Well, you've heard the news. The
Brobdingnagian Bards are going their separate ways. Andrew posted
his plans for the future. But what about me? If you follow
my personal website, you might know some of my plans. They include plans to move, changing the way I play shows, vacation tours, and lots and lots of new music.
In 1995, I graduated college and told myself, "I love Austin, but I really want to live some place new." I gave myself a year. That turned into thirteen years. I finally decided that I am gonna leave Austin, at least temporarily. In November, my new home will be New Orleans. But I'll only be living there until next June (no worries about hurricane season). Then? I'm not sure.
The other big thing for me is travel. I love to play music, but traveling for a "gig" is just not for me. The hours on the road wear me down. Plus, I don't like leaving my kitties all by themselves for weeks on end.
Also, I have a weird perspective on performing. I prefer to think of gigs as paid vacations. While I mostly plan to play locally in New Orleans, I am still hoping to see some new places next year. But I plan to fly in and out, playing a gig while I see the new place. Is it possible? Eh? Who knows! But there's a lot of places around the country and the world I really want to see.
Which brings me to the next thing--Europe. Okay. So, I've been brainstorming this wild idea. Picture it. You fly to, say, Italy. You live in a house for a week with a bunch of other people. During the day, you see and experience one of the oldest, most-beautiful cultures on the planet. In the evening, you celebrate with good food, good drink, and good company, while singing songs along with me or just relaxing in paradise.
Whatcha you think? That's the tentative idea I've been throwing around in my head. I am thinking about organizing a
"Celtic Invasion of Italy" just like that. And the opportunities are endless. We could do stuff like that in Ireland, Scotland, England, France, China, Greece, Canada, Florida, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, whatever. Anyone besides me want to go to Prince Edward Island on an
Anne of Green Gables pilgrimage?? Ummm... Okay, I'll shut up now. :P
What else?
This year, I released four new CDs. Yes, FOUR. I LOVE recording music. I have several CDs planned for the future. In fact, I just finished a four-song preview of one, recorded with Rich Brotherton who produced my latest cat CD
Whiskers in the Jar. I can't begin to explain how much I LOVE working with him. His special engineering touch makes the music sound incredible!
Plus, I will continue to record all
my five or six or so of my podcasts (Did you vote for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast for "Best Podsafe Music" yet at
www.podcastawards.com? You have until Sept 30, 2008). Those continue to grow astonishingly. So thank you all for listening.
Is that it? Hmm...
Oh! There are two gigs I am really, really, REALLY hoping to be at next year--I-Con Science Fiction Convention in New York, and DragonCon in Georgia. I don't know if I can get in as a no-named indie musician, but those are two of my absolute favorite shows of the past nine years. I really hope I will be there. I'm gonna talk to the people in charge to see if I can make it happen. If you know anyone in those places, please send them good vibes and let them know I am dying to be a guest.
That's about it. Again, if you want to find out more join my mailing list below. I will keep you up-to-date.
Slainte!
-Marc Gunn, Bard
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Wednesday, September 17, 2008
I got back from the last of my
Whiskers in the Jar CD release house concerts. This final edition of the
Whiskers Tours took place in Watauga, TX, just outside of Fort Worth. The show went smooth and was a ton of fun. Thanks to Raenell for putting this on.
I must say, I like doing house concerts at cat homes. It's a great opportunity to meet new cats, and cats know how to add atmosphere to shows. Two of the house cats noticed all the people who came to see and worship them. So they made sure to give us all opportunities in song, with cameras, and with laughs to shower them with attention. I need to do more
house concerts like that!
This Week:
-- Quote of the Week: "I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow." Woodrow Wilson.
--
What Color Is Your Dragon? Is Here. How many albums does that he plan to release? Good question. Answer: a Lot! The new album was secretly finished up last month. It is now in the good hands of CD Baby where it will go on sale on their website in about a week or so. The album features filk songs about Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Dr. Who, and Firefly.
--
New FuMP song "She Said Her Name Was Saffron". You can listen and download one of the songs from
What Color Is Your Dragon? on The FuMP website.
--
GenCon and Arkansas. The Brobdingnagian Bards hit the road next week on the road to GenCon. We'll be stopping off in Little Rock for another great show at Studio Joe's.
--
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling is now available for pre-order on Amazon. There's also a
Collector's Edition tha includes a reproduction of J.K. Rowling's handwritten introduction, as well as 10 additional illustrations not found in the Standard Edition.
--
Marc Gunn Now on Twitter. Yes, I broke down and signed up. I'm trying to use it sparingly. Just not too easy.
