A Red Dwarf fanatic is born

Well, I finally finished Season Eight of Red Dwarf, and I'm now officially a fanatic. I LOVE THAT SHOW!!!!

Sucks that it's off the air. It left me with a desire to produce an Indie Sci Fi TV show. Tried searching the net for some w/o success sadly. Have to try again. I'm so addicted... I need my RD. *twitch, twitch*

Course, the next task is to finish that Red Dwarf filk I started to add to my Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Fanciers album. Forgot the tune it was to? Ah well.

Been chatting online a bit with Sarah Dinan. Aside from being an amazing singer, she's also an amazing personality. I hear she'll be at the song session this Sunday at Things Celtic. Don't think I'll be able to make it since Andrew and I are scheduled to be in the studio Sunday afternoon, but head out there if ye get a chance. Sounds smashing!

Also had lunch today with Hagar the Horrible (-ly cool). It's a big fan and volunteered to post posters around town. Still need to get some more together. Hoping I'll get those done tonight, but tomorrow, I'm heading out to the Excalibur faire site to run auditions for the faire. Volunteered that for Bryan Beard, the Entertainment Director. That said, I've a busy weekend. Glad I set aside more time this week to relax and do stuff for me.

Oh! I'm still in need of a few more reviews at Amazon.com for Soul of a Harper. If ye like it, drop by and drop a quick review. Thanks!

Soul of a Harper "Celtic 101" Review

Saw Memories of Middle Earth and Soul of a Harper were briefly reviewed in the Austin Chronicle today. Slight mis-quote which adds humor to the past two days blog.

"We're not really 'Celtic,'" explains Marc Gunn of the local Brobdingnagian Bards, and he's right; the duo is more lo-fi English folk with a distinct Gaelic twist. Yet their simple autoharp-and-recorder music is remarkably diverse ("Hobbit's Dance," "The Psychopathic, Chronic, Schizophrenic Gollum Blues"), as Memories of Middle Earth (Mage Records) displays. Gunn's own debut, Soul of a Harper, is only available on the Internet, the place where rebel Celtic music thrives – the Bards' MP3 hit, "Tolkien," racked up well over a million downloads in cyberspace. Harper is a delightfully homespun collection of instrumentals and songs about dwarves and elves, rebels and Ireland, and trad a capella such as "My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose." (Gunn also oversaw the Celtic MP3 collection Coventina's Well, featuring Ed Miller.)

More than anything I was saying, Memories of Middle Earth was not quite 'Celtic'. Ah well. It's good publicity.

Read the whole Celtic 101 review at the Austin Chronicle website.

Lothlorien, Celtic Music Group Disappears, or Have They?

If you remember the band Lotherlorien from MP3.com. They haven't seemed to totally disappear. As a matter of fact, they were back together in November performing at a The One Ring.net Party in New Zealand, I believe. If you go to their website, you can watch Lothlorien's performance there.

Soul of a Harper Selling Well

After our gig in Harlingen last weekend, I checked out how many CDs I had left. Lo and behold, I've already been through about 80 CDs. Not sure where they all went, off the top of my head.

Let's see, some are at Things Celtic, some went to CDbaby, and then some more went to Amazon.com... Hmm? So I've probably sold about fifty CDs, thusfar.

Any case, they should be in the mail sometime next week along with our backorder of Songs of Ireland and A Celtic Renaissance Wedding.

Next month, I plan to order Coventina's Well and maybe find some time to work on Celtic Legacy... but don't hold me to that yet. I have a few ideas which might make big changes to the initial CD idea. Fortunately, I'm feeling awake enough that i may be able to tackle that project.

"I'm getting better." No, you're not!

Rough week last week. Not entirely sure what happened some time Tuesday methinks, I caught a virus. It wasn't until Thursday that it really knocked the heck outta me, but oy! Ended up having to go home from work.

Fortunately, the sleep and loads of chicken soup helped. We were supposed to leave for Harlingen on Friday for a gig, but I was so wiped. Happily, I was feeling much better by Saturday morning when we left. Read our Bard Tales for more info about the Burns Supper.

Well, in case ye missed my homepage news, my CD release date is set for the end of February. And, we are confirmed for I-Con in New York. Gigs are slowly filling up. See the complete Bards calendar for details (still being updated).

Incredible Fantasy Art
Oh! Jen Clower-Brown, my fantasy art compadre, just finished two new pieces and uploaded them to our A Dragon's Eye Fantasy Art Store. Her Mage Elf is absolutely gorgeous!!!

