MARC GUNN - MP3 Music Downloads

Press

Celtic folk songs, Irish drinking songs, filk songs, cat songs. Basically, I play acoustic folk music on the autoharp and a cappella. When I gig, you will find me performing with the Brobdingnagian Bards. The internet opened a lot of great avenues for me to promote the music that I love, and I am blessed to have people who enjoy it. I hope you will too.

Irish Culture and Customs

Review: Irish Drinking Songs For Cat Lovers/Marc Gunn & The Dublin Tabby Cats
by Bridget Haggerty (and others)

Are you a cat lover? Do you love to sing Irish drinking songs? Then this unique CD for the die-hard cat fanatic was made for you! Listen to all the tunes you hear on st. Patrick's Day by the Dubliners, the Clancy Brothers, the Wolfe tones, and the Irish Rovers. Then laugh out loud at the clever lyrics Marc Gunn has created to accompany the music - for example, Lord of the Pounce - a parody of Lord of the Dance. It goes on like that through fifteen feline adapted tracks which have garnered applause, encores and four-paws up from combo cat and Irish music lovers all over the world.

Should you be concerned over your dignity? An old Irish Saying goes: "Never trust a man who doesn't like cats."

Now then, are you saying to yourself, is this man daft, drunk, or both? Well, he was sober when he made the CD - you can tell that from the quality of the music. But he is a bit over the top when it comes to his unabashed love of cats. And that's purrfectly alright with us; we definitely understand what these amazing creatures will do to one's mind and heart. And we're not the only ones who appreciate what Marc has accomplished when he combined cats and celts to create this furry well-done collection:

Three meows and a round of milk on the house!
Reviewer: Edward Burke, a Celtic music fan and College DJ

Are you Scots/Irish in heritage and just happen to be a cat person, too? Do you tend to take things with a grain of salt? Ever tried milk mixed with beer? Then you may just enjoy “Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers”, the latest solo effort put out by Austin, Texas’ modern minstrel Marc Gunn and his group the Dubliner’s Tabby Cats. So much more then a mere novelty, on “Irish Drinking Songs…” you’ll find melodies to classic Irish jigs and ballads you may hear wafting out of a corner pub on St. Patrick’s Day, but only re-written with lyrics about America’s (and possibly the world’s) other best friend. The music, led by Gunn’s autoharp and lead vocals is mostly acoustic and as light-hearted as a cat at play. The songs will make you laugh such as “Wild Kitty”, and “Furagone’s Wake”, make you cry such as “Black is the Color of my Cat’s Fur”, and make you realize why you love cats so much, such as “The Demented Cat Game”. If this was not enough, there is a song about a character named Cat on the now off-air British comedy Red Dwarf and a song about a group of 100 alley cats who witnessed the infamous adventures of the infant Harry Potter. All of the tracks on “Irish Drinking Songs…” are equally noteworthy and folksy; Gunn and company deliver solid musicianship and produce a fantastic sounding album, (not to mention put their all into meowing where needed for emphasis). Some people don’t like cats…it’s true, but they have the jingle-bell dogs to keep them happy. I say let them eat cake…or dry kibbles. We feline-inclined people have this album to call our own. I highly recommend this album, for if you own a cat or have ever owned a cat before, then you will understand why I, and Gunn and Co., love them so.

Kitty album hit of the wedding reception
Reviewer: Nancy Douglas de Baca
Long before it came out, this album was being buzzed on several e-lists that I belong to. We all downloaded the samples and read the newsletters. I had been waiting breathlessly for months, ever since I heard about this hysterical album, waiting for the cat songs to come out. I love cats. Also, I belong to a historical research and re-creational group, so I wanted it not only for myself, but for my friends who play celtic, filk* and other music. The release coincided with my theme wedding, so I bought CDs as attendant gifts for all the musicians. I also took my personal CD to the reception and played some of the slower ones to dance to. It's difficult to dance when everyone is laughing so hard.

Classic songs come back in new furry form!
Reviewer: Amanda Kamnitzer (Foltz)
What could be better than sitting around drinking (milk) with your cats on a crisp fall day? Why, sitting around drinking with your cats while listening to Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers, of course! Clean sounds, great lyrics and amazing as a whole! If I'm down, it brings me up and if I'm already up it sets me to song. Classic songs come back in new furry form! My kitties and I love to laze about the house and yowl with the sounds of Irish folk music to the key of C Major(for cats, ha!) Such witty writing, such a lovely voice... Here's to Marc Gun and his proud owners Tore & Tiziano! May your dishes be forever full of milk and your catnip in good supply! We hope you love this CD as much as we did!

Reviewer: Penny Waugh, Isle of Skye
Found this CD while trawling the internet for cat-related items. Love it! Cat Rosie who runs a mile when I sing actually paused in her washing to listen.

Reviewer: Faith
All your favorite familiar songs with new favorite lyrics about those fabulous furry folk that love milk, sardines and tuna. My cats really are listening to it. When you have excellent musicians, it really doesn't matter what they sing about, but cats are near and dear to me so I absolutely love it!

Reviewer: Bonnie Earnhardt
This CD is a real hoot and a joy to Irish mug-tipping cat lovers everywhere! I enjoyed it so much I ordered a copy for a friend. Marc Gunn has a rare mix of great talent, musicianship, and pure fun!

