Louisa Valentín is so freaking talented, and such a joy to work with. (And you’re going to have to hear her Elf Queen vocals to believe them.)
Author: Drake Oranwood
Drake 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.
So we’ve been home for Pennsic a little over a week, but Herself tested positive for Covid right after we got home, so we’ve been quarantining, and my head wasn’t in the right space to post yet.
Yes, there was a lot of Covid going around at Pennsic, much closer at hand for us than previous years. From opening weekend to middle weekend to packout, it was taking down good friends of ours left and right. Ultimately it got a good chunk of our camp. How it keeps missing me I’ll never know, but I don’t want to jinx it. Current mood:
Sooo, it’s time to talk about something.
This will be the ninth Pennsic where I have the privilege of performing on the Performing Arts stage (aka the Three Crowns). Next year will be the tenth…and my last planned one.
Well, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…let’s talk about this summer. Pennsic is less than a month away (aaaaaaaaa!), and there are a few things going on…but first, you probably wanna know about the concert, right? So let’s talk about the concert.
My “Troubadour Next Door” concert will be happening Wednesday of War Week from 7 to 8 pm (August 7), in the big Performing Arts tent, now known as The Three Crowns. (I learned last year that some people have not been there and don’t know where it is. This is not the PA Rehearsal Tent. This is the giant yellow tent at the heart of Pennsic University, behind Aethelmearc Royal). PLEASE NOTE the 7 pm time slot, earlier than usual. However, I’m okay with it because I am opening for Heather Dale, whose concert is at 8 pm, which means there should be some solid turnout.
I have tried to return to this blog and post probably half a dozen times since (checks notes) just after last Pennsic. There is a page-long draft of one from April. Nope, I’m not using that. But I am going to push through and finish this, and share it, hell or high water.
Hi all, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve posted videos from the private concert we did in Artemisia Royal encampment during middle weekend of Pennsic 50.
Yes, a number of these songs were also done in the PA tent concert a few days later, and I’ve shared out those videos. But the private concert space was different. It was a small space, but it was quickly packed as we started performing. We were all looser. And the audience energy was much more like a regular SCA bardic performance than the stage was. And…we mixed in solo performances from my friends Silence, Bird, Colette, Robbin, and Eadaoin, which all were fantastic.
So check it out if you feel like it. My new filk “Putting It Together”, in particular, played completely different in this space, and it makes me really happy.
It’s a little over a week that we’re home from Pennsic 50. As usual, I’ve needed some time to process my thoughts. Here we go.
This was our first full Pennsic since before the pandemic. We did just Peace Week from a hotel room last year, which gave us a taste, but it wasn’t the same as really being there. Most of it was fear of Covid, and we managed to avoid it. (We managed not to get sick this year too, which was better than a number of our friends. We may be “done” with Covid, but it really isn’t done with us.) It was good to really be back, to be set up fully with our pavilion and moved in and living onsite, and not needing to head out every evening just as the night life was getting started.
So we’re back from Pennsic. I have lots of thoughts, and I will be writing them down and sharing them soon.
But in the meantime…we did get video of the full Performing Arts concert, for those who missed it.
We head out for Pennsic today. I’m excited to be doing the whole thing this year and camping on-site once more, even as I’m nervous about factors beyond our control that we never used to worry about (Covid, air quality).
And I’m excited to be doing my concert again, having opted not to stay for war week last year. Barring things we can’t prevent, I’ll be performing on the big stage for the first time in four years. So I wanted to do something special. Ambitious. Maybe a little crazy? (For someone who isn’t exactly made out of spare time.)
I decided to perform Hold the Door Open with a full voice cast for the four main characters. A representative voice cast, including performers who could demonstrate the diversity of sometimes marginalized experiences the song is about.
Pennsic is less than a month away. We’re planning to go for the full two weeks this year. We camp at McGuire’s Marauders, block N06 (next to Ansteorra Royal).
My plans at a glance:
- McGuire’s Marauders is proud to announce the return of Chocolate Bardic on Thursday night of Peace Week (August 3), from O Dark-Thirty until we close (usually midnight or a little after). As one of the camp bards, I will be co-hosting (it’s a sign-up sheet, simply because of the heavy attendance).
- Middle Sunday (August 6), 10:30 am-12:00 pm, I will be teaching Developing Stage Presence in the A&S 9 tend.
- War Monday (August 7), 12:00-1:30 pm, I am teaching My Guitar’s Persona Is a Lute, in the Performing Arts Rehearsal tent.
- My Troubadour Next Door concert will be on War Tuesday (August 8) from 7-8 pm, in the big Performing Arts Tent.
If you’re coming to Pennsic, feel free to ping me on FB if you want to try to meet up. It’s going to be hot and very people-y, being Pennsic 50, and there’s no telling a month out what the air quality will be like, so I have no idea how much wandering I’ll be doing.
Drake Oranwood 