Drake Oranwood[EDITED 11/8/2022: Account deactivated.]
I’m listening to the roughs. (In recording, “roughs” apparently are “masters” before their zits clear up.) In theory, I will have a master disc in my hands on Friday. Yes, this Friday.
The most incredible part of this project has been collaborating with so many talented people who were so eager to help make it possible. The SCA and musician communities are an unbelievably generous group of people. This isn’t my official acknowledgments, this is just sharing about what a joyful experience this has been.
So I finally got around to uploading videos of my performance at my debut Pennsic concert last year. (Better late than never, right?) Enjoy your weekend.
[UPDATE August 2015: Too many playlists. I’ve consolidated all the Pennsic performances into one playlist.]
As we get closer to our release date (June 20), I have been reminded by a few people that I should share about our intention around selling this album. This is a donation project (and has been since its inception). I want to sell this album, because I believe that art has value, and people appreciate that value more fully when they are asked to pay for it. But I was never sure how much money there was to be had in this niche, or indeed in recorded music in general (research update: not a lot). So instead of worrying about any money we might make, we chose to treat this as a fundraiser for a worthy cause. And for us, the cause was an easy choice, and one that ties in thematically with the album itself, and the title.
Not for nothing Wars of the Roses is one of my very favorite events. Yesterday was filled with fun and opportunities to be of service. I taught my songwriting class to a lovely group of 8 students, my shift at gate was a joy, at court I got to watch several friends receive well-deserved awards, and the bardic competition was an absolute blast. Amidst all that, I got the chance to welcome a beloved friend to the East Kingdom, where I know she will thrive, and a few new (and very talented!) bards to our raucous community of performers. Then I got to end the day watching my son embrace his latest SCA passion, dancing (and even joined in for a couple. “Dad! It’s a scoring dance! You have to do it for House York!” “Oh, all right…”)
All that, and for once–NO RAIN. THIS is why Concordia is our adoptive home. This.
I just handed Hidden Gold, all 12 tracks, off to Neil, who will be mastering it for me (thanks, Neil! And thanks for all the mixing help). It’s a weird and exciting feeling. My wife is excited to have me back, and we’re off to the Wars of the Roses up in Albany.
Have a great weekend, everyone! More updates to come.
Hidden Gold goes on sale on Saturday, June 20, one month from today. The front cover looks like this:
(Kudos to Aneleda Falconbridge for the design, and her Highness Caoilfhionn inghean Fhaoláin for the photo.)
More details soon.
I’m down in the basement today recording what should be my very last vocals for the album. I will be editing and tweaking, refining the mix, and before the family heads off to the Wars of the Roses event up in Concordia, I will have handed off my final mixes to my mastering engineer.
I have seen the album cover. (I think you’re gonna like it.) I have gotten valuable feedback from a small panel of trusted, knowledgable and very honest friends–and even more crucially, my wife, who (as Lucien reminded me) is always right and never wrong.
I’ve selected the CD manufacturer and the online distributor. And the release date is just over a month away. A long standing dream, and two and a half years of work, are almost at an end.
THISCLOSE. 🙂
We have a release date for the album! Hidden Gold will go on sale on Saturday, June 20.
Master Arden and I, along with some other talented musicians, will be celebrating the occasion with a release concert. One time only, we will be holding a house concert to perform all these songs with a live band. So if you think that sounds like an event you want to catch, please save the date.
There will be more announcements coming soon (a number of exciting developments coming to fruition!), so watch this space in the next few weeks and months. (Can you tell I’m excited?)
Drake Oranwood