Patriotic rock band Madison Rising is pleased to announce the launch of a major Kickstarter project to finance production of its second album and lay the groundwork for a national tour.

“We're ready to take it to the next level,” said our lead singer Dave Bray. “We've gotten a ton of new material ready to go, and can’t wait to get out on the road and perform for all the fans we have all over this great country. But you know what – gas costs money, being in the studio costs money, getting our music out there costs money. We’ve been doing this own our own dime for the last 18 months. Now we need a little help from our fans to keep it all going.”

The band is launching its newest project hot on the heels of the release of their distinctive and widely acclaimed #1 best selling rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and the launch of the One Million Star Spangled Banner Challenge. The Challenge offers Americans across the country a fun, simple and meaningful way to reinvigorate their patriotism by watching the band’s new video and downloading their rock rendition of the National Anthem to their iPods and other devices. The goal of the Challenge is to reach one million views & downloads by Election Day (November 6th). With over 300,000 views on YouTube in just over a month, the band is well on its way to meeting that goal.

Madison Rising has several major gigs coming up including Rock The Red in support of Mitt Romney in North Carolina on September 5th, and opening for major rock band Weezer in Baltimore on Spetember 15th. The audience for that show is expected to be close to 20,000 people.