Celtfather Music & Travel

Every year, I take a small group of people on an exciting adventure overseas. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know it through it's culture, history, and legends. EtZvGiAuFJKsacyM2U1d In June 2023, we are going to Westport, Ireland in County Mayo. The itinerary is now online. We will spend seven nights, visiting Matt Malloy's famous pub, hike Croagh Patrick, and ferry to Clare Island. We'll learn more about the Grace O'Malley, the famed Pirate Queen, by visiting her castles. We'll see standing stones and lots more. Check out the itinerary for the Celtic Invasion of Westport, Ireland right now to see if you want to join me in Ireland this summer.

Celebrate Celtic culture and music through travel. I'm gonna tell you what you can expect on my Celtic Invasion Vacations? If you go to the website you won't find much information. I usually list the itinerary when it becomes available but that can be January or March before the trip. You will find podcasts and links to pictures and videos. I don't know that any of it really paints a good picture. So I thought I would try to break down how these trips work to help you decide if you want to join me in the future. Celtic Invasion Vacations are not your typical travel tour experience. Most tourists travel on big buses. They go place to place. You stay up late. You get up early. There's 30, 60 or even 90 people packed on one to three tour buses. If you're like me, that sounds pretty miserable. My first two trips were on tour buses. Everyone was a fan of my music. So that was pretty awesome. The bus drivers were awesome too. But that's a lot of people for an introvert like me. I don't know how much of the fatigue was from so many people or the staying up late/getting-up-early business. But it's not my preferred way of traveling. I like small groups. My mom moved to Italy in 1985. So I've gone back-and-forth to Europe for a long time. My mom is an awesome adventurer. I went to school on an American military base in Vicenza, Italy for my senior year of high school. While all the other high school seniors went to Remini to get drunk, my mom and I went on in artistic pilgrimage following the works of Piero Della Francesca. She instilled in me the value of planning as well as spontaneity. You see that in my Celtic Invasion Vacations itinerary. When I finally make one that is. Typically, I don't have a full itinerary when I announce the latest trip. I have… ideas. In fact, I usually have one big idea. Then I find a way to make it work. One person told me he was disappointed when my trip to the Highlands of Scotland a few years back did not also include the Isle of Skye, like it was initially listed on the early itinerary. That was because I had a big idea. But when I finally settled on details, I realized it was impractical. I learned from that error. If I make any big changes to what was planned, you are welcome to back out. I don't usually settle on solid itineraries until December or January. I just don't have enough details to make a solid decision. That might make some people uncomfortable, especially when you're putting down nearly $3000, plus air travel, to join me. The adventure is worth it! The great thing about traveling on the Celtic Invasion Vacation in my opinion is that it is a small group. That means maximum flexibility for adventure. So let's answer some questions. 3:11 - WHEN ARE THE CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS? This can always vary. But typically I run my trips in late May or early June. This seems to be the best time to travel to Ireland and Scotland. People talk about rain in Ireland. June seems to invariably have one of the lightest rain falls ever. It's just... perfect! 3:32 - HOW LONG IS EACH TRIP? Celtic Invasion Vacations are about seven days long. The trips are officially scheduled from Saturday to Saturday. That's because that's how long most vacation rentals book. But I'm not going to be taking you to seven hotels in seven days. We stay in one place most of the week. If the vacation rental is more than a couple hours from the airport or there's something cool to see closer, we may stay in a hotel near the airport on the last night of the Invasion. It just depends on how soon everyone on the trip has booked their departure. 4:04 - WHEN SHOULD I ARRIVE? I usually ask Invaders to arrive the day before the trip. That way you can recover from jet lag and adjust to the time change. But that also allows us to leave first thing in the morning on Saturday to drive to our vacation rental. While it is recommended, it is not required. As long as you arrive by 11 am on Saturday, we will adjust. You are also responsible for the hotel on Friday night. But you might find a roommate with other Invaders. 