Had a nice weekend. Recorded a new song. Wrote another new one, improve style too. Meaning I just started jamming and kinda wrote a story off the top of my head. And it's a bit different since I added percussion too. And I recorded it. Listen here. Kinda catchy I think.

Friday I went down to South Congress to get out. Went Guero's and listened to some music. Saturday, I parked on South Congress and walked to Sixth Street for the Old Pecan Street Arts Festival Walked around with a friend. Watched a vaudeville style artist. I wish there was more Vaudevillian stuff. It cracked me up.

And of course I watched Season 2, Disc 1 of Buffy a couple o'times.

Now I'm finally cleaning the apartment. Oh! And I figured out why my Roomba was a little tetchy (wow! one word and I have this desire to watch Firefly). So finally vacuumed my bedroom. Charging now to vacuum my living room. But most of the apartment is picked up. So a little cleaner at last!

*shamedly* still haven't edited Show #82 of the Renaissance Festival Podcast. Need to do that. Meanwhile, as I finish picking up and before I edit that podcast, I'm listening to the Celtic Charts on SoundClick. That's a good listen.

And I think my homemade pasta sauce is about ready. So time to eat.

If you do any bit of surfing on Myspace you see most artists have five songs. But now and then you'll see an artist many more than five. How did they do it? How did they get more songs on their myspace music profile?

I've been trying to find out that for a long time. Many of the artists are Major label artists, but there are also quite a few independents. And I think I found out the secret of how they got more songs on Myspace... they added one profile... accidentally.

The site is Bodog Entertainment. They have a special offer that if you add them, they will give you a fifth song. I heard others mention it, so I tried it. And it worked. On Marc Gunn's Myspace, you will see my fifth song now posted. It worked like a charm. Right now, I have available my new Halloween MP3, "A Rabbit for Halloween". It's a song based on the Bugs Bunny and Witch Hazel cartoon. It's from my new CD single Three Movie and TV Songs for Geeks Like Me.

The next question--how do you post more than four or five songs on Myspace?

I haven't found the answer to that yet. So if you know feel free to post a response and let me know how you do it.

MARC'S MUSINGS -- September 29, 2007

- Marc's Music News
- New CD Single!
- New MP3 - Summer's End
- Solo at MiddleFaire
- 2nd Ireland Tour
- MarcSongs Podcast

Published 1-4 times per month. To manage your subscription, go to the end of this newsletter. Visit My Store Now!

---

Marc's Musings

Greetings Amici,

What a month! After DragonCon, I spent the last few weeks coughing, sick and wallowing in my own misery. Now the cough is almost gone. I even feel up to getting work done...

Yeah, I guess that's a different kind of sickness, huh?

MARC'S MUSIC NEWS
First of all, I'm excited announce the release of my new single Three Movie and TV Songs for Geeks Like Me. This three-song CD features, well, exactly as it name says, music from movies and TV. Namely: Bugs Bunny, Stardust, and Firefly! The CDs just arrived in the mail yesterday and are already on their way to CD Baby. But you can pre-order an autographed copy right now.

Last week, while wallowing in my misery, I took a moment to sit on my porch and I wrote an instrumental song. Then I asked fans on Livejournal and Myspace to name it. I tallied the votes and decided to call it "Summer's End", based on those votes. You can download it free from SoundClick. And if I keep writing as many instrumentals as I have, you may hear an instrumental CD from me in the near future.

It's cool that I am recording as much as I am. One of my New Years Resolutions was to complete a number of albums this year. And I'm proud to say, I've made a BIG dent in that goal. My latest full-length CD, A Tribute to Love, will arrive in about a week. However, I made a strange decision. I decided to postpone the official release until late January. Ye know, the whole Valentine's Day thing... Even if it's not quite mushy romance CD, I still think it'll make a good addition to that holiday.

My latest project is Renaissance Festival compilation. My plan was to have a bunch of traditional songs that I've recorded with a handful of Ren Fest artists submissions. It's not quite working out that way so far. I have SO MANY bands wanting to be a part of it. I'm not sure what to do. In any case, I am happy that I am this productive. I love making new music and sharing live music as well, so thanks for taking the time to listen to it.

