A local singer and songwriter has the opportunity to record his first solo album, but needs help from friends, family and supporters if he is to reach that goal.

"God has blessed me with the opportunity to record my very first Christian-country solo album, and basically what that means is I have the opportunity to with a record company some of my original music and some music that I feel will touch people's lives," Kevin Woody said.

First, though, he has to raise $14,000.

"That will cover all of my costs in recording, musicians, production of the album, editing, everything. And then that will hopefully get the promotion out there to radio, as well," he said.

He's utilizing a unique social media website for the fundraiser.

"With Kickstarter, you set an ultimate goal right off the bat. As people pledge their donations, you only have 30 days to reach your goal," he said. "If you don't reach your goal at the end of those 30 days, then you don't get any of the money and it all goes back to the donors."

For Woody, that aspect was important to him.

"I felt that if people were going to support me and people were going to help me with this project, in the end I wanted something to show them that their money went toward something," he said. "If I didn't get the full donation, then I wouldn't have a product for them to see where their donations had gone.

"It's either all or nothing, and we'll see how it goes."

Singing in church since he was 3-years-old, music has always been a part of Woody's life, though he admits there was a time when he turned his back on his passion.

"I had a real bad experience in my middle school choir, and I just quit it," he said.

A few years later, a family tragedy helped him see that God had a plan for his life in music.

He went on to study music in college, performed with the band Silver City for about five years and took a position as the chorus teacher at Dawson County Middle School.

Woody's now ready to take that next step.

"About two or three months ago I was talking to my wife Lauren and telling her that I wished God would open up a door for me," he said. "It was two days later that the producer from Nashville actually called and said, ‘hey, I've got this song that I think will fit your voice.'"

"In My Bible" is already doing well on the Christian-County charts.

"When I listened to it, the first line says in my bible, there's a crocheted bookmark that my grandma made me," he said. "That line hit me from the very start, because I actually have a crocheted bookmark in my bible that my grandmother gave me."

The words spoke to Woody's heart.

"It's a song about how there a things that we go through in life that we question that we don't understand, but we can always lean on the truth that is found in our bibles," he said.

Woody has until July 19 to collect the $14,000 needed to record the rest of the album.

With less than two weeks before the deadline, he has collected more than $3,200 toward the goal.

"I'm asking people to join me on this journey. It's a ministry and a journey of trying to get out there and spread the gospel," Woody said. "I feel like in the world that we're living in now people need to hear the gospel and they need God, and these songs have the ability to reach people."

For more information, visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/55575407/kevin-woody-first-solo-album.