I've also decided that at the beginning of next month, I'll be mass-producing the Coventina's Well CD. I've been wanting to do a lot more, but it's tough. This is pretty much a free promotional product to benefit the Austin Celtic Association. Not sure how practical that is when I'm fairly tight with my cash right now, but I want to get it done.

Celtic Compilation CDs
I think I'm gonna at least one more Celtic compilation CD, but we'll see what happens after that. While I really enjoy helping these artists and raising money for the ACA. You don't raise a lot o'money if no one knows the artists.

Now one of the more popular compilation CDs I've seen was Songs of the Faire Folk, a compilation of Ren Faire artists that sells for just five bucks. I'm thinking that this the way to go. I want to help artists, but if the CD doesn't sell, it won't help them much.

Course the toughest thing for me is to accept that I'm not going to profit off of it. That's pretty tough because I've geared my mind over the years to learn how to make a living with music. But sometimes, ye got to know when to let go. I believe this is one of those times.

Planning for the future... starting with 2004
I started making plans last week as well. I read a great music biz article about goal setting, and it really inspired me. I have a LOT to try and figure out, but at the very least I'm starting... trip to Italy, saving money, trip to Pennsic, finish Scots CD, Poetry book (know any good editors?), practice more, organize myself better.

I've made a good start, but I've still a long way to go, but then that's what goal setting is all about.

Celtic T-Shirt Update - Download Guilt Free

Well I took ya'lls suggestions and decided to try out a new USP--"Download Guilt Free!". If you're interested in promoting me, Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, or just free music downloading, order a copy of the Download Guilt Free - Coventina's Well T-Shirts

*purring softly*

I just got done reading all the reviews for Soul of a Harper on CDBaby. I'm now glowing. Thank you all so very much for the very sweet reviews of my CD. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. It really does mean a LOT to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I'd now like to see about getting a few reviews added to my Amazon.com site for Soul of a Harper. If anyone out there would like to post a review there I'd be delighted, though I must say that I really couldn't ask anything more after the kind comments already posted. But if ye get an inspiration. Please do. Thank you!

mreow!

Art opening in New Orleans

An incredible artist and friend, Marrus, now living in New Orleans is having an art opening there. If you're in New Orleans from January 19th through March 1st, go check out her art. She does some amazing fantasy art.

Where:  Acme Gallery, at 5700 Magazine Street in New Orleans.  It's upstairs, with a big painting of Rosie the Riveter on the outside, next to the gi-normous Whole Foods.  The number's 504-891-0357 if you get hideously lost - please speak to the curator, Jennifer.

A Gathering of Celts

Once a month, the Austin Celtic Association holds monthly meetings on the 2nd Weds of every month. Yesterday, the Gaelic League of Austin began holding their meetings an hour before making it an incredible evening of Celtic friendship, education, and entertainment.

It started off at Mother Egan's with Ed Miller talking about the Bothy ballads of Scotland. If you EVER get a chance to see Ed Miller, I can't stress it enough, GO SEEM HIM! He's just an amazing speaker and performer. Raised in the folk tradition, Ed is a fountain spring of knowledge of Scots folk music.

Course, there's a great opportunity this Friday. Ed Miller is performing at the Cactus Cafe at UT Austin, and the Sarah Dinan Band is opening for him. Sarah has an exquisite voice and talent for singing traditional Celtic songs. Should be a fantastic evening. I'm gonna do my best to head out there.

Interestingly, I was having a conversation with a Celtic musician the other day. No doubt all the hype of the RIAA has hurt a number of folks from exploring the magic of MP3s. I know it's not the goldmine we've made it, but there are some incredible opportunities to be had by promoting with MP3s. I mean how many of you out there heard of the Brobdingnagian Bards thanks to our MP3s?

Well, that's the reason we give away as many MP3s as we do. We're building a fan base over the long-term. Yes, I want to sell my CDs now, but having fans is much better.

When we first got started on MP3.com, I remember John from Celtic Ways kept saying that MP3s were the wave of the future, and that it was time for bands to start preparing for the collapse of CD sales altogether. He predicted CDs would be out by 2005.

Not likely, but I think he's right. Eventually, musicians will have to find a new way to adapt to the changing musical technology. The Major Labels have yet to figure this one out... okay, not entirely true, they've succeeded in stemming the tide of illegal downloads, which I guess is somewhat good since it preserves our livelihood a wee bit longer. And they've also finally started an intelligent way of getting digital music into the hands of the consumers, thanks to iTunes and whatnot. But even this will die soon.

I haven't even yet mentioned that our music is now for sale on most of those digital portals though because, aside from me being a slow adapter, I still consider free MP3s an important aspect of the way we build our fan base... We bring them in with the lure of free MP3s. Give them plenty of music to listen and learn to appreciate our musical style, and then encourage them to buy our albums. To some degree this isn't the most profitable way to promote ourselves, but again, I'm looking at the long-term.

