Graphic artist, Molly C. Loar, finished the CD cover Marc Gunn's upcoming CD, Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion. The result is a stunning piece of art.

Sunday, April 29, 2007
Benefit for Thundering Paws
El Arroyo @ 3PM
at Bee Caves Rd and Hwy 71
Austin, TX

Join us for a fun afternoon Sunday, April 29, 2007, from 3pm to 5pm. Thundering Paws will have a benefit event at the El Arroyo restaurant in Bee Cave, near the intersection of Bee Cave Road and Highway 71. Marc Gunn is providing music from 3pm to 4pm, and we know you'll enjoy his combination of traditional Celtic tunes and silly cat lyrics. Anne, the directory of Thundering Paws, will tell happy stories about Thundering Paws animals. There will also be a silent auction, and you can order food and drinks from the full El Arroyo menu. Suggested donation is $10 for the event (does not include your food and drinks).

For more information, see the event flyer. If you can print a flyer and post it somewhere, that will help us get the word out about this event. Click here for the event flyer. (File size: 0.25 MB)

Productive day. Ari finished all the guitar parts for Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion. That means there's just his backup vocals and mixing to do for that CD. Well, that and I need to come up with some graphics for the album. He did another great job. There's some more tasty solos. Ari is awesome.

While he was recording, I worked on graphics for Victims of Irish Music. I'm not sure I'm satisfied with the album cover yet. But Roy Janik sent me links to a lot of Ireland photos that I was able to use for the rest of the CD. Now I just need to finish mastering the album.

And I need to record my Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. I'm a wee bit behind on that one. Though the shownotes shouldn't take long. Maybe once I get back from my Italian Language meetup.

Back in high school, I was huge fan of Weird Al. It was a natural progression because my dad was a fan of his comedic predecessors. When I grew up, he sang lots of comedic songs. He'd parody songs and write songs on the fly while playing his banjo. So it was natural for me to hear Weird Al's parodies and become a huge fan.

I bought Weird Al's albums and listened over and over again. But I had one small problem. Not all the songs were parodies. And those that were I wasn't entirely sure what the original songs were because I lost the cassette jackets or the jackets were incomplete. So in my senior year of high school, I made my own compilation tape featuring the Weird Al song, followed by the original version. It was neat to hear the differences.

It was this desire to hear the original that inspired me to record a new CD: Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion CD. This album features all of the original songs found on my Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers CD. You can hear how a song evolved from a fun Irish song into a purrfectly fun song about the cats we love.

While the production isn't nearly fancy as on Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers, it still has all the energy and fun that you enjoy from that CD. All the music comes from my producer Ari Koinuma and Marc Gunn.

Find out more about Irish Drinking Songs:
The Cat Lover's Companion

Here are the songs you will find on this CD:

1. Finnegan's Wake
2. Black Velvet Band
3. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
4. The Moonshiner
5. I'll Tell My Ma
6. Patriot Game
7. Black Is The Colour
8. Bonnie Ship the Diamond
9. Gypsy Rover
10. Wild Rover
11. The Barnyards of Delgaty
12. Fiddler's Green
13. Lord of the Dance

If you enjoy Irish drinking songs, then this is a delightful album for you, full of feline vitality, and also a nice compliment to the Brobdingnagian Bards latest CD, The Holy Grail of Irish Drinking Songs. These are the CDs you will want for St Patrick's Day.