Drake OranwoodDrake Oranwood (Eric Schrager) is a singer, songwriter, producer, lutenist, and medieval enthusiast who brings modern sensibilities to original songs set long ago and far away.
As I posted recently, I’ve made a commitment to reflect and share about each of the 11 tracks on Hold the Door Open as a way of promoting the album a little more, and providing myself with closure on the project. A “deep dive.” So let’s go. Track 1: “I Must Be Silent.” (Click on one of the icons below to listen to the song on your platform of choice.)
I released Hold the Door Open last June, and I wanted to plug and promote it the way any sensible artist would, as a work I’m incredibly proud of, and the product of significant time and effort and collaboration. But I never really did. I promised myself I would do a geeky deep dive into the inspirations and the process for each of the tracks. And each time I thought about starting to type, a voice in the back of my head would tell me how people would just be reminded of how wrapped up in myself I am. And that, honestly, no one really cared about my musical aspirations, or why I released it under this ludicrous made up stage name, which just would make it harder to find. And I would find something else to do, and feel my heart sink a little.
Ah, yes. Pennsic. It’s been a few weeks, and I’ve been re-integrating with the world. But I want to take some time to reflect on it at least a little.
Overall, my war was less busy than usual. I had been busy finishing the release of the Hold the Door Open album when the signups to teach had been going on, so I just accepted that I wasn’t going to teach classes this year. I still had other responsibilities. Thursday of Peace Week, I emceed our camp’s annual Chocolate Bardic. On Wednesday of War Week, I got to be a panelist in the Bardic Symposium session, “Home Recording and You”, which involved some great conversations. Just for fun, I did make it out to the Sunday afternoon Runestone Bardic for the first time in a few years (a little more on that later). In addition, I had three significant performance opportunities during war.
Five years ago, we were living in a world that seemed hard to recognize. So many people I cared about and respected, who had put up with poor treatment of various kinds throughout their lives just because of who they were or were not, were reacting to a culture that had declared open season on them. That declaration came all the way from the top.
Hi all,
So people have started asking questions. (Yes, the idea that some people will miss me onstage does give me a warm feeling.) So let me take a few minutes to clarify why this year’s Pennsic concert (War Tuesday, 9-10 pm, Performing Arts tent in Pennsic U) is subtitled “Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow”.
Hi all. Pennsic is approaching so I wanted to give you a few updates.
Other than that, I plan on taking it mostly easy this war. I’m up for meeting up with people when possible and taking in some bardic circles.
Hope to see you there.
Drake
It is release day for Hold the Door Open. It’s available everywhere you find music.
If you want to support me as an artist, and help me recoup the costs of creating this album, the most effective thing you can do is purchase the digital album, or the CD if you want, on Bandcamp.
And if you like what you find, I hope you’ll share it so other people can discover it.
At midnight, it will be release day for Hold the Door Open. Eight years of preparation and creation will be over, and an audience of whatever size will be free to experience the results.
I really hope they like it. If they do, I hope they’ll share it with others. I put a lot of energy into learning how to do everything in my power to make this album rich, thematically powerful, and acoustically pleasing. I engaged an incredible crew of talent to co-create this with me.
For those of you who listen to the FilkCast, our title track, “Hold the Door Open”, is going to close out this week’s episode! It will premiere Wednesday on SciFi.Radio, or you can find it wherever you get your podcasts.
(excited Snoopy dance)
It’s been an intensely busy last few weeks. The other day, after getting feedback from a lot of colleagues and friends (thanks to Neil, Arden, Dave, Silence, and Adelaide, among others), I finalized the master on the album, and uploaded and submitted it to my distributor (I still use CDBaby, mostly because I already have an account with them, and they only charge a one-time fee to distribute music).
I’m processing a mixture of pride, excitement, anxiety, and a little depression. I’ve been working on this thing in one form or another for eight years now. (Ye gods.) But CDBaby’s guide encourages artists to submit music three to six weeks before their planned release date, because the various distribution channels all have their own review process and that could take time. So when I finally was ready to upload and submit, late Wednesday night, I had a sinking feeling that my “release date” of June 20 was going to kind of a let-down, where the album wouldn’t actually be available where most people would be looking for it.
Drake Oranwood