I talk quite a bit about what's up and what's to come in my Pub Songs Podcast. Tonite, I'm in the blogging mood. So I thought I'd write a little about what's going on with me. And what you can expect to come.
I spent much of today working on shownotes for my various podcasts. They were all with purpose. As you know, my wife and I are having a daughter in October. I don't quite know what to expect once Kenzie is born. But I'm sorta guessing I'm not gonna have a lot of time to do anything. I figured planning my podcasts ahead would be a smart move.
Today's planning included some special downtime episodes of the Pub Songs Podcast, a month's worth of Renaissance Festival Podcasts, and a project I shouldn't bother with, but… it's what I do, the St. Patrick's Day Podcast.
No. This is not like the Celtic Christmas Podcast,where I play episodes of other podcasts. Instead, I'm putting together six shows starting on September 17th (six-months til St. Patrick's Day). Each one will feature a bunch of artists you've heard on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. But this show is designed for two purposes: one, to give you a bunch of great music to listen to on St Patrick's Day with minimal vocal interruption, and two, to promote independent Celtic music groups. That's it.
The notes are mostly done. I just need to mix the shows together and start promoting them. So I hope you might help me out in doing just that once they are ready.
The next item that I'm working on is general Celtic music promotion using iMixes (if you use iTunes, I'd love your help).
Over the past few weeks, I've seen some great success by promoting my Celtic music on iTunes. My Victims of Irish Music compilation CD is not only a great compilation of instrumental Celtic music, but it's currently one of the top albums for “Irish music” and “Celtic music” on iTunes. That means all of those amazing artists are getting their music heard.
I confess, the success of the iMixes is also helping my music to climb the charts. I talk about The Bridge a bunch. It's my favorite of my CDs. But with a title like “The Bridge”, it doesn't inspire action. But on iTunes, where keywords rule the world, songs like “Peggy Gordon” and “Wild Mountain Thyme” have a great chance of success. (Email me and I'll share my super-secret tips for how you can help me out even better with iTunes.)
Anyway, that's the start of what I'm working on. But there is more. In fact, I know I said I was only gonna record one more album this year (Kilted For Her Pleasure), but I'm thinking of recording another. My wife suggested that I record a Celtic Christmas album. So if I can plunge through some of these podcasts, I may well look into it.
I confess I'm excited overall. I've never done so much planning so far ahead. It's really cool. The rest of my year is pretty much booked with the exception of a couple local gigs. I'm already planning for St. Patrick's Day 2011. I have a lot of great new CDs, which, with any luck and a lot of sales, will help me wade through the financial challenges of raising a newborn.
Best of all, I have You rooting for me. Have I said, “thanks” recently?
Well, thank you. I've seen a lot of glowing support these past few months. Everyone seems to be getting more and more excited as I release more podcasts and new music. I get emails daily about people sharing stickers, sharing MP3s, telling their friends how they found my music. It's beautifully humbling. So again, thank you.
It's an exciting journey, and I'm glad to have you along for the ride!
Slainte!
