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Upcoming CD Notice
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May. 6th, 2008 @ 11:55 pm
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Later this summer or possibly in the Fall, I hope to record my next studio album with Rich Brotherton, who also produced Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers. The concept behind this album is the fusion of traditional Irish music with American folk and blues. The title--How Irish Music Saved Civilization.
I'm really excited about this album, the chance to work with Rich again and the fusion of musical styles... I'm psyched. I don't entirely know what tracks will be on the album, except "Lil Bit of Love", but I do have a nice list of songs that I am working on.
The trouble right now is $. I looked at my finances today, because I wanted to record a three-song single to promote the Civilization album. But boy are finances tight. I still owe nearly $7,000 on Whiskers in the Jar, plus hundreds on several other CDs. Money is tight.
One of the reasons I compiled Going for Brogue and What Color Is Your Dragon? was to raise money for this new CD. Unfortunately, it looks like I will have to be patient and recoup some money before I release a single. And certainly before I record a full album.
Meantime, I am practicing a lot to prepare for this new CD. It will be awesome... Now I just need to recoup some mullah! |
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A Day of Podcasting and Weekly Update
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May. 1st, 2008 @ 11:41 pm
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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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Last Brobdingnagian Bards Tour of Ireland Ever!
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Apr. 28th, 2008 @ 06:20 pm
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I paid final bill for the Brobdingnagian Bards Tour of Ireland to Celtic Ways. Eight days in one of the most-beautiful countries on the planet. Due to the weak American dollar and lower than expected attendance, we are losing money, but it's IRELAND. So I can't complain too much. Tickets are all booked up. We are ready to go!
Because of the low attendance, we came to a tough decision today. This is the last Brobdingnagian Bards Tour of Ireland. That's right bardic vacations are no longer in our foreseeable future. I was hoping to do Scotland and Europe in the future, but I'm forced to admit that it doesn't look the demand is strong enough to do these trips.
That said, we do still have room for about four more people on this final tour. So if you were wanting to join us in Ireland. This is indeed your last chance. Right now, the website says it'll cost you $2600 for the land travel and all meals. However, if you email me [marc at thebards dot net] before Friday, May 2nd, I'll knock off $100. But I need to know ASAP. So contact me soon!
Meantime, I'll be practicing my Irish songs for great music and craic! |
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George W. Bush Is Right
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Apr. 24th, 2008 @ 01:55 am
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This was too funny not to share.
Song lyrics by Austin's Southpaw Jones:
20×2 was great fun last night. It’s a fine event for people who enjoy nerds and show-and-tell, like me. I was the last performer to answer the question “What’s the Difference?” My original plan was to write a goofy song about the undeniable coolness of left-handed people, but then I decided I’d just musically list well-known lefties and well-known righties, so the crowd could come to their own conclusions. I don’t have a recording of my two minutes, but I can at least share the lyrics: Oprah Winfrey is left-handed
Tyra Banks is right
Kurt Cobain was left-handed
Courtney Love is right Paul McCartney is left-handed
And Michael Jackson is right
Whoopie Goldberg is left-handed
Rosie O’Donnell is right Reagan, Bush, Clinton, they were all left-handed!
But Georgie Dubya is right
He says the surge is working, boys
And George W. Bush is right Handed Barack Obama is left-handed
Hillary Clinton is right
Pablo Picasso is left-handed
Britney Spears is right Jimi Hendrix, he was left-handed
John Wilkes Booth was right
He said “The South will rise again”
And John Wilkes Booth was right Handed |
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Highlights and A Question
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Apr. 23rd, 2008 @ 08:17 pm
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Last week, when I decided to switch my LJ over to my homepage, Cara setup a Livejournal profile for the new RSS feed.
Please subscribe!
If not, I'm still thinking I'll do a weekly LJ update for ye. Like today, I finally bought a UtiliKilt over at Things Celtic. And it's SO much nicer shopping in a store than filling out a form on their website. I had a Utilikilt I bought online. It looked like crap. Andrew wears it now. This one looks great. Been wearing it all day.
The kilt was inspired by my Kilted for Her Pleasure post. Where I ask the question, why do YOU like kilts?