-- Podcasts From the Road. The couple weeks I've been on the road doing shows. Here are some of the podcasts I listened to:
Manic Mondays,
Slice of Sci Fi,
APM: Marketplace,
CD Baby DIY Musician Podcast,
The FuMP,
The Signal,
Star Trek Last Frontier, and
Playing for Keeps.
-- Check me out on
Myspace,
SoundClick,
Demand a Show on Eventful,
Wikipedia,
Twitter,
Facebook,
Livejournal,
Sonicbids, and
DeviantArt. And if
you'd like a CD...
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Sunday, August 03, 2008
The Brobdingnagian Bards were NOT invited back as official guests of
DragonCon.
Andrew and I had a big talk this morning after watching
The Dark Knight (loved it) about whether the Brobdingnagian Bards will show up at DragonCon at all. I already committed myself because I volunteered to be on a podcast panel. But Andrew?
The fact is we've had literally dozens of people ask if we are going. After five years of performing at DragonCon to a growing fan base, our fans expect us to be there. So rather than disappoint all the people who go out of their way to support us each year, we decided to swallow the costs for you and make one more trip to the Con.
Now that we know we
are going, we hope to organize a couple unofficial shows for you. We're looking at various tracks, open spaces, or even playing down in the filk room. Just keep an eye open to one to this blog for details. Hopefully, we'll have something established before the Con starts.
Mostly though, we are going to have fun, take it easy, enjoy the con and your company. Maybe we'll even see some panels for the first time ever at DragonCon!
To fund the trip, we hope to supplement our income by organizing 2-4 gigs on the way back. So if you have any
gig ideas between Austin and Atlanta, please let us know.
Oh! For that matter, if you have a big room and don't mind a ton of Nagians coming to your room for live music, please email us.
I hope you will make some time available to see us at the con!
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Friday, July 18, 2008
I just got the news. The Brobdingnagian Bards are officially NOT booked for DragonCon 2008. This is very disappointing news to me. I love going to
DragonCon. It is one of those highlights that I always look forward to every year. Knowing that we don't get to entertain all of my fellow geeks out there makes me sad. It was a pleasure.
That said, I am still going to DragonCon. Currently, I am booked on a podcast marketing panel. I was also invited to bring
"Captain Black Jack" Murphy, Pirate Extraordinaire to the
Pirate Party on Saturday night. As soon as I hear a confirmation about that I will let you know. But I think it's fairly solid.
I gotta admit a part of me is rather excited about this opportunity. I loved doing the shows in the filk room, on the Concourse and in the auditoriums. I had many brilliant times. But not having those solid shows means that I might be able to see more of the Con. I'm thinking about spending more time in the Hilton catching some podcast panels, visiting more tracks to play some of our genre-specific filks, and I'm throwing the idea around about doing a room concert or several (if anyone is interested).
Will Andrew be there? I don't know just yet. Tomorrow, we're gonna talk about it and see if we can make it financially feasible for a group. But right now, I just don't know.
Meantime, bookmark my website. I will have more news about DragonCon coming soon.
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Thursday, July 17, 2008
Three years ago I needed a new autoharp. I saw some cool
autoharps on Amazon.com. The one I picked out was an Electric Autoharp 45C with 4 Band EQ and fine tuners. It was shipped to me, and I fell in love. It sounded great both acoustic and electric. I found only one slight problem...
I'm a bit picky with my
autoharps. In general, I find that the older autoharps sound better. But I wanted one that had a pickup. I also wanted to try out an autoharp with fine tuners.
Fine tuners are a brilliant devices for autoharps. Without them, autoharps are tuned with a wrench on the tuning pins. The trouble with that is that too much tuning and you strip the wood. Then you're in trouble. I have an autoharp like that right now. It has an empty spot where my F7 string once lay. The wood is stripped, and I haven't taken it into the shop to be repaired. It's such a hassle.
Fine tuners are solve this problem by reducing the wear on the wood. You tune mostly through the pins and then "fine tune" it at the base of the autoharp. That means the pins are turned less, and the wood strips less as well.
Most professional autoharpers Love fine tuners. Sadly, I am not one of them. The reason is, I am notorious for playing my autoharps in fierce conditions. Sometimes I play them all day outside in the heat or cold. Plus, I still play my autoharps like I am in a rock band. While I do my best to take care of my instruments, playing the autoharp in this manner makes me break a lot of strings. With non-fine tuner autoharps, I can replace a string in five minutes. But fine tuners slow me down a lot.
In fact, I broke a string nearly two years ago. I
finally replaced it yesterday. Consequently, the instrument has barely been played.
Despite the fine tuner issue, I really don't want to sell this autoharp. Nevertheless, I need to buy a new autoharp that I can regularly take to gigs. Because of that reason, I have decided to sell this gem.