4:43 - WHEN SHOULD I DEPART? Again, it's up to you. I prefer you to set your departure after noon on Saturday. You can stay as long as you want. I usually leave on Sunday after the trip is over. 4:54 - HOW DO YOU SELECT THE DESTINATIONS? Destinations are chosen by invaders and of course me. I usually have an idea of a place I want to see. I look for a suitable vacation spot. But sometimes I ask for suggestions from Invaders. Our trip to Brittany and Cornwall were both chosen because some regular Invaders wanted to visit all seven Celtic nations. Of course, I get the final say. And if I can't get enough people to attend one of these more remote spots, I may make adjustments. Once we settle on a big destination, the next step is figuring out the generalized itinerary. 5:27 - IS THERE DOWNTIME? Yes. This is not an intense, constantly moving tour. Celtic Invasion Vacations are about relaxation, adventure, and fun. But how much can be up to you. There's usually at least one day where we are near to the cottage and take it easy. We explore the local town. Wednesday's have the option of a little extra downtime for those who need it. 5:52 - HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE ITINERARY? You can't make an itinerary until you know where you are going, right? Well, the challenge for me is that I need to know the exact place we are staying to figure out where our itinerary will go. My next step then is to start researching vacation rentals. I look for rentals in our destination area that hold between 8-12 people (sometimes more). I want it to look nice, comfortable and easily accessible. In fact, I want the majority of the cool stuff that we will explore to be within 30 minutes of where we are staying. Once I know the exact location, I can plan the itinerary. 6:26 - WHAT DOES A TYPICAL ITINERARY LOOK LIKE? The first day of the trip involves driving to our destination. We need at least one interesting place to stop along the way. Maybe two if you include lunch. When we arrive, we need groceries. I confess, there's something extra fun about going to a grocery store in Europe. Some of our Invaders join me for a shopping experience as we load up on breakfast and a couple dinners. I make dinner the first night, typically my secret pasta recipe. That evening is usually concluded with a little music by me. The second day is usually a good day to stay local. So we explore one or two of the cool things nearby. We try to spend time out of the car, walking around. It's good to stretch our legs after traveling. On either the second or the third day, I like to bring in a tour guide, if possible. My trips are not geared around "tours", but local guides are great for adding a little bit of history, culture, and legends to the experience. Guides are also good at giving us a local perspective of things we should check out that are not necessarily on our itinerary. In Brittany, we found some cool cairns that were not on our original itinerary. In Cornwall, we got an overview of Tintagel and found some standing stones I would've never found. In Wales, Gwilym Morus shared the incredible legends of Merlin and introduced us to an eco-resort, hidden in the mountains. In Donegal, we found some great restaurants and a former passage tomb. Around day three, we're ready for a different travel experience. That's when I try to get us out on the water or on a train. Something to shake up the feel of the trip. Day four is the midweek break. Again we stay local. Some choose to relax in our cottage. Others explore something new that's local. Day five usually takes us on a long adventure. We'll get in the van and drive further to see something outside of our main region. This gives us a nice look at other regions nearby. It also adds to the fun adventure. Day six is intentionally left open. We usually find something cool by this time that we might not have realized before the trip began. Or perhaps a guide or a local we met had a recommendation. That's when we take the advice of others to explore something different The final day is usually spent fairly local. It's time for last minute exploration of our area. Sometimes we pack up and make our way back  towards the airport. One or two bonus destinations end up on the final day. 9:20 - WHAT MAKES A CELTIC INVASION VACATION DIFFERENT FROM OTHER TOURS? I like to stress that Celtic Invasion Vacations are not tours. They are vacations. I want my Invaders to feel relaxed and happy by the end of the trip. Not exhausted, like I was on my first two trips to Ireland. You should be energized and excited for the next Celtic Invasion experience. 