(Oh and there's also the new compilation CD idea--musical Celts in Kilts, please apply)
Michelle and I had a couple good jam sessions this week. You may've heard her on my Pub Songs Podcast with Michelle Hedden. I finally published another Irish & Celtic Music Podcast and a Cat Lovers Podcast. W00t! I feel sooo far behind on podcasts. About time to publish another Ren Fest Podcast, but Kristen's been unavailable. So solo again, methinks. And MarcSongs Podcast? Yeah. I'm hoping to put one of those out today or tomorrow. Haven't published one of those in a month. *sigh*
The Gift of Cat Love is now on iTunes. And my CD Ordering page and merchandise page are better organized and I even have a Celtic cat piece of jewelry I'm hoping to release too. It's way cool!
That's about it. I'm thinking of hitting a picnic this weekend in Dallas. But not sure I want to drive three hours for that, especially since next weekend The Bards are off to Oklahoma Ren Faire. |
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Announcing a Blog Move Home
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Apr. 20th, 2008 @ 12:27 am
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I do this now and then. I get tired of cross-posting to a dozen blog sites. In the past I've been a big user of livejournal and occasionally post blogs to myspace. But what I learned from MP3.com years ago is to keep it at home. You never know when other people's websites will disappear. Mine will always be here.
So I decided to make a wee change. I will still use those two blogs, but the vast majority of my blogging is gonna stay at www.marcgunn.com. So go ahead and subscribe to this blog's feed ( http://www.marcgunn.com/blog.xml ) if you'd like to stay totally up with stuff. You can still comment to your heart's content. And I'd love to hear from you. |
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New Cat Lovers and Pub Songs Podcast and Ezines
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Apr. 18th, 2008 @ 09:21 pm
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What a wonderfully productive day! *sigh* I finally got down to some work. I finished two podcasts and one ezine. Planning to post another in a few minutes.
Today's Projects:
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It's the Little Things...
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Apr. 18th, 2008 @ 01:19 pm
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I woke up with last night's moodiness on my mind. So I decided I would try to fight it by getting some work done. First thing on my list, Song Henge. I didn't feel like putting it all together and thanks to Jan, I didn't have to. (thank you!) It was almost all done for me. I just had to add a few wee bits. And Voila! Ready to go!
Then there's Mike of Celtophilia. I asked him for graphics for a CD compilation I want to release, and woke up this morning with a test cover. Those little things really make a HUGE difference. I'm feeling much more chippery now. Chirp! Chirp!
Oops. That's chip, not chirp.Current Mood:  chipper |
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Ren Fest Podcast MP3 Archives Return
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Apr. 16th, 2008 @ 06:39 pm
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RenSites.com, the web host for over 50 episodes of the Renaissance Festival Podcast, went down a couple months back. The site got really popular and it ran out of bandwidth. Since February, we've received email from people letting us know about the missing MP3s, and I kept forgetting to mention it in the show.
Well, today, I started re-uploading all the MP3s to Libsyn, where I now host all of my shows. I have most of the files up. But the remainder will have to wait until next month, methinks. My apologies for the delay. But I am on top of it. Thanks for your patience! |
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Irish Cat Synchronicity
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Apr. 15th, 2008 @ 03:37 pm
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I went to the acupuncturist today to help me fight off a sinus infection I feel is trying to make headway in me. While being filled with needles, I realized a couple of synchronistic things about my life.
My Celtic heritage:
- I was born March 17, St. Patrick's Day.
- I belong to the Scottish Clan Gunn, but learned I was also part Irish.
- I never listened to Irish music until I started Brobdingnagian Bards.
My Cat heritage:
- I never grew up with cats. I had Pekingeses as a child.
- My ex-fiancee introduced me to cats. A couple years later, I started rewriting Irish songs about cats.
- I then learned March 17th is also St. Gertrude's Day, the Patron Saint of Cats.
Now the final bit of synchronicity--my sinus heritage:
- I've had poor sinuses all my life. Though it wasn't until the last ten years that I started having chronic sinus infections.
