Categories
Pennsic

Greetings from Pennsic!

Thought for once I’d post live. Not a LOT to say, but still, I’m awake early enough to check in. Some notes as we leave Peace Week behind:

  • Last night I attended the Worst Bardic Circle, Like, Evarrrrr. (That was actually the title–Efenwealt’s brain child.) We were all urged to confess our Bardic sins. So I unveiled the very first Drake Oranwood song I ever wrote, from before my time in the SCA (back when I spelled it “Orinwood”). It was basically Ren Fair fanfic. It passed muster for this circle. (No, I’m not performing it for you now.)
  • First Bardic Monday night was lovely (if rainy). Thursday night’s Chocolate Bardic at McGuire’s Marauders was probably my second favorite ever. (My favorite, the first Chocolate Bardic I ever went to, is unlikely to be surpassed. That was the first time I ever performed “Tam Lin of the Elves” at Pennsic, Heather Dale was in the audience, and when she expressed her admiration of the song, I mentioned I could imagine her singing the Elf Queen, and she crowed with delight. I met a few of my dearest friends that night. It’s a pretty high bar. Nevertheless, this one was excellent.)
  • The first session of “My Guitar’s Persona Is a Lute” on Thursday went beautifully, with an impressive turnout of eager students. Clearly, there is a thirst for how to do lute repertoire on guitar, and the reveal of how ridonkulously simple it is to adapt a guitar for the purpose appeared not to disappoint anyone.
  • My concert (Wednesday night from 8 to 9) is shaping up to be a fun one. This year’s Hamilton filk, which will feature my music friends Bird the Bard and Cedar the Barefoot, will now also include my son Spencer, who basically said to me the other day, “I want to be in ‘The Tomb Where It Happens'”, so how could I possibly say no? His turn as Mercutio should be a hoot (especially since he will ALSO be playing the roles of Isaac AND God that evening).
  • Oh, and speaking of Cedar…if you’re willing to pause on your way to Opening Ceremonies to catch The Barefoot Bard from 6-6:30 on the PA Stage tonight, you won’t be disappointed. And speaking of Lin-Manuel filk, their Moana filk promises to be hilarious. (And if you accuse me of putting them up to that I will cut you. Because true.)

Look forward to see you as we move into War Week!

Categories
album bardic concert Pennsic

Off to Pennsic!

The Oranwood clan will be on the road to Pennsic this evening. Some of the places you can find me this War:

  • We are camping at McGuire’s Marauders (block N06, next to Ansteorra Royal). Feel free to say hello.
  • My concert will be War Wednesday from 8-9 pm (between House Sans Nomen and Heather Dale–still don’t know how that happened, still not questioning it), and planned guests include Efenwealt Wystle, Bird the Bard, Cedar the Barefoot, Sólveig Bjarnardóttir, and my son Spencer Oranwood. There will be new original songs. There will be lute. More importantly, there will be new and even more ambitious Hamilton filk.
  • My dear friend Cedar the Barefoot is performing their first concert Middle Sunday from 6-6:30 pm. I’ll be watching, because I wouldn’t miss this and you shouldn’t either. Apparently, there will be new Lin-Manuel Miranda filk performed here as well, and any suggestions that I might have instigated said filk would be grounds for legal action. (Shenanigans? ME?!?)
  • Efenwealt Wystle and I will be hosting the annual Bardic Expo on War Monday from 2:00-4:30 pm. Come perform, and come see others perform.
  • I am teaching “My Persona’s Guitar Is a Lute” on Peace Thursday from 11-12 pm and War Wednesday from 1-2 pm. This is a new first time offering.
  • I will be at McGuire’s infamous Chocolate Bardic on Peace Thursday, and I will try to get to other bardic circles whenever possible throughout the War. (There are rumors of a “secret bardic circle” during peace week, possibly at Highrafters, but the first rule of it is that you don’t talk about it, and the second rule…)

As for music:

  • The Sing for the East CD (as well as the new Companion Songbook) will be available at Camelot Treasures (booth 30) and Designs by J (booth 162). You can also find my first album Hidden Gold there if you don’t already have it.
  • Efenwealt Wystle’s new music sampler CD together for this Pennsic, featuring some really well-known performers. Somehow, I got a track of mine, and one from bright star Juliana la Badele, on this thing.
  • You should be looking for any music you don’t yet have when you have the chance. There are a ton of hard-working artists creating amazing, high-quality recordings within this community, and they deserve your patronage.

Hope to see you at War!

Categories
bardic

NEW! “Sing for the East” Companion Songbook at Pennsic!