MARC GUNN LIVE!
The first two weeks of October will see the Brobdingnagian Bards at MiddleFaire in Hillsboro, Texas. But what will be really different is the first weekend. Andrew has a prior commitment, so I'll be playing MiddleFaire solo. This is the first time I've ever done a solo show at a faire, so I'm a bit nervous. I'd love to have your support.

Oh! And don't forget to Demand Me and the Brobdingnagian Bardstoo. We hope to use that Eventful to find out where we're gonna tour in the future. So make a demand.

JOIN ME IN IRELAND
Probably the most exciting news of the week is I finally have all the details posted for the Brobdingnagian Bards second Vacation Tour of Ireland. Once again, we're taking our fans with us to see Ireland. And we would love you to join us. All the details are now posted on our website. And it's gonna be an Amazing tour. John Wilmott of Celtic Ways is hosting the tour. And the sites and sounds that he has planned are, like, wow! I just can't wait!

There's only a limited number of slots available. So hurry up and reserve your place today. And if you want to hear a glimpse of what we experienced last time, check out my Pub Songs Podcast and A Brobdingnagian Minute. There's a couple MP3s you can download and hear us go on about it.

Speaking of podcasts, I've had a new one out for the past few months that is different. It's also gone through quite a few name changes. The latest name is MarcSongs Podcast (formerly Marc Gunn's Irish Songs & More and Irish Songs & Lyrics Podcast). It features a new song every week recorded by me. Hope ye like.

Oh! Our performance on the The Signal Firefly Podcast was awesome!

---
Drop me a line and tell me how you are doing. Slainte!
- Marc Gunn

---

Quick Links to Marc Gunn

• CD, MP3, and Merchandise Store
• Upcoming Shows
• Photo Gallery
• Message Board

• MarcSongs Podcast - NEW SHOW POSTED
• Marc Gunn's Pub Songs Podcast
• Renaissance Festival Podcast - NEW SHOW POSTED
  
• Irish & Celtic Music Podcast - NEW SHOW POSTED
  
• SONG HENGE - the Celtic Music Archive
• Brobdingnagian Bards
• Marc's Musings Archive

---

About Marc Gunn

Please add "marc@thebards.net" to your whitelist or email address
book, so that you have no trouble receiving future issues!

Do Marc's Musings ever inspire you?
If so, there's something you can do.
Help me out. Pass the inspiration on.
Share with others, and I'll keep sharing songs.

Marc Gunn is a musician, photographer, poet, author, American Scotsman, songwriter, music download connoisseurs, web designer, Rennie, online entrepreneur, and a bunch of other labels that don't mean a whole lot but are all entirely independent.

The world is dominated by massive organizations that strangle the life out of the independent arts. You can stop it at the source. Your good will and support of the arts through kind donations, purchases, and friendly word of mouse will make your feel great!

The past couple o'days rest was really good for me. My coughing was about vanished on the way to the airport this morning in New Jersey. And right now, I'm doing okay. Though I felt shortness of breathe shortly after exiting the airport. So yeah, I'm feeling the pollen already.

But it's great to be home with my kitties. They're happy to see me. My new tune will have a name very shortly. And A Tribute to Love is now in production. Should be shipped soon. I decided that the official release will be in February (just in time for Valentine's Day). But everyone who has pre-ordered and is helping me get the word out will, of course, get copies much sooner. And I should have Three Movie and TV Songs for Geeks Like Me in my hand really soon.

The Ireland tour is all set to go and we have our first person signed up. That means there's 19 more spots to go! I'll be sending that out to the Bards Newsletter soon.

Show #39 of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, I hope to have up tonight. And I already made the shownotes for #40 too. Woot! And have notes for the Ren Fest Podcast too. So "Hey Kristen! Let's record!" On the other downside, my digital recorder got smashed on the trip. I'm hoping my NYRF recordings came out okay. But grrr... I need a new one now. That's frustrating as hell as money is definitely tight. And I was hoping to get Kristen a new microphone to improve the sound quality of the Ren Fest Podcast. Think that might have to wait until I finish the Ren Fest Podcast compilation CD. On the bright side, I have a lot of music to choose from. It's practically done.

Umm... Looks like I have this weekend off after all. And that's good. I'll need the time to catch up on podcasts, the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, Song Henge, and the Ren Fest CD.

Last, I plan to get out of the apartment more this coming week. I need to get out more and get back to yoga. Been spending too much time at home.

