Wait no more

It took nearly a 300-mile trip away from home for Greg and Kate House to meet, but once they did, they knew they wanted to make music together.

“We feel everyone can relate to having the feeling of a calling, the need to do something, which can be costly but worth it,” Kate House said.

After a successful crowdfunded Kickstarter project, the local band created its first full length album, which is being released June 23.

“All the challenges we faced in creating this album were worth it and we hope all that shines through in the music,” Kate House said.

The two met while leading worship together at Hiawatha Youth Camp, located in the Upper Peninsula, and have been performing and singing together ever since. They formed their band the Asking, in 2014. They then released an acoustic EP with five original songs and one cover in 2015.

Their debut album “Call the Ships Home” consists of 10 songs with a folk-pop feel. The first eight songs on the album were written by the House duo, while the last two are covers in the public domain — free to use for all —like “The Water is Wide.”

The crowdfunding for a full-length album started in March as a way for people to donate at different levels for the album’s production. Rewards for helping the Asking included guitar lessons from Greg House and vocal lessons from Kate House.

Some donors also got to own the album before the official release date. Kate House described the crowdfunding as a “pre-sale with extra bonuses” to encourage support.

Greg House said it was a lot of fun creating the new album, “all the work that goes into it, it's very rewarding to hold your hard work in your hands.”

Kate House said one of the overall themes of the album is “having hope.” She said they wanted to give listeners encouragement.

“It takes a village to create an album,” Kate House said. “The whole process is very rewarding, to be able to say this is what we’ve been doing.”

Last Friday, June 16, The Asking hosted the album release party at Blue Owl Coffee in Lansing, where they performed songs from the new album, giving their fan base a sneak peek.

“Call the Ships Home” will be available on digital music platforms, like Amazon, iTunes and Spotify. Physical copies can be found on the band’s website, theaskingband.com.