I had a change of mind today. I decided to start work on the Hobbit CD.
As you may know, I have three CDs on the back burner: Firefly Drinking Songs, Scottish Songs of Drinking and Rebellion, and Hobbit Songs.
This coming Friday, the Bedlam Bards and I hope to record the last songs for our Firefly Drinking Songs CD. This live album will feature fun drinking songs inspired by Joss Whedon's TV show Firefly. We've already recorded most of the album. We just have two or three more songs to go. But wait! We need your singing-along selves to be there to capture the atmosphere of a pub in Canton. So tell your friends and come join us this Friday!
The next album I wanted to finish was Scottish Songs of Drinking and Rebellion. I play a lot of Scottish songs right now. There's something about the rousing sounds of the Scottish folk songs that gets my blood pumping. I also want to finish it to add to my Scottish song lyrics page. I thought this would be the perfect next CD to finish. I was wrong.
It's gonna take several months to finish any album I decide to record. With that timeline in my mind, my next big events are GenCon, DragonCon and the number one reason to release a hobbit album first–Along Expected Party 2: There and Back Again.
A Hobbit Party to Remember
Three years ago, the Brobdingnagian Bards were invited to perform at the first A Long Expected Party where we celebrated a reenactment of Bilbo Baggins' birthday party (read about it here). It was an amazing event, a weekend of high adventure, stories, songs, legends, languages, art, and more. Now, the same folks who brought us that bring us There & Back Again for another weekend of Tolkien bliss. Once again, I'll be performing.
It was the first party that inspired the idea of recording an album of hobbit drinking songs. I love Lord of the Rings. That's one of the reasons the Brobdingnagian Bards recorded our own LOTR album called Memories of Middle Earth.
While Memories of Middle Earth featured music inspired by Lord of the Rings, this album also shares my love of drinking songs, fun folk songs with which you can sing-along.
I did something a little different for this hobbit CD. First, I asked Rie Sheridan Rose write some lyrics that I could set to music. Second, I asked the question, what kind of songs might the hobbits sing in The Shire?
Together, we composed music from the hobbit's perspective. Most of the songs you might be hear in a pub. Others are just fun folk songs sung in the streets, fields and gardens. It's music for people… with character, heart, and passion. It's music for the olde times and new. It's music for me and you. It's music for hobbits and those who love them.
With all that in mind, my next project to finish recording, mixing and mastering is Hobbit Songs of the Shire (working title). My goal is to release it in time for GenCon, DragonCon, and ALEP2.
Speaking of ALEP2: There & Back Again, there are only a few spots available for this amazing event. You DON'T want to miss this event! So plan to join me at the end of September in Kentucky for an event you will never forget!