If you are interested in purchasing it, check my merchandise store to
buy the autoharp now. Want
autoharp music tips?
(Cat not for sale:)
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Thursday, July 17, 2008
I think I need to write a song about lap cats. You hear all about lap dogs. I used to have one as a kid. But you hear very little about lap cats, and I've never heard no songs about them. Yet, I have two cats who LOVE sitting in my lap. Tiziano is here right now, licking my arm. Youch! Durn rough tongue. If he wasn't so cute!
-- Quote of the Week:
"Beware of people who dislike cats." Irish proverb.
--
Swan Songs is an Austin, Texas based project designed to organize private concerts for individuals and families living with life threatening illness. Patients have the opportunity to request a favorite style of music or local area musician. By bringing live music directly to the home, hospital or hospice facility, Swan Songs helps to create a healing and comforting environment through the fulfillment of musical wishes at the end of life. I had an amazing experience with them last week.
-- The
Maritime Heritage Network, based in Seattle, featured my CD,
Going for Brogue, on their website in early June.
--
Simple Guide to Hosting a House Concert. I embedded two new videos from
ConcertsInYourHome.com which offer simple guides on how to host a house concert.
--
Celtic MP3s Music Magazine is newly updated. I finally linked the homepage directly to the
reviews and free music downloads. You can now sign up to get
email updates each day a new post is made. That's where you'll find this CD review of...
-- CD of the Week:
"The Whiskey Never Lies" by
Sligo Rags. What a fun band! The title song was rather popular on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. It's a great mix of Celtic, folk, and bluegrass.
--
MarcSongs Podcast. "Kitty's Rambles/Dowd's 9 Lives/Jenny's Chickens" is a rockin' set of one jig and two reels. It's free to download when you subscribe to the podcast.
UPCOMING SHOWS
-- I have three CD Release Parties coming for
Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers. Mark your calendar with these dates below:
- Sat, July 26, Saltwater Grill, New Orleans, LA. This CD Release benefits the LSPCA. Make sure you also check out my house concert in Robert, LA.
- Weds, July 30, Cactus Cafe, Austin, Texas. The event benefits Thundering Paws, a Central Texas animal shelter. If you're on my Street Team, you could win a free DVD when you help me promote this show.
- Sat, Aug 2, DFW House Concert, in Watauga, TX. Straight up mix of Cat songs and Celtic favorites.
-- Check me out on
Myspace,
SoundClick,
Demand a Show on Eventful,
Wikipedia,
Facebook,
Livejournal,
Sonicbids, and
DeviantArt. And if
you'd like a CD...
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Three years ago today was my last day at the "day job". That's when I became a full-time musician. While I am thankful that UT Austin gave me the job that guided me to my musical career. I can't say that I miss it a moment. I love recording music, playing it, podcasting, and getting to know people.
-- Quote of the Week:
"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow." Jeff Valdez.
--
Marrus Art. Last Fall, my friend Marrus, a brilliant fantasy artist, made the funniest sketch for the cat lover who doesn't sleep much. She called it "Furry Sandbag Torture Chamber". I begged her to put something on
Cafepress. She finally did. Get your copy now.
--
Ringtones available on iTunes. I was just surfing iTunes and noticed that several songs had Ringtones. So if you're looking for any. Check it out.
-- CD of the Week:
Irish to the Core by
The Wolfe Tones. This is the album that started all for me. Someone lent me a cassette copy when Andrew and I used to play on the South Mall at UT. I loved. Really quirky voices and fun music. "Rock on Rockall" is one of my favorites. I keep meaning to learn that song. Hmm... Need to work on that.
-- Still working on the
Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. I got side track by the next item on this list. But the magazine is still coming together. In fact, I'm transferring all the old CD reviews to one blog, the
Free Irish Music Downloads blog. You can now sign up to get
email updates. This will be CD reviews and free MP3s as soon as they are posted! It's a cool service from Feedburner. So check it out.
Now the reason for my sidetracking...
--
What Color Is Your Dragon? Folk Music with Delusions of Grandeur. The album is done. I'm sending it off to the printers any day now. W00t! You can listen and download "
The Lusty Young Sith" via the
MarcSongs Podcast. Different from the pre-sales of other CDs, this one is not yet on sale. Hope to have it out next month.
Also, don't forget...
--
Mark Your Calendar - Cat CD Release Party in Austin and New Orleans. One of the first things I did upon feeling better was to secure some CD release parties for
Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers. The CD is now on
CD Baby and
iTunes.
