Paramore, Imogen Heap, Dave Barnes Lend Voices to ‘The Purpose Hotel’
With a portfolio that includes portraits of Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Sting and Emma Stone, celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart has traveled the world for his job. Staying in hotel after hotel over the years, he found himself inspired to create a different kind of lodging: one that helps the world while its occupants sleep.
Cowart has a Kickstarter campaign underway now for the Purpose Hotel, which he hopes to begin in Nashville and then expand globally. It will be a place where absolutely everything inside benefits a worthy cause: The high-speed internet fee will go to an initiative fighting human trafficking; the furniture creation will provide jobs for people in need; the soaps and shampoos will be made by women who’ve survived violence, addiction and other devastating hardships. The list goes on and on. Each room in the Purpose Hotel will also sponsor a child’s education, with a plaque on each door telling that child’s story.
“One hotel will provide jobs locally, domestically and internationally,” Cowart tells Rolling Stone Country. “We are going to sponsor children, fight human trafficking and do all these amazing things. Take this hotel and put it in Miami, New York, L.A., London, Paris and all over the world. . . It’s been fun to see people online say, ‘Wait a minute, this actually could change the world.’ This is a very practical way to make an impact.”
A multi-artist soundtrack joins the Kickstarter campaign in helping make Cowart’s humanitarian dream a reality. The photographer called on friends and past clients to record music for The Purpose Hotel, Vol. 1 compilation album. [See its full list of artists below.]
“From NEEDTOBREATHE to Imogen Heap, who I’ve worked with a lot, to Dave Barnes and Matt Wertz, who I went to college with. . . We wanted artists who aren’t just making music to make music but artists who have a purpose behind what they do, and all of these artists do,” Cowart explains of the 20-track project.
Visit thepurposehotel.com to purchase the soundtrack, and click here to donate to the Kickstarter campaign, which ends Friday, September 2nd.
The Purpose Hotel: Vol. 1 Artists:
Andy Davis
Dave Barnes
Hawk in Paris
Imogen Heap
Jill and Kate
Johnnyswim
Katie Herzig
Lauren Daigle
Leagues
Marc Scibilia
Matt Stanfield
Matt Wertz
NEEDTOBREATHE
Paramore
Phillip LaRue
Remedy Drive
Secret Nation
Sleeping at Last
The Daylights
Trent Dabbs