Drake Oranwood
Ah, the unseemly part of sharing about a major event as a performer: showing off. (Not because I find it uncomfortable–sadly, I really really enjoy it. But I know it’s uncouth to do in excess, especially in the SCA. On the other hand, there’s a long history in period of boasting, so within certain limits it is considered acceptable.) And so, like a cat laying dead mice at your feet, I give you the “Look at Me!” part of my Pennsic recollections:
It is Friday of War Week at the 43rd annual Pennsic War out here at Cooper’s Lake campground in Slippery Rock, PA. This evening, we will pack up our tent, head to a hotel for the night, and make the 6 hour drive home tomorrow. Some time in the next few days I will post about my experiences of this Pennsic in more detail. I intend to post in three parts.
My teacher, Maistre Lucien de Pontivy, has suggested to me there are three modes in which we celebrate achievements and merits in our lives. We move between them, and while no one is “better” than the others, a balance of time spent in the different modes is healthy. The modes are:
(My teacher is pretty awesome.) I will structure the posts to devote some attention to each of these.
Okay, it’s official. My first solo stint on the Performing Arts stage at Pennsic will be 6:30-7:00 pm on Sunday of War Week (August 3). I get to lead off an evening of serious (and probably not-so-serious) minstrelsy.
Hope to see you there!
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!
I started this post back on Monday of War Week, but Pennsic kept happening, and on our return home, mundane life (particularly my job) pulled me right back in. Much as I wanted to do a detailed diary of Pennsic, and/or a lengthy gratitude list, I’m going to resist the impulse because:
Still have yet to put together my final Pennsic posts (getting back into mundania), but I have posted a page with my songwriting class notes.
Note that I’ve also add new YouTube videos, and linked to them on the pages for “Mug Your Gate” and “Lady of the Rose”.
I will post about my experiences at Pennsic when I get home. I will note that I did get several requests for lyrics and/or music to songs I performed during the war. (Bardic squee.)
As of now, all of my original pieces performed during Pennsic 42 have their lyrics posted, including “Lady of the Rose”. I will attempt to put up recordings or videos of performances the songs as soon as I can, for any who wish to perform them.
No one needs to ask my permission to perform one of my songs–there is no higher compliment a songwriter can be given. Please credit me as the author (as Drake Oranwood if you’re in the SCA)…and if you dropped me a note after you performed one for the first time, I would be delighted to hear about it (though that isn’t required).
The family is enjoying our first taste of Peace Week (the first of the two weeks, the setup week) at Pennsic this year. We are also enjoying camping at the event instead of staying at a hotel as we have in past years. Friends have been seen (and are being made), Bardic circles have been attended, fun is being had, and the passive voice is being greatly abused.
Of my newer pieces, “Mug Your Gate” and “Tam Lin of the Elves” are both proving to be hits, and all of the older pieces are being well received. (I have yet to perform any of the others at this point.)
A note for anyone actually checking this blog (yes, you and your friend!), I’ll be part of the mini concert performance set Sunday night between 8 and 9 pm at the Performing Arts tent. And Monday morning I’m teaching my first class, “Songwriting to Tell a Story”, in AS 9. Monday afternoon brings the Bardic Exposition from 2 to 5 pm, and I’ll be performing just before 3.
Hope to see you there!
I know–I don’t write, I don’t call… What have I been up to?
So I haven’t posted since December. Bad bard. Bad, bad bard. Well, busy bard. Which is good. (And it’s not like the handful of you out there aren’t catching all of this on Facebook anyway.)
Still, what’s the point of a “blog” about my “bardic career” if I don’t take the time to post about said “career” when I’m actually “doing things” in it? Probably because I have the grace to be at least uncomfortable with the implicit narcissism involved, but if I can deal with it, I trust you can too (or you’ll stop reading, and we’ll all just have to find a way to cope).
Drake Oranwood