Well, for those who were wondering. I am still sick. Went back to the Docs today because my asthma has kicked in past couple o'days. He gave me Prednisone. So now I'm not coughing nearly as much, but I'm majorly wired. Yet, I still haven't finished the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast that I need to finish.

This weekend, we are off to New Jersey for a wedding. I think on Sunday, Andrew and I are gonna join the wedding party and visit the New York Ren Faire. We're not bringing instruments. Just gonna visit. I figure I'll try and meet some of the local musicians for the Renaissance Festival Podcast. I'm thinking pirate garb...

Nothing came together for house concerts out there, so we return home on Tuesday.

Good thing about returning early is I can finish some projects before MiddleFaire up in Hillsboro for my first solo show at a Ren Faire. That should be interesting. I have lots of music obviously. And I can even play some cat songs. But I need to practice them.

Nothing has come together for Boston/NE-area house concerts. And while I was hoping to go up there just for vacation and to see the area, I am having second thoughts. Money is kind of tight, right now. So I might have to forego that trip unless I can find a gig.

Today, my mom invited me to spend Christmas in Germany with her. Supposedly the weather gets rather foul there that time of year, so here's hoping I'll have or find some snow! I was looking at the idea of flying to some place with snow for Christmas. With my luck, it'll snow again in Austin while I'm gone. Ah well... At least it's a trip to Europe.

Speaking of which, if there's anyone in Germany who'd be willing to help me book a gig or two. Please let me know.

As for gigs, Andrew's been on a nice rampage of booking. So I'm hope hoping *crosses fingers* that we might have our Spring schedule filled up in the next month.

That's all for now. Slainte!
-Marc Gunn, Bard


PS. Oh! My graphic designer for a lot of projects like the Ren Fest Podcast, my new CD Single and much more, James McDaniel II, has a cool new store on Cafepress called Dumb Ogre Designs. It features a lot of great shirts with some classical quotes and what not. It looks really sharp! Check it out here.

Captain Black Jack Murphy posted a PSA for Talk Like A Pirate Day which celebrates it's annual event tomorrow, September 19th. Remember to celebrate by talking like a pirate. And listen to lots o'great piratey music like Tom Smith's anthem, "Talk Like A Pirate Day", Ceann's hit "The Worst Pirate Song", and anything from The Shantyman, The Pirates Royale, The Jolly Rogers, Pirate Comedy Show, Irish Stout, or you can just listen to past shows of the Renaissance Festival Podcast.

Download these great pirate podcasts from the Renaissance Festival Podcast:

Renaissance Festival Podcast #60, Sept 23-24, 2006
Talk Like A Pirate Day. Music from The Jolly Rogers, The Pyrates Royale, Gypsophilia, The Gutterpups, Pirate Shantyman and Bonnie Lass, Craig of Farrington, Moch Pryderi, Marooned, and Black Jack Murphy.

Renaissance Festival Podcast #53, Pirate Music and Feature on Pirates of the Caribbean: Deadman's Chest
Music from The Shantyman, The Jolly Rogers, Pirate Comedy Show, Bounding Main, Dogs in Doublets, Bedlam Bards, Flying Fish Sailors, Marooned, Mallory and McCall, The Bilge Pumps, Brobdingnagian Bards, Pandora Celtica, The Pyrates Royale, Axel the Sot, Rillian and the Doxie Chicks, Jim Hancock.

Renaissance Festival Podcast, The Pirate Show #3
Music from Crimson Pirates, The Corsairs, Pyrates Royale, and Poxy Boggards

Renaissance Festival Podcast, The Pirate Show #2
Music from Pyrates Royale, Crimson Pirates, The Corsairs, The Bilge Pumps, The Jolly Rogers, and The Shantyman

Renaissance Festival Podcast, The Pirate Show #1
Music from The Corsairs, Pyrates Royale, The Jolly Rogers, and The Poxy Boggards

Five years ago, Tiziano and Torre were born. I was lucky enough to adopt them a few months later. And now they're my bestest friends. Mreow!

Torre patiently poses for his birthday photo.


Tiziano sees something more interesting than posing for birthday photo.


Birthday Breakfast for Tiziano and Torre (L-R).

