About Marc Gunn
Marc Gunn is an Irish and Scottish folk singer with a strange affinity for Celtic ballads, drinking songs and cats, and he is the lead singer for the Brobdingnagian Bards. He is also Celtic music podcaster and Irish music magazine publisher and promoter. Last but not least, he is poet, photographer, and music business educator.
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Biography
Cats. Irish music. Drinking songs. Nowhere else but from the bright imagination of Marc Gunn would those three elements be so neatly integrated. Yet Gunn, sometimes called “the hardest working man in Celtic music” around his hometown in Austin, is an accomplished musician and entrepreneur who not long ago headlined at the Oscar party for Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
For Gunn, it started small, though not inauspiciously, wearing a kilt on campus at the University of Texas. As the autoharp-playing half of the Brobdingnagian Bards, Gunn and partner Andrew McKee developed a loyal following with weekly performances on campus. This quickly led to gigs at renaissance fairs, science fiction conventions, and Celtic music festivals as well as parties and weddings for the pair.
With the Bards’ calendar busy, Gunn began producing the duo’s recordings. Their first effort in 1999 was Marked By Great Size followed by Gullible's Travels in 2000. The third release was 2001’s instrumental Songs of the Muse, then two theme CDs A Faire To Remember and A Celtic Renaissance Wedding. 2002 saw the release of Songs of Ireland and in 2003, Memories of Middle Earth. A long-awaited solo album, Soul of a Harper, brought Gunn accolades in 2004; he then embarked on work for Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers.
Gunn’s activities are not restricted to musical performance alone. He is the brains behind an online resource called the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. The weekly publication reviews Celtic music of all varieties from Irish traditional music to Celtic rock. Two free, full-length MP3s are offered for download every week on the site. Additionally, Gunn publishes The Bards Crier's Music Marketing and Promotion Tips Ezine, a newsletter that teaches musicians about marketing and promotion, and handles webmaster duties for a variety of sites including the Austin Celtic Association.
All that hard work and effort has hardly gone unnoticed. Fans have downloaded more than five million MP3s from him; over one million of those were for the hugely popular “Tolkien (The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings).” The Brobdingnagian Bards were voted “Best Renaissance Men” in the Austin Chronicle’s 2003 Best of Austin poll. In March of 2005, The Bards collected an Austin Music Award for the Bards as Best Novelty Band, the first time any Celtic band has won. Gunn’s solo CD Soul of a Harper won the Best Cover Art category that year.
In a town famous for almost every musical genre except Celtic music, Marc Gunn has raised the bar and held it high. Using the musical past and a vivid imagination bolstered with ambition and drive, he blazes trails from terra firma to cyberspace, encouraging others to follow.
Some FAQ
Artist
Name: Marc Gunn, Bard
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Musical Idiom: Celtic & folk songs
Latest Album: Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers
First Single: "Wild Kitty "
Instrument: Oscar Schmidt 21-chord Chromatic Autoharp
Stylistic Notes: Celtic folk singer/songwriter with free Irish music downloads. He records Scottish and Irish folk music and filk on the autoharp.
Personal FAQ
about Marc Gunn
Name: Marc Andrew Gunn
Date of Birth: St.
Patrick's Day, March 17, 1972
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 5'10"
Ethnic Background: Scottish, Irish, German, French, Cherokee, and Choctaw
Marital Status: Single
Instruments Played: Autoharp, Guitar, Vocals
Former Bands: Skander, Breastfed, Ichabod
Favorite
Musicians: Elvis Presley, Fabrizio de Andre, Jars of Clay, David
Garza, Bryan
Bowers, Enya, The
Dubliners, Sinead
O'Connor, U2, Clannad, Altan, Great Big Sea, Lunasa, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Mozart, Beethovan, Al Grierson, Roger
Miller, Rogers & Hammerstein, Bill Joel, Paul Simon, Wierd Al
Yankovic, Clandestine, Ed
Miller, Bing Crosby, Barenaked Ladies, They Might Be Giants, Jackopierce,
Angelo Branduardi, The Beatles, Bjork, Cat Stevens, Johnny Cash, Leonard
Cohen, Radiohead, Stone Temple Pilots, The Wolfe Tones
Similar
Artists: Brobdingnagian
Bards, Andy
M. Stewart, Ed
Miller, Black
47, The
Dubliners, Clannad, Enya, Bryan
Bowers, Irish Rovers, Loreena McKennit, The Corries, Joni Mitchell, Elvis Presley, Altan, Martin
Carthy, Dolores Keane & John Faulkner, Jean Redpath, Roger McGuinn, The Clancy Brothers, Ewan MacColl, Kingston
Trio, Christy Moore, Dick Gaughan, Fairport Convention, Dervish, Phil
Coulter, The Fureys, Steeleye Span
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Listen:
"Black Velvet Band"
"Lord of the Pounce"
"Black Is the Colour"
my websites
other stuff:
myspace |
gallery |
cafepress |
message board |
livejournal |
books |
deviantart |
youtube |
press kit |
amazon wishlist
celtic music:
· Brobdingnagian Bards
· Celtic MP3s Music Magazine
· Celtic Weddings
· Celtic Wedding Music
· Celtic Music CDs
· Irish Songs & Lyrics
· Irish Stout's Irish Songs
· Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers
renaissance faires:
· Texas Renaissance Festivals
music promotion:
· Music Marketing Tips
· Texas Musicians
· Unsigned Bands Promotion
podcasts:
· Irish & Celtic Music Podcast
· Renaissance Festival Podcast
· Cat Lovers Podcast
· Pub Songs Podcast
· Irish Songs & Lyrics Podcast
· Your Weekly Irish Stout
· A Brobdingnagian Minute
autoharps:
· Autoharp Music Tips
· Autoharp Radio
· Buy Autoharps
free music:
· Folk Music Downloads
· Free Music Blog
· Free Music Downloads
· Free Gifts
· Free Irish Music
· Song Henge MP3 Archive
More Links
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