Drake OranwoodAs I indicated in my previous post, I had two performance opportunities at yesterday’s EK Bardic Championships (which were held alongside Novice Schola, a free event for to introduce newcomers to the SCA, its culture, and the sorts of classes that are offered at events). The second one involved an elevation (or induction) into the Order of the Laurel for Ose Silverhair, a part of our extended SCA “family”.
I had a fantastic day at EK Bardic Championships. Paradoxically, I did and did not achieve my goals. I did not make it to the third round, but I gave exactly the performances I was aiming for. I dialed back the overt theatricality I’ve relied on, in favor of something more authentic and allowing connection with the audience. I came here to deliver something richer than they’d seen from me before, choosing to omit swagger and bravado as much as possible, keeping my introductions short and simple.
Time to plant a stake in the ground. The East Kingdom King’s and Queen’s Bardic Championships are this Saturday. At my mentor’s and my wife’s suggestion, this year I will be competing.
My goal is to make it to the final round (round 3). The first two rounds require competing bards to perform a documentably period piece (which will be my first time doing so), and a song about the Modern Middle Ages in the SCA (I’ve prepared “Lady of the Rose”), in whichever order they prefer. The third round will be their Majesties’ choice for the finalists. That part is a job interview, so I can’t control the outcome.
But regardless…consider it brung.
We’re setting up a monthly cadence for 2014 to get the songs all recorded for this album, so that it will be ready for Pennsic 44 next year. Today is my wife’s favorite, “Changeling”. I get giddy as a kid skipping around doing this stuff, I really do.
This news is a few weeks old, but I’ve been busy. Still, it deserves its own post. I am very excited.
Maistre Lucien de Pontivy, current Queen’s Bard of the East Kingdom and recently elevated to the Order of the Laurel, has taken me as a student of the Bardic Arts.
I am honor bound to report the results of the Winter Nights bardic competition yesterday. Sir Michael of York won the competition, and Lady Lorita de Sienna was chosen as Baronial Bard of Concordia for the coming year.
I am happy for her, and disappointed for myself. I wanted it, and I honestly had already counted the chicken and was planning out what I’d do with the eggs. The Baron said it was the toughest choice he’d had to make, and I’d made it harder by not making any mistakes.
I’ll post at some later point some of the learning I’m taking out of this. I didn’t make any mistakes…but I did make choices that were driven by wanting to win, that resulted in staying in my comfort zone with pretty much all my performances. I’m taking a look at that, and starting to see the blessing under the disguise.
I have been quietly enjoying a trickle of acknowledgment that others have begun making their way here and browsing around. The blog is getting followed by one or two other bloggers, and pages are getting “liked”. The Facebook page I set up for Drake last year (quite prematurely, I soon realized, when what I really wanted at the time turned out to be this website) has been picking up a few “likes” here and there the past few weeks, and from people I don’t actually know. Small confession: it makes me smile. But I’m sure many of you have the same experience.
We had a lengthy discussion on the Facebook group this week about whether we should abandon, de-emphasize, or clarify our use of the term “bard” in the SCA. I won’t rehash the discussion here, though I probably personalized it more than necessary. I will share, however, what I wrote when Isolde de Lengadoc challenged all of us to quit navel-gazing and pen to virtual paper and write a sonnet of our thoughts:
A fellowship I have, and hold it dear,
These kindred spirits lately have I found.
A fireside among these, ’tis sacred ground!
And yet, ’tis lately discord that I hear.
For we’re a motley group with several aims:
We’re singers? Writers? Hist’ry lovers? Fools?
Are we one clan or many? Have we rules?
And oft, I too get caught up in these games.
So long have I this life sojourned alone,
I dread the splint’ring of this merry band.
Whate’er the name, I know for sure I stand
In such a circle as I’ve never known.
Can we all stand together in our art?
Or shall we (with my soul) now fly apart?
The SCA is sponsoring a talent competition on YouTube, since the Society has many very talented people in it. What can I say, I entered something.
If you like it and you think I should be a finalist, you can vote for it on YouTube. You do this by “liking” the video on YouTube.
Some of you have already heard this song, but most people haven’t seen the video from the Heather Dale concert. Enjoy!
(With apologies to Frank Miller and fans of the Dark Knight)
So, as summer comes to an end, I find myself reflecting back on my first full year as a “working bard” (participating in actual bardic events, interacting with the bardic community). I tend to mark a Scadian year as falling from one Pennsic to the next. It is the biggest and oldest event in the society, and affords opportunities to live one’s passions like nothing else on the East Coast, at least.
Drake Oranwood