Busking and Street Performing, Part 2

I recently found a couple new busking resources to add to my old Busking and Street Performing article.

The first is Busker Central which is a free resource with tons of resources and insights on busking successfully.

One of the writers of the site also publishes a book that I bought. It's called Street Performer and it tells how to make good money at busking. Definitely a worthy expense for any new or intermediate busker.

Marc Gunn & The Irish Whiskey

I'm always looking for new and cool band names. I think The Irish Whiskey is my next "band name". I haven't yet figured out the details of where I'll apply it, but I was thinking it'd be the name I use when I release my next solo CD, "Irish Drinking Songs, The Cat Lovers Companioni CD". That's something that'll sell alongside my Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers album. It'll feature the original Irish songs for those CDs.

But I guess I better brainstorm it, before I put together that CD of Irish drinking songs. Which reminds me, what about the CD for The Irish Leprechauns?

Still need to reconsider doing that as well.

Or perhaps something like Marc Gunn & The Irish Times.

The Barley Boys Music Review

by Catherine L. Tully

Artist: The Barley Boys
Album: "The Days of Abundance"
Year produced: 2005

The one thing that you will notice about The Barley Boys is that they have a lot of energy, and they bring it to their music. The Days of Abundance is a combination of traditional Celtic sounds and more contemporary music, and the musicianship is quite good. Sometimes, such as track 4, Life Divine, the song highlights the music and just goes with it for a bit, rather than trying too hard to be a sing along type of tune. It is nice.

I hate to pick favorites, but I can't help but tell you that Raggle Taggle Gypsy was such a high energy song that the five minutes it played was much too short and I had to play it again. It was one of the best songs I have heard in a while. The complexity of much of the music on this CD makes it exciting to listen to.

You really get the sense that these guys are all about the music, but they aren't afraid to have a bit of fun either. Track 9, Scolding Wife is a good, easy romp which is done well and brings a smile. There really is a nice mix to this compilation of songs, and the energy continues throughout until the very last song, which is the only one that is a fairly slow tune. A simple wrap-up to a great album.


   Buy the Album: "The Days of Abundance"

---

Catherine L. Tully is a freelance writer and photographer specializing in the arts. She has written for Dance Teacher Magazine, Classical Singer and Dance Spirit among others, and reviews music for Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. You can reach her at www.freelance-zone.com.

Harold Turner on Turner Classic Movies

Starting at 7pm tonight Turner Classic Movies is showing a festival of Harold Lloyd films. Starting with his most famous "Safety Last" (the one where he is climbing up the tower and hangs from the clock) and going till late you can discover the "Third Genius" of silent comedy. His films were rated right up there with Chaplin and Keaton. If you have the time tonight (and you can tape it if it conflicts with something else) it is proof of how good silent comedy can be.

Courtesy of Movie and TV News newsletter.

Cat CD Release at Things Celtic

My CD release at Things Celtic. I played outside. It was brisk and cool. Mayhaps a wee bit too chilly after an hour and a half. But the atmosphere was fantastic, with the running fountain and Celtic art on around the garden.

Eric Power was there to video tape the show. I'm not sure how well the video turned out. I was a bit nervous playing solo. I need get over that crap. Fortunately, there were some wonderful folks in the audience who didn't seem to be half as annoyed by it as I was. Oh, that's because I kept forgetting lyrics. I mean, I've been playing these songs for a while now and know them. But kept screwing them up. Ah well...

The "set list", meaning songs I randomly picked, was good. I need to remember that. It was a good mix of traditional songs and cat songs.

Any case, if the video comes out decent enough, I'm hoping to package it together with my first CD release for Soul of a Harper and maybe release a DVD. It would make a neat mix to be sure. And there's a few songs that we've not recorded yet. So that'd sure make it original.

We'll see. I'll get together with Eric on Monday and see what I think.

I forget. Did I mention my Irish and Celtic Music Podcast? I put together a new website and URL for it. And I'm getting a LOT of subscribers. Over a 1,300! It skyrocketed when it got on iTunes.

And I released another Cat Lovers Podcast a couple days ago. Now I just need to catch up with the Bards Podcast, the Celtic music ezine and my music marketing ezine and I'll be finally about caught up from the past couple months... more or less...


Oh! And check out this hilarious thing from the Soup regarding the new Harry Potter (link won't last but a few days).

Raymond McCollough music

by Catherine L. Tully

Artist: Raymond McCollough
Album: Into Jerusalem
Year produced: 2005

This is a truly different CD than you might expect for one with Celtic music on it. If you put it on and listen without expectations you should walk away quite happy! You'll find Scottish and Irish music, bluegrass, rock and Jewish/Israeli worship music, all carrying a spiritual message. The music is uplifting, and the mixture of styles is interesting. Don't miss the first track, I Will Lift My Eyes Up, which leaves you feeling really good with it's Celtic sound and spiritual message.

The Celtic songs worked better for me than the rock-style ones, but the lyrics overall carry a positive feeling throughout the CD which is actually a nice change from the standard fare. The Jewish/Israeli worship songs worked well too. Even though they had a totally different feel, they weren't such a stretch that those who like the other tracks would want to pass on them.

The spiritual messages throughout this CD were really what tied it all together. Don't expect your typical Celtic-style album and you will be pleased with the variety offered here. A good choice for those who would like a little bit of a lift and something different.


   Buy the Album: Into Jerusalem

---

Catherine L. Tully is a freelance writer and photographer specializing in the arts. She has written for Dance Teacher Magazine, Classical Singer and Dance Spirit among others, and reviews music for Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. You can reach her at www.freelance-zone.com.