It's been an interesting couple o'weeks. Right now, Andrew and I are performing as the Brobdingnagian Bards at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival. And it's filled with interesting things. So let's take a step back and recap.
Just a few weeks ago, we were hit with a booking/internet fraud. We lost $2500. But thanks to our fans and everyone who spread the news about the fraud, we were able to recover that lost money. In fact, we've decided to donate $250 of our overflow money to The Tartan Terrors, another Ren Faire act, who lost over $100,000 of equipment and CDs when their van was robbed.
Meanwhile, we quickly tried to get in control of our own finances before heading off to the Louisiana Ren Fest. Our DVD package that helped us raise the $2500 was finally completed and should be in the mail this week. And I might add, it's pretty cool. Andrew did a great job with this DVD. The footage is of random quality, but it looks pretty sharp. Maybe one day, we'll get a full DVD out to sell. But not yet.
So the weekend after our fraud disaster, I had a solo show at Elysium with a bunch of geeky songs that went over really well, despite my nervousness playing on a big stage. I ended up recording all those songs in my latest Pub Songs Podcast. But before I did that, I got to visit the Texas Renaissance Festival. I miss that faire.
Anyway, as we prepared to leave town, I was working on the new Renaissance Festival Compilation CD. This 23 track album features a lot of brilliant music by some of the best Renaissance festival artists on the circuit IMHO. And I am blessed to have them on this compilation which largely benefits the podcast. Though a portion of the money will go to some Ren Faire non-profits. Some suggested RESCU. And I do plan to donate some money to that fine organization that looks after the faire community. And I have a bunch more compilations planned.
My latest solo CD, A Tribute to Love, arrived from the printers earlier this month. I decided I won't officially release the album until February. However, due to several financial struggles, I decided to release it to fans now. It should be up on CD Baby in a couple weeks. I'm really pleased with this album. It's not for everyone, but it is a beautiful glance at love in it's many forms. One of the singles from the album, an instrumental entitled, “Silhouette of Longing Love” has already topped the New Age Charts on SoundClick and Spirit Within Radio. And the album has had a ton of glowing reviews from listeners.
So right before, we left for Louisiana I had a crown put on one of my teeth. The whole dental story was a bit of a nightmare for me. But I was off to LARF for a GREAT weekend. We finally have a good stage there, a nice grassy bit shaded by the water. Unfortunately, we only have that for one more weekend. Then, who knows? We might just be wandering the rest of the weekend.
I drove back to Austin that Monday to take care of the kitties before I left them for two weeks. Ugh. I miss my boys. But they are well-cared for. As I was there, I recorded the Halloween episode of the Renaissance Festival Podcast, posted a MarcSongs Podcast, and of course, recorded show #41 of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast.
The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast has been growing in popularity and praise. I can't believe how many emails I get by fans telling me how much they love the show. And The Celtic Top Five is getting tougher and tougher to conquer. I'm very grateful for everyone who supports my many endeavors online.
Finally, I made it back to Louisiana safely when another tragedy struck. Andrew and I were leaving faire. Cars in front of us stopped too quickly and my car plowed into another. I'm fairly certain my car is totaled. Fortunately, neither of us were hurt. And Andrew had a car in town too. So we're not stranded here, but this adds to my financial worries. I have to get a new vehicle. The days of happily knowing my car was paid for are over. Hopefully, my insurance will give me a decent settlement at least. It's just stressful.
My mom is flying me to visit her in Germany for Christmas. With any luck, I can score at least one gig to help me pay for some of the incidentals of traveling. Because I don't need any more financial problems. This has definitely been the year for them for me.
But at least Christmas is coming. It's always nice to see people buying CDs for the holidays. Ah the life of a musician. It's definitely not easy. But obviously it's interesting.
Meantime, School Days at LARF begin tomorrow and four more weekends of faire. Woohoo!
Slainte!
-Marc Gunn