So there’s a little last-minute project that came up, and I wanted to share. Someone asked on Facebook how they could get a songbook that has all the Sing for the East songs on it. (Most of the songs on the album were written after the publication of the 2004 songbook, which we now refer to as “Volume 1”. Volume 2 is in the works, and will include the rest of the songs, but it will also include a good deal of other music, and is still many months away from completion.)

Continue reading “NEW! “Sing for the East” Companion Songbook at Pennsic!”
Categories
Pennsic recording SCA

Catch-up, and Pennsic prep

Sorry the posting is still so sporadic. Some updates:

  • East Kingdom 50 Year was lovely–what I got to experience of it. As it happens, 30 minutes after I finished my Friday concert with Donal Artur and Bird (which was a blast), I was rushed to the ER for pain that turned out to be a kidney stone. By the next morning, it was clear that managing my discomfort was going to be difficult at the event, so we packed up and left early. I hated to miss the rest of it. (And yes, the stone passed a couple of days ago.)
  • Efenwealt Wystle has put the bardic sampler CD together for this Pennsic, and I’m excited to have my music and Juliana’s on it. Some major names on this thing, I feel very privileged.
  • I’ve put together Facebook events for my concert and my classes for this war. I will be posting my two new songs when I get back.
  • Rehearsals for The Mystery of Edwin Drood are eating up my evenings, as expected, but a promise is a promise, and I’m having a ton of fun.
Categories
album bardic concert SCA

Ready for East Kingdom 50 Year!

The East Kingdom’s 50 Year celebration is this week, from Thursday to Sunday. I am looking forward to it, and want to mention a few things if you’re going to be be there:

  • Friday, 3:30-4:00 pm, Performing Arts Stage: I will be performing some of my songs with my dear friends Bird the Bard and Donal Artur of the Silver Band. It promises to be a lot of fun–and the set includes a new song!
  • Saturday, 2-3 pm, Performing Arts Stage: Join the the bards of Sing for the East for a live, sing-along concert!
  • The Sing for the East CD will be on sale at Kate’s Kafe throughout the event, along with other popular SCA music (including mine).

Click here for the EK 50 site map. (The Stage is next to the A&S Classrooms, but you’ll probably need to zoom in to see it.)

Hope to see you there!

Categories
bardic recording songwriting

Keeping commitments

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:

Continue reading “Keeping commitments”
Categories
general

Catching up

It’s been a busy month, but there haven’t been any big developments that felt like they were ripe to share in the bardic sphere. A bunch of things are going on that were, well, “bardic-adjacent”, or of some potential interest, or that involved bards. And there are some overdue updates I’m realizing I should have shared sooner. Sorry for running silent.

First off, I realized that I never posted about sending off the final official donation to the Therapeutic Nursery last December, honoring our two-year commitment to dedicate all proceeds from Hidden Gold to that worthy cause. The last $400 check brings our total donation to just under $2,000. (I reserve the right to make further donations if the album ends up raising enough additional funds to justify further checks, but have completed the pledge.) This was a project that was wonderful to see reach fruition.

Continue reading “Catching up”
Categories
recording

Studio Day: “Tir Righ Rise”

Today was delightful, as I worked with Bird (that’s Juliana Bird with a Spanish J), recording tracks for “Tir Righ Rise” by Juliana la Badele (with an English J).

Bird is (unsurprisingly if you know her) my new go-to recording musician for brass, woodwinds, and harmonies. She is right: French horn is best horn.

Producing is so much fun, I don’t know how it’s legal.

Categories
recording

My Producer Hat

Working day as producer/sound engineer for my friend Juliana la Badele’s (aka Jazzy McIntosh) recording. Need to get things in order so that we can record Bird the Bard’s horns and pipes against Juliana’s vocals, uke and harp. (Guitar, drums, and backing vocals forthcoming.)

Very psyched. Stay tuned for more details.

Categories
concert Pennsic

This year’s Pennsic concert

So, in other Pennsic news, I found out when my concert has been scheduled. Wednesday of War Week, 8-9 pm. (For those unfamiliar with the concert schedule, it means I’m the lead-in for Heather Dale’s time slot.)

This was a surprise to me. One of those good surprises. The kind that is followed by a lot of mental scrambling and complicated feelings. (A lot of them start with “Holy crap.”)

I’m making no assumptions about what will happen in future years. I plan to really enjoy this opportunity, and make sure the audience and my guest performers do too.

I’ll put an event out at some point. But since it’s right there on Thing at this point, I figured it was time I shared.