- Austin CD Release. Right now, I have an Austin release at the Cactus Cafe on Weds, July 30th. Please note, that this was not the original date reported. But it is the correct date! I really need a LOT of help getting the word out about this gig. It's a benefit for Thundering Paws. So please tell your friends and make sure you head out there for this gig.
- New Orleans CD Release. No sooner had I solidified the Cactus, when my friend Jamie helped me score a CD release in New Orleans at the Saltwater Grill on Sat, July 26 in the afternoon. It benefits the LSPCA. There's also a house concert up in Robert, LA for those who want a more intimate show.
- Please consider posting a review if you own Whiskers in the Jar.
-- Check me out on
Myspace,
SoundClick,
Demand a Show on Eventful,
Wikipedia,
Facebook,
Livejournal,
Sonicbids, and
DeviantArt. And if
you'd like a CD...
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Tuesday, July 08, 2008
It was a productive day. I decided I needed to organize my office. I have a couple thousand CDs in boxes against the wall. While I was in here, I decided it was time to start filtering through my junk. I'm still planning on moving one day. So I need to get rid of junk to make my move easier.
I found a bunch of stuff that I don't want, and that others might like. So I'm planning on auctioning stuff on eBay. One such cool item is a cassette recording of "Soul of a Harper" sung by the author
Rie Sheridan. It's interesting to see how the song evolved from her a Capella recording of it. Plus, there's some Con and faire badges. And lots more. Stay tuned if you're interested.
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Thursday, July 03, 2008
Shortly after my last weekly update, I lost my voice entirely. It was then I decided to break down and take antibiotics for my sore throat and laryngitis. I was feeling better by the end of the week. That got me back to Yoga and exercising on a daily basis. Plus, I'm finally feeling productive again. So the past few days were extremely busy.
Marc Gunn' Weekly Update:--
Mark Your Calendar - Cat CD Release Party in Austin and New Orleans. One of the first things I did upon feeling better was to secure some CD release parties for
Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers. The CD is now on
CD Baby and
iTunes. Please consider posting a review if you own the album.
- Austin CD Release. Right now, I have an Austin release at the Cactus Cafe on Weds, July 30th. Please note, that this was not the original date reported. But it is the correct date! I really need a LOT of help getting the word out about this gig. It's a benefit for Thundering Paws. So please tell your friends and make sure you head out there for this gig.
- New Orleans CD Release. No sooner had I solidified the Cactus, when my friend Jamie helped me score a CD release in New Orleans at the Saltwater Grill on Sat, July 26 in the afternoon. It benefits the LSPCA. There's also a house concert up in Robert, LA for those who want a more intimate show.
-- Quote of the Week:
"The brain said to the mouth, 'I'm gonna kill us both.' The mouth replied, 'Speak for yourself.'" B. Gunn. My dad said this not too long ago. It amused me too much not to share.
-- I finally recorded the
Irish show for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Kristen and I recorded the 3-year anniversary feature on of the
Renaissance Festival Podcast today. Hope to have it up tomorrow. Wow! Three years of podcasting. Can you believe it? And still going strong now that my laryngitis is gone. ;)
--
FuMP War! My friend Shoebox of
Worm Quartet decided to get personal about my cat songs. In general, I'm against war, but when he presented his song to me, I couldn't help but laugh and respond with my own assault-"Dear Worm Quartet". I get a little explicit. But it's all in good fun. The song was written and recorded the night before I flew to Ireland.
-- CD of the Week:
Whatever Tickles Your Fancy by Christy Moore.
This compilation of two early albums by Christy Moore is where I learned
"Lanigan's Ball" and
"Johnny Jump Up". I love his arrangements of those songs.
-- Working on
Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. I love this magazine. It has over 20,000 subscribers. I publish it once a month and it features a bunch of free Celtic music downloads and CD reviews. Good stuff, right? Well, the website doesn't seem to get much traffic. So I making updates once again to make it easier to read the magazine articles and get the downloads. Hope to have an easy link for you next week.
--
MarcSongs Podcast - Song of Assisi. I wrote this song last weekend while watching Rick Steve's talk about Assisi. I love the city. This is the name that was voted by you.
-- Check me out on
Myspace,
SoundClick,
Demand a Show on Eventful,
Wikipedia,
Facebook,
Livejournal,
Sonicbids, and
DeviantArt. And if
you'd like a CD...
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Wednesday, July 02, 2008
I've had a sore throat since I got back from Ireland. I didn't go to the doctor, because of our crappy medical system, my insurance doesn't cover this problem (ie. We need universal health care). But that's fine, I don't want antibiotics in any case. So instead, I've made several visits to the student acupuncture clinic. Musicians get a discount.
