Armed with a brand new CD, local band Palefighter aims to raise $10,000 for Kiva in December, starting with a show in Newmarket.

Palefighter’s upcoming CD release party at The Stone Church in Newmarket will feature the live premiere of several new songs. The show on Saturday, Dec. 3, will also serve as the first in a series of gigs aimed at raising funds to help aspiring entrepreneurs around the world escape the clutches of poverty.

In fact, throughout the month of December, Palefighter front man Matthew Carano plans to donate proceeds from all his musical endeavors to Kiva, a non-profit organization that collects small loans and distributes them to impoverished people who do not have access to traditional banking systems. Carano’s goal is to raise $10,000 for the Internet-based organization by the end of the year.

“One hundred percent of the proceeds of everything that I do in December will go to this project. I’m not keeping anything,” Carano said. “It’s really about hitting the target. It’s really about raising $10,000 for Kiva.”

A native of Hooksett, Carano graduated from Manchester Central High School before earning a music degree from the University of New Hampshire in 2001. While at UNH, he helped found and played guitar for the band Solid 8, a rock and rap group that was active on the Seacoast for several years. Carano started Palefighter in 2005 as an outlet for his solo acoustic material. Following a few EPs, the band released its first full-length album, “Swan Dive Bomb,” in 2007.

Shortly after recording Palefighter’s debut, Carano moved to the Bay Area in California, where he remained for the next three and a half years. It was in his Oakland apartment that he wrote and recorded the basic tracks for Palefighter’s new album, “Calilope.” He plays guitar and sings on the album, while bassist Kim Bird and drummer Jarrett Osborn recorded their own parts on the Seacoast.

The CD includes eight original songs, presenting an intersection between melodic acoustic folk and exploratory electric rock. Carano’s musical idols include Radiohead, Bon Iver, Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley and Peter Gabrielle, and it’s easy to hear their subtle influence in the music.

Carano said the Bay Area scene informed his songwriting, creating a clear contrast with the New England rub of “Swan Dive Bomb.”

“Although my new record is not country at all, I feel like it’s got sort of a western feel, which is definitely different,” he said. “It’s still pretty indie, still pretty rockish, but if you listen to both of them, there’s definitely a different twinge to this one.”

He described “Calilope” as a concept album that chronicles the collapse of a serious relationship he pursued in California. Even the title, though based on a Greek female name, could be abbreviated to “Cali.”

“It’s all referential to itself and is specifically detailing the major events of my time in California,” he said. “I moved my entire life to California for this particular relationship and it died while I was out there, and that’s what the entire album is about.”

Carano moved back to the Seacoast about six months ago. Palefighter now performs as an “electro-folk” trio, with Carano on acoustic guitar and vocals, and Jon Briggs and Jeremy Murphy alternating on bass, keyboards and electronics.

The band will play two release shows at The Stone Church on Dec. 3, the first starting at 6 p.m. and the second at 9 p.m. Each show will be divided into three sections, with an opening set from Rhode Island’s The Brother Kite, a set of new material by the Palefighter trio, and a concluding batch of songs from “Calilope” performed by a “super group” of half a dozen musicians, Carano said.

Guests can name their own admission fee to the shows, starting at a minimum of $10, with all proceeds going toward the Kiva project. “Selling out both shows will go a huge, long way toward hitting the target,” Carano said.

Since launching in 2005, Kiva has lent $261 million to borrowers in 61 different countries. More than 640,000 individual lenders have made loans, and almost 99 percent of them have been repaid.

Carano said he had long been searching for a charitable organization to support. “Kiva’s really the first one that I’ve been just lit up and inspired by,” he said. “It’s an awesome organization, extremely transparent.”

Lenders to Kiva can choose where their funds are allocated. Carano has not yet decided exactly where the money he raises will go, but $10,000 could affect numerous lives. “I feel like that will do an awesome amount of good.”

In addition to the shows in Newmarket, Palefighter has booked a couple of other gigs for the cause. The band will play at Fury’s Publick House in Dover on Thursday, Dec. 15, and at The Red Door in Portsmouth on Monday, Dec. 19.

Sales of “Calilope” will also benefit the Kiva project. Carano has established a tiered structure of donor rewards for various amounts. A $1 donation gets you a free digital download of the entire album; $10 is good for a physical copy of the CD; $20 is enough for a signed copy. The increments range all the way up to $5,000, which includes the reward of a song written and recorded in the donor’s honor for Palefighter’s next album, due out in December 2012. Donors in the higher tiers can also help Carano decide where the funds will be directed.

Carano will use a variety of social media tools to spread the word about his mission, including a weekly talent show he co-hosts on Google Plus with John Herman. He’s already received feedback from a number of people who want to pitch in.

“Using social media and some of the grassroots efforts around here, I have at least a shot of hitting the target,” he said with a laugh. “It’s a big goal. It’s achievable, but it’s big.”

For more information on Palefighter and the Kiva project, visit www.palefighter.com. The Stone Church is at 5 Granite St., Newmarket, 603-659-7700.