What will the future have in store? Who can say? Right now, we try to adapt and accept that digital music is here to stay. Shoot, my drive up to Kansas City was a blast. I had six CDs of MP3 mixes. Now THAT was cool! Play one till I get tired.

Been starting to think that that might be a better way to go considering the size of our growing catalog. But not yet. Right now, we take it one wee guerrilla promo tactic at a time.

So while I'm doing that, let me remind you to tell your friends to go listen to our music. I'm pretty certain your signature could use something like this...

Free and Legal Celtic MP3s http://www.thebards.net/#MarcGunn

So please go out there and share. If it's something that brings you pleasure, no doubt it'll bring pleasure to many others out there. So let them know about it.

Oh, and I hope to see ye at the Cactus this Friday. (I'm gonna try my best to be there, but no guarantees)

Soul of a Harper needs reviews!

Well, Soul of a Harper is now for sale at CDBaby. I'm selling at a fairly low price to encourage people to buy it, but there are many more factors than price when buying CDs. Soul of a Harper needs reviews.

If you've already bought a copy of the CD, please head over to CDBaby's Soul of a Harper webpage and tell people how much you enjoy the CD.

Course if you don't have a copy, you can order it direct from my website and get a great deal in the process. So get your copy of Soul of a Harper today.

In other news, I am looking into setting up an official CD release for the album in February. I'll keep ye informed on the whens and wheres.

PS. If you're looking for a place you can order it in Austin, check out Things Celtic. Great store to find everything Celtic in Austin.

Love that Rennie Hoochie Mama

It's been a great weekend. Friday, I had dinner with the folks. Yesterday, I jammed all day with Andrew and Michelle, working out songs for our next CD, Real Men Wear Kilts. Then last night, we had a killer Rennies Night Out.

It's amazing how well the RNO has come together. Last summer, Stacy was saying she wanted to meet some of the Texas Rennies. So we picked a date and started publicizing the first Rennies Night Out. I ran out of time, but next thing I know, Stacy is running the show with incredible results.

Last night, there were folks from Houston and Dallas as well as Austin, all gathered together at Ruta Maya Coffee House with a couple dozen other folks. Everyone was out talking, laughing, drinking, and having a grand ol'time. What a great community! Stacy was all aglow. I mean she pretty much brought this group together, and look what's happened since.

Well, aside from having fun chatting there was also some live music. I love listening to live music when I get off my arse and go find it. So this was a big treat for me. The first band there was some decent Alternative background music, but in general I didnt' get into it. But the band after them... OY!

The band was called the Texas Eastside Kings. They were a bunch of old black men playing good blues. Now, when I say "good", I mean non-contemporary Stevie Ray Vaughn junk (I'm not a fan of his style), but the stuff that makes ye groove... and dance... Mmm! Jeremy said it best, "how can you call it the blues when it makes you feel so good?"

But that's what it did. Straight from the heart. I had to buy the CD. Number one, to support the band and number two, cuz I dug the music. Well, I got a winner! Their self-titled CD, Texas Eastside Kings is awesome! Raw and packed full of bluesy tunes that make your heart sing.

Now what I find REALLY cool about the band though is what they have to say on the back of the CD. Basically, after WWII, Austin was one of the top places to go to listen to the Blues. Many of the Blues legends would come to East Austin and play in the clubs there. The guys on this CD were some of the folks who played back up for these Blues legends, and it shows in songs like "Hoochie Mama" and "You Hurt Me", plus many other great tracks on this CD.

Left Ruta Maya high with adrenaline, crashed late, and started recording more for Real Men Wear Kilts. Ahhh, sometimes I miss having leisurely weekends.

Soul of a Harper Picked as Best of 2003

Ran into Donnelle MacKaskle of Celtic Storm at the Austin Celtic Association board meeting yesterday. I haven't had a chance to listen recently, but she said she played it last week and featured Soul of a Harper (check out this special) as one of her top 10 favorite Celtic albums of 2003! "Titania" was played last week. I'll definitely be listening this week and hope for the best. That's pretty cool especially since the latest version wasn't supposed to be officially released until this year.

BTW. The Austin Celtic Association is getting ready to have hold elections. We really could use some folks who are dedicated to promoting the Celtic culture in Austin on the board. I've served for the past two years and don't think I'll be able to continue do to other demands. But feel free to join the ACA and the board too! But at the very least if you're a member, vote. Please help out the Celtic community of Austin as you can!