In 2006, I wrote and recorded a song that I absolutely loved called "A Rabbit for Halloween". It told the story of Bugs Bunny and Witch Hazel in the episode "Broom-Stick Bunny". I loved the song so much, in fact, that I tried to sneak it on to my new album, A Tribute to Love. But everyone who listened to the album said the same thing, "It doesn't fit." They were right.

Now another Halloween is coming and I was really hoping to release this song on a CD. But I don't have one coming out any time soon. So I decided to release a single.

In the music business a "single" signifies one to three songs on a recording. So I thought I would package this single with two other like-minded songs I've written. One was inspired by the movie Stardust, and the other was inspired by a television show Firefly. I packaged them all together and decided to release a themed single called Three Movie and TV Songs for Geeks Like Me.

Track Listing:

1. A Rabbit for Halloween (Bugs Bunny and Witch Hazel) - Listen
   
2. Stardust Serenade (Stardust movie) - Listen
3. She Said Her Name Was Saffron (Firefly) - Listen

Order Now: 2007, 3 Songs, Mage Records




Extra Special Offer
Order autographed copies of Three Movie and TV Songs for Geeks Like Me, and pre-order A Tribute to Love, and a Celtic Cat Wooden Mug. Buy: $65

Some of you may remember my post about The Show That Should Never Be Heard. That was the live recording I made at the Roadside Tavern in Lisdoonvarna, Ireland. Most of our Ireland tour group was there that fateful night. It involved me leading everyone in song as we drank... and drank... and drank Guinness and Bulmers cider. Did I mention we drank a lot?

Well, as we drank, my performance got worse and worse, until I pretty much broke down into a frothing fool. But enough about me... I wasn't alone. ;)

Anyways, I was lamenting the idea of releasing that show. But I broke down. I finally did. I sent the show to the mailing list for everyone who was on the tour with us. It's done...

Then I did the unthinkable. I posted it on my Live MP3 Recordings page. But there's a catch... I don't want you to download it. So it is grossly overpriced. But if you, grrr, want to purchase the two hours of drunken debauchery, it's on you. You were warned!

On a happier note, I almost have an itinerary and info for the next Brobdingnagian Bards Vacation Tour of Ireland. Details will be coming soon...

Some of you may know that I am a HUGE Firefly fan. I admit it. I watch a few episodes of the TV show or movie at least once a week. I bought the Collector's Edition with the hope that we'll get a second movie. I play firefly music by the Bedlam Bards in my podcasts. And one of my favorite podcasts of all is The Signal.

The Signal is a podcast about Firefly and Serenity. It has all the latest news and fun tidbits that make me watch the show even more. I'm a huge fan. And oddly enough, two of the hosts Les and Kari are fans of the Brobdingnagian Bards. This year at DragonCon, we finally got our shot to perform on The Signal.

While Andrew and I were in Ireland, I got an email from someone telling me about the Sing A Song for Saffron Contest. The idea was to write a song about Saffron, aka YoSaffBridge, from the TV show. I've been wanting to write a song for Firefly since the show came out, but nothing came to me. But there I was, in Ireland, and a melody popped into my head and I started writing. I got home, made a recording, and sent it off to the competition. A few weeks later, I learned I won "Best Filk Song" in the competition. I just received a couple o'shiny prizes in the mail today.

The song is called "She Said Her Name Was Saffron". And thanks to that song, Andrew and I were invited to perform on The Signal. The DragonCon special was posted live today. Go hear my new song.

A while back, I posted an article on Removing Cat Hair from the Carpet from The Cat's Meow ezine. The site has received a lot of traffic. So I updated it with one another tip. It's all listed on the page. And I should point out that all the tips listed there can also be done on a sofa or any other fabric.

While in the final stages of recording A Tribute to Love, I realized there was something missing--a wedding song.

I've never been married, but my band, the Brobdingnagian Bards, have performed at a number of weddings. One of our most popular wedding instrumentals is "Maids in the Meadow". It's from our popular wedding CD, A Celtic Renaissance Wedding. That song and a romantic interest of mine inspired this lovely wedding song. Because marriage should be done for love. And love comes from the heart.

