Checking in. After last K&Q Bardic, I made my traditional long in-depth post, and at the end, I made a number of pledges about actions I planned to take. I wanted to share that I have made progress on several of these:
- “Reevaluate my approach to the lute.” I plan to perform lute pieces at the upcoming EK 50 year celebration (more about that soon) and at Pennsic. I intend to do some combination of performing pieces that are a little less complex or better rehearsed, and enrolling other performers to handle some or all of the vocals when I do it. Also, my new summer/outdoor lute-guitar Amyrillis is proving a bit easier to play than Rosalind, which has helped. (Mostly because it’s closer to an acoustic guitar.)
- “Recording ‘What if a day’ fairly soon.” Done. It is recorded and mixed, and I’m sending it off to Efenwealt for his Pennsic Sampler CD. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.
- “Taking a break to hopefully do a community theater production”. I’m pleased to share that I have just been cast as John Jasper in the Bergen County Players’ production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which will be performing weekends from September 9 to October 8. My wife is very excited to see me do a musical again after all these years. I’m still absorbing just how much rehearsal and performance I’ve just committed to for the next four months. But a show whose ending changes every night depending on the audience’s whim? That is a show for a bard to try.
- “It’s time to get back to writing songs again.” Done! Last weekend I wrote my first new song in over a year, honoring a commission that was won at auction last fall. My commissioner is well pleased, and I look forward to presenting it to her and her daughter at Pennsic, and then performing it publicly once I have fulfilled that promise. [UPDATE the next day: The tune will take a little time to settle, but I just finished the lyrics to another new one. Feels really good.]
So, some exciting stuff. Wanted to make sure I took a moment to share it with you. Thank you for being there for me.
Drake Oranwood 