The goal of Eastern medicine is to strengthen your immune system so that your body fights off infection instead of just attacking the symptom, like in Western medicine. It's much smarter, because that's really what my body needs. My immune system is weak, and it needs strengthening. Now I'm in the last few days of the sore throat. I wish it was over sooner, but at least I'm taking better care of my body.
This week:
-- Quote of the Week:
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Mark Twain. I read that quote on
Rick Steves website a few years back and it became my Livejournal slogan. It's so true. As soon as you leave your home, your world is opened up to different people and cultures, you often can't help but realize that our narrow-minded views are not so significant to the grand scheme of things. So please, do yourself a favor, take a trip. We are ALL guilty of narrow-mindedness. We all need healing.
--
CD Release Success! My first CD release for
Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers was a brilliant success. Had a nice-size, overflowing crowd for the shop. I need to start finding bigger venues. I'm still waiting impatiently to hear back from the Cactus whether that gig is confirmed or not. I do have a potential house concert in Dallas for a CD release in early August. Anyone in Houston? I'm still not sure about the East coast stuff yet. Not looking likely at present unless I can find some promoters out there to organize something. Contact your promoter (or become one) and let's make something happen.
--
Great deal on T-Shirts from Dragon Press Graphics. Nikki O'Shea who writes and draws the
Bards Comic has a Huge discount on some of the Bards T-Shirts. Shirts as low as $5. Check 'em out. Won't last long.
--
Mention on The Fump. I love it when other groups mention me in song. In this fun FuMP track, Project Sisyphus mentions the Bards. And in a few days, you'll hear a Worm Quartet dedication... of sorts, to me.
--
Waiting for Bilbo Comic book. Did you read
Waiting for Frodo by Debbi Ohi? It was a comic preparing for the release of
Lord of the Rings. She just started her latest comic,
Waiting for Bilbo as we prepare for the release of
The Hobbit.-- CD of the Week:
Julie Delpy by Julie Delpy. I adore Julie Delpy. I first became enchanted by her from
Before Sunrise, one of my favorite movies. In her follow-up movie,
Before Sunset, Julie Delpy sings. I saw she had a CD and when I listened and heard one of the movie songs on her album, I bought it. It's actually really cool. It's got a nice folky, alternative, european jazzy feel to it. A couple songs remind me of Voltaire, strangely enough. I think more of the
Then and Again variety of song. I've had it on loop since I bought it yesterday. I think this'll be a new favorite.
--
Pub Songs Podcast - Live in Gougane Barra. I posted the podcast last week. It features some ramblings from our first day in Ireland. It's the only talking podcast I did there, but I'm hoping to put a few pub songs into a podcast this week. And I've had a request for a bards reminiscence of our trip to Ireland for
A Brobdingnagian Minute. I'll see what we can do. My sore throat has stopped me from releasing a Celtic and Ren Fest podcast, but I'll get on that soon.
--
Irish Songs & Lyrics updated. I added a few new lyrics from
Going for Brogue to the Irish Songs & Lyrics directory.
--
MarcSongs Podcast - A Drop of Nelson's Blood. I just realized that this was episode 52 of the MarcSongs Podcast. That means there is over a year's worth of free music that you can listen and download if you're subscribed. Many of these songs are podsafe. Podcasters can find my
podsafe music here.
--
Brobdingnagian Bards confirmed for GenCon. I don't have the details yet. All I know is that
GenCon is Aug 14-17 in Indianapolis. I think Andrew's gonna try and set up some shows around the event.
-- There's a
Faerie Bazaar out at the Rocky Hill Ranch on June 28th, the old home of the late, great Excalibur Fantasy Faire. I'm gonna go visit. You should too. It's free!
-- Check me out on
Myspace,
SoundClick,
Demand a Show on Eventful,
Wikipedia,
Facebook,
Livejournal,
Sonicbids, and
DeviantArt. And if
you'd like a CD...
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Monday, June 23, 2008
It's so great to be back home with my kitties. When I walked in, they let me tummy rub them for a record time. I think they too were thrilled to see me. Now it's time for catch up!
-- Quote of the Week:
"Good food. Good drink. Good Company." Marc Gunn. That is my new mantra, what I look for in life. And most definitely, it was my theme for my trip to Ireland.
-- Speaking of the
Vacation Tour of Ireland, the trip was brilliant. I finished posting all my blogs for the trip today and hope to have pictures up very soon. Here are the blogs:
Day 1,
Day 2,
Day 3,
Day 4,
Day 5, the
last few Days. Oh! And with the colder weather, Murphy's became a new favorite drink in Ireland. Yum!
--
Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers is now on CD Baby! Better still, it is the #13 most-popular CD on their
Top Now charts (alongside another Gunn. Go Gunns!). I put some more CDs in the mail today because I've almost sold out of the first batch up there. I'd love to see the album climb to #1. So please
buy your copy of Whiskers in the Jar now (or if you have a copy, post a review)!