Reviewer: Sheryl
All of my Christmas presents were cat-lover related (we had 31 stray kittens born in our backyard this spring and decided to keep SOME of them). The CD is a hoot! We listened to it all the way to and from Christmas Dinner an hour away from our house and laughed out loud at the lyrics. While probably not a grammy contender, it was GREAT fun!

And this is just a sampling of the raves the CD has received!

So there you have it - and we hope you'll buy it. Marc funded the project himself because none of the labels could be persuaded that an irish music CD featuring feline related lyrics would be of any interest. Our hope is that it will become such a huge hit Marc will be able to finance a sequel - the songs are written; but there's no money in the kitty - ahem, we mean we're out to prove the music label's are wrong. There IS money in the kitty!

-- Bridget Haggerty, Irish Culture and Customs

IrishMusicReviews.com

"When Kitty Eyes are Smiling (and other Celtic Cat Songs)" by Marc Gunn

I recently received a preview copy of Marc Gunn's "When Kitty Eyes are Smiling (and other Celtic Cat Songs)," a single that contains three songs (Furragone's Wake, When Kitty Eyes are Smiling, and Wild Kitty) that are a preview of his upcoming release of "Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers." This is an absolutely brilliant single and a great advertisement for the CD. The three songs are standard Irish drinking songs (who doesn't know Finnegan's Wake, When Irish Eyes are Smiling, and Wild Rover?) rewritten to be about cats...complete with meows, hissing, and a set of brilliantly funny lyrics.

Of course, it also contains Marc's fantastic voice, touched with a bit of laughter that's readily heard, as well as some wonderful guest meow-ers...erm...performers. Simply put, these songs are FUN and no one is more aware of that than Marc himself. If you don't find yourself giggling like mad through Wild Kitty, I'd be completely shocked. It's guaranteed to put you in a good mood and cause you to laugh out loud.

For a limited time, "When Kitty Eyes are Smiling" is available for $3.95. The final CD is up for adoption in October 2005!

-- Michelle Osborne, Irish Music Reviews.com

CelticChristianTunes.com Album Review

Soul of a Harper and Memories of Middle Earth

Marc Gunn's rich warm vocals are perfect for the ballad style of his original tunes. His self-described "reflective and romantic" personality shines through in the Renaissance Celtic inspired music found on his solo CD, Soul of a Harper as well as his work with Andrew McKee (the Brobdingnagian Bards) on Memories of Middle Earth.

Such romantic offerings as the original tune, "Buttercup's Lament" and the traditional "My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose" come from his heart, and the listener feels as if he is present in the room.

This sense of presence is also evident in the many humorous tunes to be found on both discs. These are great pub songs, and deserve to be heard live. From the pictures (in costume) on the websites (thebards.net and marcgunn.com) and their obvious popularity (numerous gigs), it seems this group is best enjoyed in live concert. Many of the tunes can be categorized as filk music, that is, music about sci-fi and fantasy topics.

Instrumental-only pieces are also featured on both CDs.

If the novelty of costumed bards singing about Elves and Hobbits isn't enough, their unique instrumentation sets them apart. Marc Gunn plays autoharp, accompanied by Andrew McKee on recorder and mandolin.

As far as Celtic music goes, this is definitely not a traditional offering. As far as Christian goes, neither of these albums are particularly Christian in content. Soul of a Harper and Memories of Middle Earth. are a unique combination of fun, folk and fantasy ingredients with a dollop of renaissance romanticism.

-- Heather Beckmyer for CelticChristianTunes.com

Rambles.net Album Review

Soul of a Harper

This CD should probably be called Soul of an Autoharper. Most people would expect to hear either classic or Celtic harp, and the CD cover, which has a picture of Marc Gunn and the tuning keys of his instrument, does not make this clear.

The best tracks are the first and last songs and the instrumentals, all written by Gunn. "The Bridge" is a heartfelt song about reconnecting with a lover, and Gunn's rich voice works well for the lovely "Buttercup's Lament," inspired by The Princess Bride.

The three instrumentals are simply played (I don't know if there is such a thing as a virtuoso autoharpist, anyway), but these stately, medieval-sounding melodies get a light, airy touch by the autoharp. They evoke a feeling of mystery and the romantic Celtic spirit. Flowery titles like "Kyara Elven Mistress of Whispers" fit these tunes well.

Gunn delivers a lively version of Robert Burns' "Killiecrankie," an adequate one of the traditional "Lanigan's Ball" and a moving version of Burns' "My Love is a Red, Red Rose." The standard "The Parting Glass," done here a cappella, has been heard too often to be enjoyable, particularly when sung in Gunn's dirge-like fashion.

Gunn's attempts at humor fall flat, as in "The Leprechaun" ("There's a leprechaun in my head/I wish that I were dead."). When Gunn changes his voice to indicate the sound of the leprechaun taunting him, you can't help but think that the wee bit o' a lad has a point, especially since the song places him in a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal.

"The Barrel Song" is the retelling of an old joke in ballad form, and "Middle Earth Bragging Song" namedrops from you-know-where. Of course, everyone has a different opinion about humor.

Gunn is a member of Renaissance Festival super-band Brobdingnagian Bards. The pleasant music on this CD would likely be even more enjoyable live in Ye Olde Shire.

-- Dave Howell, Rambles