MARC GUNN: Tribute to Turlough O'Carolan and Austin CD Release

MARC'S MUSINGS -- June 17, 2008

- Marc's Music News
- Climbing the CD Baby Charts
- CD Release at Things Celtic
- Tribute to Turlough O'Carolan

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Marc's Musings

Greetings Amici,

Good food, good drink, good company. That was my mantra for the last Brobdingnagian Bards Vacation Tour of Ireland.

The weather was cool, cool, cool. Lush, green vegetation, and a dozen good friends to share company with. It was absolutely magnificent. I wish I could say we had another one planned, but alas, we'll just have to make do with the photos and memories of the good food, drink and friends. I think it will tie me over for a while. But I miss everyone already. That's the sad part about ending a tour.

MARC'S MUSIC NEWS

I have some exciting news for my music. Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers is now on sale at CD Baby. I set the official CD release date as July 14th, but that doesn't affect you at all. You can buy your copy now and get it direct from the friendly folks at CD Baby where the album has already climbed to #13 on the Top Now CD Charts. Course, if you already own the album, I'd really appreciate it if you would post a review.

Speaking of reviews, I am looking for some more to post online. I was looking around to see what reviews I could post on my ReverbNation site and realized I didn't have many official solo reviews from magazines, blogs, newspapers, etc. Which means, I need to try and garner a bunch of blurbs and such for this album. It is by far the best sounding album I've ever done. While there are a lot of reviews on CD Baby, it's always nice to have more professional-looking reviews for publicity purposes.

Yesterday, I posted a new Pub Songs Podcast. It was recorded live in Gougane Barra, Ireland. What a beautiful place! That's where that picture above was taken. Perfectly serene. The podcast features a few a cappella songs sung in a sing-a-long fashion.

I'm also trying to edit a few pub shows for A Brobdingnagian Minute and maybe the next Pub Songs Podcast. And if I really pull it together, I'll have a MarcSongs Podcast with a live track for you as well.

MARC GUNN LIVE!
To honor the release of Whiskers in the Jar, I have an instore this Saturday at Things Celtic.

Summer Solstice Cat CD Release
Sat, June 21, 2008
Things Celtic @ 2PM
1806 W. 35th Street
Austin, TX 78703

I'm gonna try and do a few songs from the new CD, which means I need to re-learn some of these lyrics. It won't be all cat songs though. I have a bunch new music I plan to share as well.

As always, if you'd like to see me live, make sure you demand me on eventful. The demands in Dallas seem to be growing. So I'm gonna try and put together a CD release somewhere up there this summer, but it will take some maneuvering as I'm not that great with booking gigs.

TRIBUTE TO TURLOUGH O'CAROLAN
Turlough O'Carolan was the most-famous harper of Ireland. He wrote and preserved hundreds of tunes that are still popular today. To the right, you can see me at O'Carolan's tombstone in Ireland. It's kinda funny how we autoharpers seem to connect with O'Carolan.

The day we visited his grave held special meaning for me. Andrew and I played "Eleanor Plunkett" and afterward, when I was alone, I composed a lovely little tribute to O'Carolan.

Interestingly, "The Lady of Setliff Manor" was partially inspired after listening to some O'Carolan music. I released it on Soul of a Harper. I'll have to see if I can record this new tune at some point. Maybe when I finally release that instrumental autoharp CD I'll add it there?

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Thanks for listening. I hope you are well. Slainte!
- Marc Gunn

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Marc Gunn is Celtic Geek songwriter from Austin, Texas with a strange affinity for ballads, Irish drinking songs, acoustic Alternative Folk, podcasting, Sci Fi, and cats.

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