9:40 - HOW MANY PEOPLE JOIN THE INVASION? The number can vary. But I usually aim for between 8-12 invaders. Too many people and I start having trouble finding restaurants to eat at. 9:58 - WHAT PERSONAL PAPERS ARE NEEDED FOR TRAVELING ON A CELTIC INVASION VACATION? You DO need a passport. It's usually good to get your passport at least 90 days out. I would suggest applying for one a minimum of six months before you depart. But there are some expedited services that can get them sooner. Just plan ahead. You do NOT need a visa. You don't need an international drivers license either. In fact, your regular driver's license is fine if you plan to drive in Europe with any car company. Make sure you bring that at the very least. But of course, driving on the Invasion is usually done by me. Since the pandemic, you will need a vaccination card. Invasions are like family vacations. We want to take care of our fellow invaders. So your COVID vaccination card is essential for my trip and a lot of European travel. 10:48 - HOW MUCH DO CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS COST? That varies year to year. It starts at about $2800 for the land part of the trip, for each person on the trip. It does not cover the cost of air travel. You handle your own airline tickets. Your fee covers your housing for a full week. That's for a shared room, either a double if you're a couple or two singles. Depending on our housing, it may cost extra to get a single room to yourself. Your fee covers a breakfast every day and dinner at least five times. Often I cover more than that. Sometimes it works well to make lunches if we're not planning to be near restaurants. So I happily pay for lunch supplies if we need them. But in general, you are responsible for your own lunch. You can have what you like for breakfast each morning. Some days we have a full breakfast with eggs, bacon, yogurt, fruit, cheese, or whatever you want. Grocery shopping usually happens on the first day. So whatever you need, we can probably find it. Other days, if we want to get going early, then we will have a Continental Breakfast with just breads, cheese, yogurt or fruit. And yes, there's coffee. Every morning. And tea too. I need my coffee! I cook dinner at least 2 days during the week. We have my world famous secret pasta meal. And then there's the Celtic Invasion specialty... Prince Charlie... Secret. It's a recipe we picked up years ago and is now a tradition on the Invasions. There may be more than two meals. But of course, we like to eat out too. The toughest thing about dining on the Celtic Invasions is finding a place to eat. If the group is under nine people. That's usually not too difficult. But if we have more than that, it can be a challenge. I plan ahead for that. Because who doesn't like to eat out in Europe!?!?! I consider that a big part of the experience. 12:41 - IS THERE MUSIC? At least twice a week, we spend the evening relaxing at our cottage with dinner... and music. I am, of course, host of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. But I'm also a musician. I play Celtic music with a sci fi drinking song twist. I call it Sci F'Irish music. You can hear my music through my website at celtfather.net. I plan to play for at least an hour. But a lot of it depends on you and how excited you are to hear some music. If we're really lucky, you might bring an instrument too. Then we can have an Irish session with songs and tunes afterward. And if we're really fortunate, I will find a musician or bring in a musician to come play for us. That's frequently difficult to pull off.  But when it happens. It's absolutely amazing! 13:30 - WHEN DOES OUR DAY BEGIN AND END? Breakfast is usually around 7:30 or 8 AM with a departure time of 8:30-9 AM. We don't usually do too much in the evening. Since Irish sessions usually don't begin until 9 PM, it's not something we usually attend outside of our cottage. But if it's something you want to do, we might be able to make it happen. 14:32 - HOW OLD IS TOO OLD? HOW YOUNG IS TOO YOUNG? I have had people ages 18 on into their 70s on my Celtic Invasion Vacations. I'd say the vast majority are in their 40s, 50s and 60s. But I don't really think much about it because I adjust each trip to who's on it. In 2019, the younger group hiked up Skellig Michael while the less physically able landed on the Greater Blaskett Island by boat. The physically active walk, hike and run ahead if they so desire. Those who aren't, take it at their own speed. The Isle of Skye was one of the few places we went where it was better to be physically active. There's a lot of hiking on that island. But ye know, I don't think anyone's vacation fun was hindered by their physical activity. As for younger folks, I typically don't prefer to have young kids on the trip. I know the challenges associated with that. But I'm willing to consider it as long as the you feel the kids are up to getting up and going. One lady asked about a teenager. I think I might be open to a teenager who is a bit more independent but still willing to follow the rules. 