-- CD Release Party THIS SATURDAY! The official release date is July 14th, but this Saturday, June 21st at 2pm is my first
CD Release Party at Things Celtic (in Austin). It's a Summer Solstice CD Release too! Admission is free. I'll play a few tracks from the album, plus a nice mix of new and used music for your listening pleasure. Michael J. McCoy will share excerpts from this new book afterward.
-- At that time, you'll find out about my biggest gig yet, a CD release at the Cactus Cafe, benefiting
Thundering Paws, a Central Texas Animal Shelter! Details coming soon.
-- I have a bunch of
new T-Shirts printed by
Lunatic Fridge. I hope to have pictures up soon.
-- I have a few podcasts to post. The new
MarcSongs Podcast will feature a live track from Ireland. Somehow, we never recorded
A Brobdingnagian Minute, but I have a
Pub Songs Podcast from the first day which was recorded in Gougane Barra. The Celtic and Ren podcasts will be out in the next few days.
--
East Coast CD Release? So I may go up to visit friends in mid-July. Which might be perfect for this CD Release. Just depends on the transportation from Long Island to Pittsburgh.
Email me if you're interested in helping put something together.
-- I fell a few slots on the
ReverbNation folk charts. You can help me climb by posting a widget on your website and blog and tell to listen to my new music. The
eventful demands continue to grow.
-- LiveJournal users remember that you can read all my homepage posts when you
friend this site.
-- Some friends are having a
Faerie Bazaar out at the Rocky Hill Ranch on June 28th, the old home of the late, great Excalibur Fantasy Faire. I think I might drop by to visit. I may even bring my autoharp out there.
-- CD of the Week:
"American Highlander" by
The Rogues. I haven't heard the album yet, but my copy just came in the mail. Bagpipes and drums. The Rogues kick butt!
-- Check me out on
Myspace,
SoundClick,
Demand a Show on Eventful,
Wikipedia,
Facebook,
Livejournal,
Sonicbids, and
DeviantArt. And if
you'd like a CD...
Originally published at Marc Gunn .com. Read. Interact. Breathe. It's easy; it's free.Labels: news
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Saturday, June 14, 2008
Just hours away from boarding the flight to Ireland. I'm antsy, and highly unproductive. I did finish a podcast and have another one planned for this evening... but I still need to pack. Oy!
-- Quote of the Week:
"The cat is domestic only as far as suits its own ends..." Saki (H. H. Munro). This seems all to true today. Torre has been peeing on the furniture again. It's frustrating as hell! I took him to the vet, and he doesn't have a bladder infection. So it's intentional. He's pissed about something. So he now has his pick of three different litters. Hopefully, that'll appease him at least until I get home.
-- CD of the Week:
"Forsaken Land" by
Pol Mac Adaim. The music is stunning. Pol has a fantastic voice and is moving songwriter.
--
Going for Brogue: Irish Pub Songs and Sea Shanties with an Accent is now on CD Baby. I was hoping to do some promo for that before I leave. Doesn't look like it'll happen. Download a
free MP3 of "Botany Bay" from the CD via the
MarcSongs Podcast.
--
Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers arrived this week. I packed up all the pre-ordered CDs before the weekend. April is supposed to put the CDs in the mail tomorrow. The album should be available on CD Baby by next week. My album producer,
Rich Brotherton, finally posted a website for his studio,
Ace Recording.
--
East Coast CD Release? I had a request for a CD release of
Whiskers in the Jar in Pittsburgh. I want to see if I can make that happen. That means, I'd like to find some venues within a 1-3 hours from Pittsburgh. Date? I was thinking late July. Anyone else want to try and make a CD release possible in that area?
-- New
Irish & Celtic Music Podcast will be posted in a couple hours.
--
#4 on the ReverbNation folk charts and climbing and a growing number of
eventful demands.
--
Go Obama!!!! Thrilled to see Obama as the Democratic candidate for president!
-- Check me out on
Myspace,
SoundClick,
Demand a Show on Eventful,
Wikipedia,
Facebook,
Livejournal,
Sonicbids, and
DeviantArt. And if
you'd like a CD...
Originally published at Marc Gunn .com. Read. Interact. Breathe. It's easy; it's free.Labels: news
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Oklahoma Ren Faire is over. Next up...
Ireland. One week to go.
-- Quote of the Week:
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln. I always loved that quote. And it's close to my heart.
