I'm back from a wonderful beach vacation with family and trying to catch up.  Before I get started, I need to let you know that I'm heading to New Orleans this weekend.  My folk duo Gunns & Drums (with Jamie Haeuser on bodhran) is performing at Irish House on St. Charles on Saturday night starting at around 7pm.  Please spread the word and tell a friend.

On the vacation, I started writing a song.  I finished it two days ago.  It's called “Wherever I May Roam”.  It's not very Celtic, but it's an awesome song.  It was inspired in part when Gwen's dad and I were talking about jam bands.  That got me thinking about road trips and the thought that I don't feel I have any good songs to jam to while driving down the road.  That was the music.

The lyrics took a complete left turn though.  It's a fun folk pop song about finding your way on the road to love.  Lots of autobiography in it with a great chorus. I'm very proud of this song.  With any luck, I'll get the lyrics down enough to teach it to Jamie so we can play it this Saturday.

This new song provided a lot of inspiration to me.  I haven't written many songs over the past few years.  Part of the reason is that I had goals to accomplish which didn't require original songs.  I had an Irish CD and then a Scottish CD to finish.  Now that those are almost finished, I feel my creative juices flowing once again.  I'm hoping I will get back into writing.  This led me to a big decision regarding the bonus CD from the Scottish Kickstarter.

When I successfully funded Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion through Kickstarter, I also raised money for a second CD.  The problem was I felt there are two sides to my musical persona.  There's the side that sings a lot of fun Celtic Geek songs, and there's also the balladeer.  Songs like “Doctor of Gallifrey”, “The Smial or the Tree”, and “La La La” go great together for an album of Sci Fi Drinking Songs.  Songs like “Sail the Sky”, “Come Take a Trip in My Airship” and “Bring Me Home Boys” work great as a different album.

After finishing this new song, I realized I have enough songs for two albums.  So I'm just gonna release those two albums separately.

I'm not sure how this will affect the Kickstarter at present.  I will keep you informed as I work it out.  I would love your thoughts and feedback.

Thank you again for all your support.  Many thanks and Slainte!