15:52 - HOW DO WE TRAVEL? Typically we travel in a van. These are usually large nine-seaters with lots of luggage space. Sometimes we will add a second van or a car to carry extra Invaders. Speaking of luggage, we do have limited space. I find one suitcase per person is plenty, plus a carry on. You typically don't need more. There's usually laundry facilities too. So you can always wash something extra. There's a whole bunch of videos on YouTube where you can learn how to travel light. If you truly need an extra suitcase, that's fine. But your experience is so much better when you travel light. 16:36 - HOW DO YOU SIGN UP? The first step is for me to open up the Invasion to the public. You see, former Invaders get first dibs. Once it's public, here's what you do. First, email an application form to me. Second, send me a check for your deposit. That reserves your spot on the Invasion within 2 weeks of emailing your application form. Finally, just send me your final payment before the deadline and you're golden. Speaking of your final payment, you are welcome to break it up into multiple payments if you don't want to or can't pay all at once. I'm happy to work with you to make the trip happen. 17:09 - HOW DO I CANCEL IF I NEED TO? First off, there is a $400 non-refundable deposit. Though there is a caveat for the "non-refundable" part. If I change the dates, you can get a refund. If you can find someone to take your spot, or someone willing takes your spot, then you can get a refund. However, if you are sick and turned away by an airline or country, I can't offer a refund. Typically, 30-60 days before the trip, once I start paying for things, like our housing, vans, tour guides, whatever, I can no longer offer a refund. That usually starts about the time of the Celtic Invasion deadline. I'm not a corporation though. So there may be flexibility. My goal here is to have people "sign up" and then not drop a month later as happened on my very first Celtic Invasion. If you wanna go, make a commitment with a non-refundable deposit. 17:57 - CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS – CLOSING REMARKS All in all, Celtic Invasion Vacations are about happily experiencing the fun culture, history, and legends of one small but magical location. I hope you'll consider joining me on the next Celtic Invasion Vacation. Sign up at CelticInvasion.com so you don't miss out on this incredible adventure! And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.  

Busking is like a fine art. When I went solo at the end of 2008, I was determined to better understand it. I asked several Renaissance festival performers for help and suggestions. I interviewed Vince Conaway. I'm gonna share that interview today on Celtfather Unkilted #289. I was trying to figure out how to share his interview I did with Vince Conaway years ago. I finally decided I should just post it on a podcast. It might not be super relevant to most of my fans. But it is a sneak peak behind what it's like to be a musician. I hope you enjoyed that interview. I sure did. I learned a lot from it, even if I don't feel like I've mastered the art. It's a great starting point for any musician who wants to master the art of busking. I always thought it was, and still is, a great insight into making a living with music. I don't know how long Vince Conaway has made a living with music. But he does a great job, and it's not easy to do. That's why he still sells CDs and also why he has a Patreon page. He talks about how amazing Patreon has helped him over the years, especially since the pandemic closed down his livelihood. Now he is once again in Europe, sharing his music in the streets, and making special videos from around the world for all of his patrons, all so he can keep making music. If you'd like to find out more about Vince Conaway, visit his website at VinceConaway.com If you enjoyed this show, you can also support my music and podcasting by joining the Gunn Runners Club on my Patreon page. You can follow a link at Celtfather.net for more details.

Greetings Gunn Runner I love looking at my successes each year. Honestly, I was pretty excited about my musical successes last year. I felt like I had a few break through moments. So let's make a list. It's all on my monthly update, Celtfather Unkilted, show #288. The podcast is brought to you by my amazing Patrons in the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. - MUSINGS: Successes for 2021 Finished Selcouth! Finally figured out the basic art of booking gigs. Booked a lot of breweries and new venues. Rebooted In the 'Verse podcast Wrote several new songs. That are Really good. I can write songs on Command! Developed new plan for Pub Songs & Stories with seasons...actual SEASONS! Collecting and sharing great stories from Celtic musicians Started developing a new plan for MG Patreon to release more music to Patrons. Came up with new plan for an easier to compile Celtic Top 20. Started creating a new format and plan for Celtic Christmas Podcast. Happy with the promotion of new playlisting ideas. Started