-- Song of the Week: "Carey" by Joni Mitchell from
Blue (new feature)
I'm not sure why I love this song. I heard the song from a friend in my first year with the
Bards. My love of the song was reinvigorated by my friends Jamie and Katie. It's a wonderfully visual song filled with world travel and passion.
-- I climbed to
#6 on the ReverbNation folk charts, and I'm getting a lot more
demands on Eventful. Since I am doing more solo shows, I'm happy to see that.
-- I don't like charging for my music. I love giving it away. And I've had a few new
creative ideas for doing just that for people who join my street team. Look for exclusive CDs if you're on my
Street Team.
-- Finally posted a new
MarcSongs Podcast. The song, "
When the Dairy Farm Caught Fire", seems to be well-received. It's even getting some podcast-play.
-- My second
cat CD,
Whiskers in the Jar, is now in the mail. I really hope it arrives at the end of this week. I can't wait. I have a
CD release scheduled for the Summer Solstice at Things Celtic. I still hope to do other releases... if I can find a place in Louisiana, I'd like to do one there... maybe Dallas too as I seem to be getting a few more demands there. Though not sure where offhand. I'd love some help.
-- I am nearly done mixing my CD,
What Color Is Your Dragon? Folk Music with Delusions of Grandeur. That'll be my fourth solo CD to come out this year. Wow! From there, I'm hoping to start back to regular MarcSongs Podcasts. I want weekly podcasts of
free music downloads and maybe finish an instrumental CD, as well.
--
Going for Brogue arrived this week. The CDs are at CDBaby. I'm just waiting for them to process it. But you can get more CDs for your money if you pre-order it now.
-- The
Renaissance Festival Podcast is now up-to-date. Hope to get another show out this week.
-- "
I'll Tell My Cat" from
Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers was featured on
The Fump and
Dr. Demento.
-- Check me out on
Myspace,
SoundClick,
Demand a Show on Eventful,
Wikipedia,
Facebook,
Livejournal,
Sonicbids, and
DeviantArt. And if
you'd like a CD...
Originally published at Marc Gunn .com. Read. Interact. Breathe. It's easy; it's free.Labels: news
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Tuesday, May 27, 2008
I have a lot of plans. But it's always weird when I'm wavering in between goals. I've just about finished
What Color Is Your Dragon?. It's about done. I just need to master it. Now I'm looking at what's next. I'm kinda in between goals at the moment.
Restarting the
MarcSongs Podcast is a good plan. So I released a new MP3 today from
Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers. The podcast is back up. So now what?
The other projects I have lined up--an autoharp instrumental CD, a St. Patrick's Day CD,
Kilted for Her Pleasure compilation and
How Irish Music Saved Civilization.That last CD will require much money because I want to record it with Rich Brotherton. I am hoping I can record that album in August. But it depends on my money situation. The others compilations and original music. I guess I can also get back to writing and recording songs for the MarcSongs Podcast. Some more
Irish songs would be good for the
Irish Songs & Lyrics website.
And booking. I want to book more shows locally. I have the one at
Things Celtic. I also want to set one up at
Elysium. And I'd like to find some regular gigs around town since my summer is looking a little light. I have a lot of time to do stuff. Just need the motivation.
Course in July, I'm planning a bunch of
Irish & Celtic Music Mini-Podcasts. There will be CD giveaways and lots of shows for my three-year anniversary.
This helps. I work best when I have goals scheduled. But right now, I'm in that "be patient" scenario, where I just have to patiently do what needs doing and wait to see what happens. That's weird for me.
Meantime, tomorrow, we drive to Muskogee for the final weekend of the
Oklahoma Renaissance Festival. In two weeks, a much need break to
Ireland.
Originally published at Marc Gunn .com. Read. Interact. Breathe. It's easy; it's free.Labels: news
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Friday, May 23, 2008
Just one more weekend left at the
Oklahoma Renaissance Festival. It was a good weekend. Not nearly as many heat problems, or I'm acclimating a little better.
-- Quote of the Weekend:
"I never knew an autoharp could be so sexy!"Spoken after the soon to be infamous "tuning time" of the
autoharp.
-- The ReverbNation site is going well. I have already climbed to #8 on the Folk Charts. Yay! People like me! And I started
my first Street Team promotion to get spread the word about my music, in particular
Whiskers in the Jar. I'm still learning how it all works though. Hope to have a few new promotions coming soon.
-- I have my first date booked for my Cat CD release--
Summer Solstice Instore at Things Celtic. I want to try and organize a few shows in July to promote the album. I was thinking it would be really cool if I could organize some shows at some cat shelters. Anyone want to help me to do so in Dallas, Houston or San Antonio.
-- My friend Susi has a cool website for Custom Instrument Bags at
www.fiddlybags.com. She does good work. Check 'em out.