- The pressure points, aka needle insertion points, to help with my sinuses surround my nose. In fact, I realized today, they were kind of like whiskers. Am I an Irish Cat? ;)
Sorry. Long build, for a poor joke. Hehe! The cat CD is now posted on SoundClick. You can now listen to "Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers" below. If you like the album, please...
Buy the CD!
$15. The take-it-with-you version.
Listen to it free online
Absolutely free. The complete CD. All 14 tracks. Completely free to listen to online.
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| » Cat Playing the Theramin |
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Okay. I need to get a theramin now... Put it on my next Cat CD
On second thought... that could annoying. :)
Apr. 15th, 2008 @ 12:28 am
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| » Hobbit Home |
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Way cool! I want one!
A Low-Impact Woodland (Hobbit) Home
Apr. 13th, 2008 @ 09:17 am
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| » (No Subject) |
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I appreciate everyone who's helping to have these rational political discussions. It's great hearing people's thoughts on issues. Getting different perspectives. Ya'll rock!
Apr. 11th, 2008 @ 07:06 pm
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| » Abolish Corporations |
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I figured this would happen. Thanks to the balloon up my nose, I'm now fighting a sinus infection. W00t! So I decided to stay at the hotel and sleep instead of going to The Cloisters where Andrew is off to.
As Andrew and I went to breakfast, we talked politics. He was one that inspired the question about your issues for the upcoming election. And he posed another interesting idea that might make some much needed changes--abolish corporations.
Apr. 11th, 2008 @ 10:35 am
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| » Bloody Nose Bards |
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Mary writes:
If you've not already received this... (make sure to share with Andrew) Awwww... you're famous, yet again!
Apr. 10th, 2008 @ 10:05 pm
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| » How to End a Cabaret with a Bloody Nose? |
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Some I-Con blackmail videos are at last online. Here's the exciting closure to I-Con with backing dancers Boogie Knights.
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"
Bunch more at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22brobdingnagian+bards%22&search_sort=video_date_uploaded
Apr. 9th, 2008 @ 10:46 pm
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| » New Folk Music Shop in Austin |
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From Doc Grauzer:
Hello all!
Thought I'd send out the word about a new music shop called "Fiddler's Green", which is at 1809 West 35th Street, pretty much across the street from Things Celtic. They just opened up on Monday, and I found them just today when I went to see Kimberly at work. So--a long-overdue folk-music shop that our musical city was sadly lacking! The folks running the store are from Memphis, and quite friendly and easy to talk to. They have a good range of entry-level instruments and supplies--nothing terribly high-dollar, but a great place for new players to begin. The place is definitely worth checking out. Here's a link to its website.
But best of all, there is definitely some music space in there. There's a fine room in the back which might be well-suited to a session. See what you might think about it. For those of us who remember the lamented Senor O'Brien's--this place has similar wooden floors, low ceilings and is only a few blocks from the old place on 34th Street! The shop staff is very interested in getting some sessions happening--be they bluegrass, old-timey or Celtic. Especially for the Irish musicians who might not get out to session much any more (self included!), this might be a comfortable place for us to gather again.
I don't have very many e-mail addresses for our local Celtic and old-timey players, but I'll ask all of you who get this to check the place out, and help me spread the word about it. I'm delighted that we have such a place now, and I want to do what I can to get it off to a good start. Go check it out!
--Doc
Beagán a rá agus é a rá go maith.
Say little but say it well.
http://www.docgrauzer.com
http://www.myspace.com/docgrauzer
Apr. 9th, 2008 @ 01:34 pm
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| » Announcing "Whiskers in the Jar" CD Cover |
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The new CD cover for "Whiskers in the Jar". It was designed by the amazingly talented Ingrid Houwers. If you want some amazing Celtic art (among other things), check out her website! You can currently pre-order the CD at CatDrinkingSongs.com.
Apr. 9th, 2008 @ 01:03 pm
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| » What Are Your Biggest Issues for the 2008 U.S. Election? |
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Just curious. Post 5-10 issues you consider important.
You can find some of the issues on CNN.
Apr. 9th, 2008 @ 12:21 pm
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| » (No Subject) |
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Feeling MUCH better. Though taking the day off to relax and recover and maybe catch up on work.
Apr. 9th, 2008 @ 11:02 am
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