recording a new CD with Brobdingnagian Bards Found a new time that works for Coffee with The Celtfather. Reformatted Coffee for seasons too. Getting closer to finishing Dancing With Hobbits Nearly finished Adventure with Me CD Released my first vinyl album Got back to performing at sci fi conventions. Re-released Name on My Soul as Flower of Scotland. Improved at busking Developed Album Release strategy. Have new merch plan with lapel pins. Developed regular Celtic Heartstrings Booked a castle in Scotland for 2022 Pulled back to focus on podcasting Been running regularly three days a week. Making more time for family. Have new Celtic podcast email series. Created plan to promote the Celtic podcast at festivals CELTFATHER MONTHLY UPDATES - REGULAR SHOWS Pub Songs & Stories. 10 episodes per season Spring focus on Selcouth Off January, June, July, December Irish & Celtic Music Podcast Focus on promoting show to fans Promote Celtic Top 20 Every month, compile Top 5 for Spotify In The 'Verse podcast Next: The War Doctor Celtic Christmas Podcast Thoughts about the new format More like pub stories Playlist focused, easier with all the cover songs Brobdingnagian Bards podcast No plans yet Stories on Patreon Thank you Gunn Runners! Coffee with The Celtfather. Wednesdays at 11 AM Eastern. Season 10 begins on Weds, Jan 19 Most episodes will be practice shows -  MUSIC PRODCUTION Selcouth release date: Feb 21 Another Faire to Remember Dancing with Hobbits Come Adventure With Me. Kickstarter in April Climate Renaissance Singles on Patreon. - MERCH Christmas ornaments Greeting cards. $4 or 20 Temporary Re-release of CDs Vinyl records Celtic Heartstrings. Different price points Lapel pins Booklet. Remember, subscribe to my mailing list, you get a discount code to save 15%. Patrons save 25%! - WEBSITES I made a special page for people who take my business card and use the QR code. It'll be interesting to see if this works. But the basic idea is the card will give you a quick link to listen to music, subscribe to my podcast and mailing list. It's similar to what you'll find at Celtfather.net but even more focused. I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1166 is up from 1152 Celtic Music Magazine = 4107 is up from 4100 YouTube Subscribers =  5614 is up from 5578 Facebook Likes = 3831 is up from 3820 Instagram = 1917 is up from 1915 Spotify followers:  1924 is up 36 from 1888 # Number of listens on Spotify: 11,612 is up from  4901 LATEST SPOTIFY ALBUM STATS Most-popular songs on Spotify: Frosty the Irish Snowman (4470), Christmas in the Shire (4112), Slainte Mhaith Christmas (3410), The Hero of Christmas (2916), Yuletide (2609), The Widow and the Devil (2280), Celtic Christmas Elf (2015), Let's Have A Celtic Christmas (1628), Jingle  Bells (1557) The Scottish King of Christmas (1316) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: Doctor of Gallifrey (595), Hero of Canton (340), Christmas in Scotland (155), The Widow abd the Devil (146), The Night Paddy Murphy Died (79) Top albums on Amazon: Sci Fi Drinking Songs (843), As Long As I'm Flyin (452), Kilted For Her Pleasure (332), Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion (324), Going for Brogue (159) Last year's playlists from this time last year: Top Irish & Celtic Music: 616 up from 604 Sci F'Irish Music: 14 Nagians Only: 21 Celtfather Experience: 31 Hobbit Drinking Songs: 5 Firefly Drinking Songs: 140 up from 138 Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 82 up from 81 Jedi Drinking Songs: 36 up from 34 Marc Gunn Songwriting: 3 Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 130 up from 113 Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families: 2200 is up from 1967 Christmas Drinking Songs: 61 up from 41 Celtic Christmas Women: 44 up from 11 Irish Christmas Songs for Kids: 8 up from 5 Celtic Christmas Songs: 14 up from 13 Christmas Drive: 42 Celtic Christmas Music 2021: 26 19:01 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 169 up from 168 Patreon Monthly Income: $1312 up from$1285 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts, pin and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner Is Black Friday an ethical holiday? Overcoming fear is the theme of a new song inspired by the hobbit. Top 10 songs on Spotify. It's all on my monthly update, Celtfather Unkilted, show #287. The podcast is brought to you by my amazing Patrons in the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. I have some new subscribers, and I hope to make this an even more important part of my general promotion in the weeks ahead. 