-- Guerrilla music marketer Bob Baker is holding an
Indie Buzz Bootcamp in late June. Well worth attending if you're a musician looking for music promotion advice.
-- Last week, I spent a bit o'time working on
What Color Is Your Dragon?. I still need to re-record a couple songs. It's tough motivating myself to do so, especially since I have the
Irish & Celtic Music Podcast to record this week. And I have a lot of fans asking about the next show.
-- Check me out on
Myspace,
SoundClick,
Demand a Show on Eventful,
Wikipedia,
Facebook,
Livejournal,
Sonicbids, and
DeviantArt. And if
you'd like a CD...
Originally published at Marc Gunn .com. Read. Interact. Breathe. It's easy; it's free.Labels: news
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Monday, May 19, 2008
-- I'm back from another weekend at the
Castle Muskogee. It was a decent weekend all things considered, but Saturday I was hit with heat problems that left me forgetting lyrics on Sunday. It was another sad reminder that I am not physically able to perform at faires. For now, I continue to do so. But I won't be able to much longer, I think. My constitution is just too weak.
-- When I got in, I finally booked our U.S. flights for the
Brobdingnagian Bards Tour of Ireland. Our trip is now all scheduled. Oddly enough, we still have a couple spots left open for this tour. And this is the last Brobdingnagian Bards Vacation Tour of Ireland. So if you ever wanted to join us on a tour, contact me now.
-- I'm getting ready to transfer my Marc's Musings mailing list to
ReverbNation. The site seems just too useful not to take advantage of. If you're not already on my mailing list, sign up now.
-- I've spent a few days brainstorming ways to visit more faires in 2009. These won't be gigs, but an opportunity to do promo for the
Renaissance Festival Podcast. So if you ever wanted to meet me at a faire, keep an ear open on the podcast. And watch for new
Faire Minion stickers and shirts.
-- Tomorrow, my friend Clif Haley comes in to record for one of the songs on
What Color Is Your Dragon?. The CD features a number of original songs as well as filks submitted by fans. I hope to have a track listing by the end of the week. Then you will be able to pre-order that album as well.
--
Whiskers in the Jar (as well as
Going for Brogue) is at Diskfaktory being printed. I'll let you hear a few more songs on the
Pub Songs Podcast later this week if you haven't already
listened online.
The Gift of Cat Love is now
iTunes.
-- Did you see the new SoundClick widget on iTunes? You can listen to a bunch of my songs on
my website while you read my latest news.
-- Check me out on
Facebook,
Myspace,
SoundClick,
Demand a Show on Eventful,
Wikipedia, and
DeviantArt.
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Monday, May 12, 2008
Just done with Student Days at Oklahoma Renaissance Festival. It went well. Michelle Hedden is playing bodhran for us all weekend, and it's ton fun having rhythm. At the end of the day, I went and played some
cat songs for fans and the Queen. I don't ever play those songs so it's a bit of a shame in my mind. Course that also means I had trouble remembering them. But I worked through most of them.
Then I got back to the hotel and learned that
Whiskers in the Jar is
at last in production. W00t! Not sure how long it'll take to get it out to me, but quicker is better!
I also setup a Fan Collector Widget from
ReverbNation (below) and uploaded some songs to that site. I think I'm gonna setup some exclusive MP3s there too, since it gives the option. The site has a Lot of cool features. Now I just need to figure them out.
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Thursday, May 08, 2008
I'm all packed and ready to go to
Oklahoma Renaissance Festival. Going to pick up Andrew in a few minutes. Meanwhile, I'm passing time watching
Buffy and doing some web updates. I added Going for Brogue to the CD special at Whiskers in the Jar ordering site.
I also signed up for
ReverbNation. A number of bands that I know and respect use the site. So I'm going to give a run and see what it can do for me.
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Friday, May 02, 2008
Whoa! Time for a breather. *sigh* It was a busy day. I decided to take a break from recording
What Color Is Your Dragon? to get other stuff done:
In other news from the week:
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Thursday, May 01, 2008
Last night, I went to see
Voltaire perform at
Elysium. As always, he put on a fantastic show, and his opening act
Ego Likeness had a good sound too. I must say I love going to Elysium. It's a very comfortable club for me, prolly cause I consider myself a Gothophile. I like the Goth culture.
While I waited for Voltaire to perform, I started compiling a list of things I want to get done this weekend. I have lots to do, if I can get motivated to work. Things on my list:
I am hoping to do some more solo shows here in Austin once I get back from Ireland. It got me thinking...
What songs that I sing would you like to hear live?and
What are your favorite songs by me?Labels: news
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posted by Marc Gunn @ Saturday, April 26, 2008