"Marry for the Heart"
Listen: LoFi
Recorded by Marc Gunn
From: A Tribute to Love

Download MP3: 128 kbps
Buy MP3 for 99¢: 192 kbps
Donation: Make a Donation
Subscribe: http://www.pubsong.com/PubSongsPodcast.rss

We had a couple of great house concerts here in North Carolina. Spruce Pine was in the great outdoors, a beautiful backyard setting at Cara's. I was a bit under the weather from the Con Crud, so Andrew got to shine vocally. Then last night in Apex, we had another huge audience. The house was at capacity. Singing was a lot easier as the Crud is going away. A couple more days and I should be doing good. Oh! And "Ducats" was our finale that included, Yoga, husband, Nazgul, and pumpkins. "I'd buy you an exotic pet. Like a dragon or a Good Husband." It was a riot!

If you were at the shows, I'd love to read your concert reviews on your LJs. (This means you tribalkitty *waves*) How did ya'll like attending a house concert?

Well, I had hoped to post this yesterday. But alas, no internet access when I tried doing it. So this morning I'm up and posting. Last night, we had another grand show. We played a lot more Irish songs for this show. The audience seemed more into it Irish music, so we changed a wee bit of the geeky music we played in the first couple o'house concerts. We also got to meet some Nagians from PA who came down to West Virginia for the house concert. One more and then we head for home.

And maybe then I can finish fighting off whatever it is that is lingering around. Getting better, but still not there.

Alright, time to hit the road.
Slainte!
-Marc

Now that A Tribute to Love is nearly done, it is time to start generating some comments about the album. Here's the Track Listing:

1. Silhouette of Longing Love
2. The Gosling Reborn
3. When She Held Me In Her Arms
4. Another Lonely Night
5. A Faint Heart
6. Froggie Went A-Courtin'
7. The Hobbit Journey Home
8. Star of the County Down
9. Tiziano Gunn
10. They Call Me Crazy
11. Here's to the Dreamers
12. Marry for the Heart
13. Heart and Soul

All that's left is the graphics. Now, I want people to review the CD and to tell other people about it. So I am looking for TEN PEOPLE who visit this website and are interested in a free preview copy of the album.

All you have to do is Follow the Instructions below:

1. Email me. Put "TALK_TO_MARC_GUNN" in the subject line and "I want a Free Copy of A Tribute to Love from MarcGunn.com" in the body of the message. Include your name and mailing address in the message.

If you are one of the first ten people to request a copy, I will email you and tell you that you will get a free copy. Then,

2. Post a blog and tell others how next week you will receive a free preview copy of A Tribute to Love. Include a link to the CD at http://www.marcgunn.com/2007/02/tribute-to-love.shtml

Then post a message here where you posted your blog entry. Make sure you include your name and first letter of your last name in the post.

3. I'll then email you and tell you the link to download the album of MP3s in a ZIP file.

4. Listen to the album. Then go back to your blog and post a review of what you think of the CD. Include a link to http://www.marcgunn.com/2007/02/tribute-to-love.shtml

5. When the CD arrives, I'll mail you a signed copy.

That's all that is required to win. However, if you enjoy the album, you can do more to help promote the CD, like:

• Tell your friends to read about the CD review
• Tell others once the album is released on CDBaby.
• Cross-post your review on Livejournal, Myspace, Facebook, Message Boards, and include a link to the CD.
• Add one of my songs to your profile if you have a Myspace account
• Make a video using songs from the CD

That's it. Once I have my TEN Reviewers, I will post a message here.

Sorry. All the Free CDs Are Taken... For Now

This weeks Brobdingnagian Bards podcast was recorded on the drive to DragonCon 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Show Notes:

• Marc's fancy sports car
  
• Lots of shows at DragonCon
• New CD: LIVE: Nex Monoceroti, Per Risibus
• The Bardy Balls: The Case of the Bardic Treasure
• The Stalkers Union of DragonCon
• A Word from our Table People
• Other bands at DragonCon: Voltaire, Bedlam Bards, Boogie Knights, Emerald Rose
  

Songs This Week:

• "Pachelbel's Canon/Old Dun Cow" from LIVE: Nex Monoceroti, Per Risibus,
• "Jedi Drinking Song Prequel" from LIVE: Nex Monoceroti, Per Risibus,
• "If I Had A Million Smurfy Ducats" from LIVE: Nex Monoceroti, Per Risibus.

Download MP3
A Brobdingnagian Minute #22 - 3 Steps to DragonCon


Insert this RSS Feed into your podcatcher to have the shows downloaded automatically: http://www.thebards.net/mp3/ABrobdingnagianMinute.xml