0:42 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR THE COMING MONTH DEC 1: Coffee with The Celtfather @ 11 AM EST DEC 5: Grant Park Farmer's Market @ 9 AM - Noon DEC 8: Coffee with The Celtfather @ 11 AM EST DEC 15: Season 9 Finale Coffee with The Celtfather @ 11 AM EST DEC 16: Celtfather Live @ 7 PM EST 1:14 - MUSINGS: The Ethics of Black Friday I'm pretty confident that you know all about Black Friday. Now, we also have Cyber Monday. These are two days when people open up their wallets and many businesses offer HUGE discounts. I confess I am very torn by those holidays. On the one hand, I have my own business. CD sales are still one of the big ways I make money. My Patreon needs to be twice what it is for me to remove my dependence on CD and merch sales. On the other hand is consumerism. We create so much waste. I'm not even gonna go into what that waste does to our environment and its effect on climate change. One of the things I love about the new digital revolution is I can potentially create music and make a living without adding to the waste. One day I hope to sell out all my CDs. Then I will just release them on a limited basis, for those who truly love the media. My storage shelves will be mostly empty. The Christmas holiday doesn't help. It's all about spending. It bothered me a lot more back in the 90s when I first heard about Buy Nothing Day. That day was created in response to the consumerism. It's on the very same day as Black Friday. "Don't buy" is the message. Back around 2001, it became possible to accept credit cards at gigs. But at the time, I was $15K in debt. All because of MY irresponsible use of credit cards. It got me questioning. Should I accept credit card payments...and potentially have you, my customer, go into debt because of my products? Eventually, I decided you should be responsible for yourself. But at the same time is that cop out? This is one of those ethical dilemmas. I was talking recently with people about ethics in healthcare. The question was raised: should a parent have full control of their child's healthcare? Do they know what's best for their child? The quick answer is yes. I know what's best for my daughters. But that comes from my privileged, fairly healthy family background. A parent who is strung out on drugs, sick, or poor or in abusive relationship. They might not be healthy enough to do what is best for their child. There are so many nuances. There isn't one right answer. It's each different for each person. My biggest complaint with corporations is that in order to be successful, they need to do what will make the most-profit for their business. That sounds reasonable. They should be allowed to make money freely, without government interference. That is until you realize that they can dump sewage into our water, poison our air, and destroy our environment. They can murder people and not be culpable. Because they are a business. The actions of the business will not financially impact the owners of that business. Reminds of McDonalds: "Would you like to Supersize that?" That phrase made them boatloads of money. The cost was the increased obesity of their customers. It took regulations to stop them from using that simple sales phrase. Sure it made them more money. But was it ethical? We are all manipulated by businesses trying to make a buck. That's why Black Friday changed from businesses saying, "Huh. We get a lot more sales on the day after Thanksgiving" to "Let's capitalize on that and start a holiday!" I decided not to do a Black Friday sale this year. I thought about it. And I plan to put together a sale on my website soon. I'm not abandoning sales altogether. But I'm torn. If nothing else, I think it's important to think about what's right. The ethics of sales. Just because you think it's fine. Doesn't mean it's ethically right. It could be. But think about it. CELTFATHER MONTHLY UPDATES 6:34 - PODCASTS Pub Songs & Stories. New logo. Songs & Stories Wild Mountain Thyme, Coast. Mingulay Boat Song, Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer, Jiggle Your Old Bones Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. In The 'Verse podcast Rankin & Bass' 1977 animated movie The Hobbit. Song about overcoming fear. Come Adventure With Me Celtic Christmas Podcast. New format Playlist focused, easier with all the cover songs Brobdingnagian Bards podcast: Stories on Patreon: Still need to release my Conjuration Stories. I had a theme epiphany 11:27 - VIDEOS Coffee with The Celtfather. Wednesdays at 11 AM Eastern. Last episode of Season 9 is Weds, Dec 15 Season 10 gonna do songs from CDs Watch "Blink" Video inspired by Doctor Who. 12:12 - IN THE STUDIO Selcouth progress Trying to record "Blink" and "Come Adventure With Me" "Yuletide" released on Nov 29. On playlists. 