The photo above was taken on the 2017 Celtic Invasion of Brittany

After several months of putting out Pub Songs & Stories on a weekly basis as a test to see if I can do that with this podcast, I decided that I can.

I also decided I shouldn’t.

I keep thinking about quality of life. What do I want my life with music to be?

Years ago, I had a day job. I was building my music business at the same time. I worked eight hour days. Then I came home and work eight hour nights. I would runoff to gigs on weekends.

I started recognizing health issues. Tendinitis was a big one. It got bad because I was working too much. I was just exhausted.

Eventually, I started working from home. It didn’t get much better. I still worked 16 hour days. Gigs were one of my few reprieves. My back and body were hurting a lot.

Meanwhile, I had dreams of seeing the world. I love nature and being outside about as much as I love getting immersed in stories. I wasn’t doing it then. I’m not doing it nearly enough now.

So as I start to think about what I want the next year to be, I realized I want to move my body more. I want to explore. I want to adventure. I want to make more music. I want to develop my songwriting skills. That is after all the reason that I start playing music. I also want to be more present family.

All of that needs time. Every time I add another podcast, that means more time in front of a computer and less time for all of the other things I consider important.

Now that said, I still think Pub Songs & Stories is a very important podcast for supporting my musical career. It’s an important way for me to introduce you to the deeper side of many of the songs I play. And I really love the new format.

So I will keep it running. But it will not be a weekly podcast. It’s going to be a monthly show, maybe more frequent, maybe less. It will come out on a Tuesday. I will do a lot beforehand to promote each episode.

The Celtfather podcast will continue to produce new episodes but also on an infrequent basis. Perhaps there are times that I want to podcast instead of blog. That’s when that show will come out. I’m still gonna collect stats, but they will reside on my blog.

That said, my flagship Irish & Celtic Music Podcast will continue coming out four times a month just as it has for the last seven years. There will be no changes. Well…unless I can think of better ways to promote the show. Heh

All in all, I think this is the best solution for creating new content for you and also serve my mental health. It’s a new year. So it’s a great time for change.

Subscribe to Pub Songs & Stories and listen to Loreena McKennitt's story of “The Lady of Shallot”.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Christmas Driving Playlist. You can hear my latest single “Yuletide“.

You can see a video and explore more of FORTERESSE LARGOËT along with music on YouTube.