Cowtown Celtic Festival?
Baby news?
When are you coming to…. [fill in the blank]?

I'm getting a bunch of questions from folks wondering what's up. I guess I haven't been as chatty as I'd like. My love of blogging  is overtaken by my lack of time and inspiration to write. But today, I thought I'd give you an update… Where to begin?

Kenzie's Birth Is Weeks Away

Let's start with the personal. My wife, Gwen, and I looked at the calendar today and counted. We are 36 weeks from our expected due date (October 23). Wow! She's ready to give birth already. But in one month, I'll be cradling my beautiful little daughter in my arms.

Meantime, we received a ton wonderful baby gifts. Our families and a surprising number of you made a HUGE dent in our registry at Babies R Us.

I can't tell you how much we appreciate that. I'm a musician and Gwen's going back to grad school next year. So every little gift helps saves us a few bucks. Thank you!

Thanks to you, our baby room is adorable. It's cuter than we planned, all pink and purty. We have a scrapbook. Gwen crocheted a couple baby hats. We painted some picture frames. We have books and are reading up on as everything there is to know about birthing babies and raising them.

Plus the podcasts! I developed a fondness for Pregtastic and now New Moms, New Babies. I learn a lot by listening to parents talk about their challenges.

Speaking of Podcasts

My podcasts are in full swing. The Renaissance Festival Podcast is back to being a weekly show. It's new and improved with great interviews of Ren faire folks.

I gotta say I love the new format.  Matt Ledder has added a lot to the show. He has even joined me as host for a few shows. With him, Joe, Kristen and me in full swing, I love the way the show has grown this year!

The Pub Songs Podcast took a turn this year back into a weekly podcast. I think I've done more shows this year than I did the first five years of publication. And it's another, albeit shorter, podcast of Celtic (and other) music. It's a lot like the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, but this one has turned into my main form of communication with fans. If you want to know what I'm doing at any given time, the Pub Songs Podcast is the one to listen to… and it's fun!

Now the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast suffered a loss this past year. Listenership has dropped dramatically. It's no longer featured on iTunes which helped a lot. But the excitement for the show hasn't diminished. I get just as many emails and comments as ever. And the quality of music is better than ever!

Finally, though I don't publish them often, the Cat Lovers Podcast had a couple new episodes this year. AND I started the St. Patrick's Day Podcast to start preparing for next year's celebrations.

Which podcasts are you listening to? Any favorite episodes?

Social Media

That's the hot-phrase in the music industry these days. It's all about social media: facebook, twitter, livejournal and even *giggle* myspace. I confess Social Media is hit or miss for me. But I'm using it.

Jamie summed up Myspace best for me, “Last one out of Myspace, turn off the lights.”

I don't use it. I drop by and visit maybe every couple o'weeks to check emails. I just don't like the format.

I also don't use Livejournal much these days because I really haven't been blogging much. But I think I'll cross-post this big ol'blog there. So HI to everyone one LJ!

What I am using is Facebook and occasionally Twitter.

I come and go with Twitter. I know it's a great means of communicating with people. But I've just seen too little as far as responses. So as of today, I  no longer am sending all my Twitter feeds straight to Facebook.  One of these days I'll figure out how best to use Twitter. So bare with me. Until then, I'll stick with Facebook.

In the past, I used mostly my personal Facebook page for my goings ons. I will continue to do so.  However, I have a Facebook fan page and I know how to use it! In fact all my reviews, podcasts, blogs are now gonna be posted straight to my fan page for you to interact with me about 'em.

What's the point of having a Fan page AND a personal one? Good question…. and if anyone has an answer, let me know…

For that matter, if you have any thoughts on how best I can use use Social Media to promote myself, please let me know!

Upcoming Events

I won't be traveling much this Fall. In fact, I am taking off most of October (except for October 9th in Lafayette. Don't miss that show!) to await my daughter's birth.

Meantime,  I have a bunch of shows already scheduled for the coming months. In November and half of December, I will be back at my home faire the Louisiana Renaissance Festival. I'm working hard on my schedule for next year, and I'm happy to say it's filling up beautifully.

However, I am not planning any “tours” in 2011. With a daughter to raise, all my gigs will be over the weekends. That said, I'm planning more local shows for 2011.

Now that doesn't mean I am not considering those hot spots of Celt Father Fandom. According to Eventful, I have some strong demands in Dallas, Seattle, Chicago, New York City, Kansas City, and Phoenix.

Right now, I am planning shows in Dallas. But I need more supporters (tell 'em to sign up at eventful) in those other areas if I'm gonna actually gig there… OR I need a big gig that will fly me in and out.

I don't have a ton of free time. So start your promotion engines! (or kick 'em into full gear)

Celtic Invasion Vacations

I got a wee bit ambitious this year regarding my Celtic Invasion Vacations. Can you imagine?! 😉

Right now, I have THREE vacations scheduled for 2011. If you want to be a part of them, I need you to email me (or post below) and let me know you're planning to go. I may be a wee bit ambitious in trying to book three shows. So look 'em over. And tell me what you think. Will you be attending one?

January 26-31, 2011
Celtic Invasion of New Orleans
See the itinerary.

June 13-20, 2011
Celtic Invasion of Ireland
See the itinerary.

July 17-24, 2011
U.S. West Coast Roadie Tour
See the itinerary.

If you're looking for one vacation to hit next  year, plan on the Ireland trip. I can almost feel the cool weather now and picture the scenic landscape of Donegal and Sligo!

New Music

You never know how well an album will be received until it hits the streets. Happily, sales of Kilted For Her Pleasure are strong. Glowing comments continue to come in and I am still sending my music to radio stations and podcasters trying to get the word out. I'm even starting to get some reviews and comments about the album on CD Baby, Amazon and iTunes.

With the success of the Firefly Drinking Songs panels with the Bedlam Bards at DragonCon and FenCon, I hope to mix and master a new live CD in October. If all goes well, we'll have a new album out of Firefly Drinking Songs for Christmas!

With a little bit of downtime, I am hoping to setup my studio microphone and record a few new songs. Yes. New music.  We'll see if anything comes of it.

I hope you will buy something from my music store. Buy CDs, t-shirts, prints, books, and more. Oh! Don't forget to support my fellow Celtic musicians too.

Final Words

With a baby on the way, I will temporarily stop podcasting in November and December to focus on raising a wee one. However, I WILL still be publishing shows I prepared for you in advance while I take this sabbatical. So look for more shows.

I'm finishing up several special feature episodes of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast.  The Ren Fest Podcast will switch to all music starting in November, with interviews resuming in January. Plus, as I said, I have the St. Patrick's Day Podcast which is already completed and will come out on the 17th of every month.

And of course, I will be on Facebook and occasionally Twitter communicating about what's new and baby stuff.

Yes. There will be baby pictures! 🙂

Over the next two months, my time will be Extremely limited. I will be very active in raising my daughter. So I could really use your help in keeping my music alive and relevant in the months to come… Especially for Christmas. Heck, Happy Songs of Death would make a great Halloween CD… no really! 😉

So take a moment to spread the word. And when I'm back up and running full-steam in January, we can all be proud of the results.