, at age 15, he leads two New Orleans Jazz bands, one made up of teenagers and one made up of adults and he christened both bands Re-Creations -- and both bands are actively gigging in New Orleans. Mackyrin leads both bands playing his Tuba, the backbone of any jazz band in the Big Easy.
But Mackyrin -- known as Tubadu to his friends and bandmates -- isn’t done yet. Now, he wants to record an album, and that’s what this campaign is about.
Tubadu lives with his mom, Celeste, who suffers from several debilitating chronic illnesses, but is nevertheless the guiding force in his life and career. In fact, it’s from her encouragement that his album will be titled “Mama Says Git Yah Wind Up,” a reference to how a tuba player prepares for a gig, as well as the title of a documentary that is currently being produced about his life and music.
Despite his remarkable progress and achievements, Tubadu’s family relies on public assistance and a circle of friends and family who help keep the family above water. Of course, recording an album is an endeavor that requires far more resources than they can muster, so we’re hoping that people like you -- who can see the promise of this young man’s vision and dedication -- can help us get him in the studio with his bands.
Based on the research we’ve done, recording and releasing an album in New Orleans can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000, so we are setting our initial goal at $30,000 in hopes we can generate enough to get him in the studio and then have a few dollars left over to market the album via social media and the news media.
So, if you truly believe in the promise of the next generation, and you still believe dreams can come true, please be that agent of karma that helps Tubadu get to the next level. And if more than enough of you help and we raise more than that goal, the extra funds will go toward the family’s living and medical expenses.
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