14:47 - MERCH Plan to release Christmas ornaments soon. Re-release of CDs Remember, subscribe to my mailing list, you get a discount code to save 15%. Patrons save 25%! - WEBSITES I made a special page for people who take my business card and use the QR code. It'll be interesting to see if this works. But the basic idea is the card will give you a quick link to listen to music, subscribe to my podcast and mailing list. It's similar to what you'll find at Celtfather.net but even more focused. I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: 16:17 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1152 is up from 1151 Celtic Music Magazine = 4100 is up from 4087 YouTube Subscribers =  5578 is up 26 from 5552 Facebook Likes = 3820 is up from 3817 Instagram = 1915 is up from 1900 Spotify followers:  1888 is up 19 from 1869 # Number of listens on Spotify: 4901 is up from 3153 LATEST SPOTIFY ALBUM STATS Most-popular songs on Spotify: "The Widow and the Devil" (2336), "Frosty the Irish Snowman" (1275), "The Hero of Christmas" (763), "Christmas in the Shire" (592), "Doctor of Gallifrey" (592), "Slainte Mhaith Christmas" (571), "Hobbit Hornpipe" (507), “O'er the Way” (357), "A Working in the Garden" (344), "Jingle  Bells" (297) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: "Doctor of Gallifrey" (442), "Hero of Canton" (319),  "The Widow and the Devil" (159), "Close Your Eyes" (54), "Christmas in Scotland" (40) Top albums on Amazon: Sci Fi Drinking Songs (703), As Long As I'm Flyin (423), Kilted For Her Pleasure (397), Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion (342), Going for Brogue (132) Last year's playlists from this time last year: Top Irish & Celtic Music: 604 is up from 602 Sci F'Irish Music: 14 is up from 13 Nagians Only: 21  (same) Celtfather Experience: 31 (same) Hobbit Drinking Songs: 5 (same) Firefly Drinking Songs: 138 (same) Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 81 is up from 80 Jedi Drinking Songs: 34 is up from 33 Marc Gunn Songwriting: 3 Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 113 is up from 110 Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families: 1967 is up from 1941 Christmas Drinking Songs: 41 Celtic Christmas Women: 11 Irish Christmas Songs for Kids: 5 Celtic Christmas Songs: 13 Christmas Drive: 19:01 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 168 is up from 165 Patreon Monthly Income: $1285 is down from $1286 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts, pin and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Today, I review the success of the Pub Songs & Stories changes. I offer tips on promoting your podcast. And I tell you about two new songs coming soon. It's all on my monthly update, Celtfather Music & Travel, show #286. The podcast is brought to you by my amazing Patrons in the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. I have some new subscribers, and I hope to make this an even more important part of my general promotion in the weeks ahead. 0:33 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR THE COMING MONTH NOV 3: Playing Favorites on Coffee with The Celtfather @ 11 AM EST NOV 5-7: CONjuration, Atlanta, GA NOV 10:  Coffee with The Celtfather @ 11 AM EST NOV 12: Interstellar Ginger Beer & Exploration Co., Alabaster, AL @ 8-10 PM NOV 13: Haeuser House Concert, Robert, LA NOV 17: Coffee with The Celtfather @ 11 AM EST WEDS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 9) @ 11:00 AM EST   CELTFATHER MONTHLY UPDATES 1:30 - PODCASTS Pub Songs & Stories is coming along. I'm getting more interest in the show from musicians. I feel like I should be good for stories for a while. Though I will continue to need to hunt down more stories. In fact, if you'd like to help me to do that, I'd love to have Pub Stories producer. I'm changing the logo a tiny bit more for the podcast too. I'm redoing my business cards. I found some cool marketing ideas. But I feel like the current logo is a bit of a distraction... well, the title is. PUB Songs & Stories. Pub in the title is ultimately irrelevant. It's about the Songs & Stories. But I'm not gonna rename it. If nothing else, PUB differentiated it from other shows. So I'm making some minor changes before I add that logo to my new business cards. I've decided my next business card design will return to being a billboard for my music and the podcast. Finally, I'm moving the release date to Tuesdays. That's so I can hopefully release it early to Patrons (ideally on Thursday, but worst case Monday) before it goes out to the public. 5:31 - PUB SONGS & STORIES CHANGES SUCCESS OR FAILURE? 7:26 - 3 PODCAST PROMOTION TIPS Create intros for each episode. Find something intriguing tidbits from the show to use as a teaser to make people really want to listen. Share those teasers along with unique graphics (or Video) BEFORE the show comes out. That gets people to actually subscribe to the podcast. Use a unique URL to get mailing list subscribers AS WELL AS podcast subscribers to the show. 11:59 - PODCAST UPDATE CONT. I got ahead with the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. As always happens, I lose that lead with each month as I make room for other things I need to work on. So it's time to produce more podcasts before the next big holiday. The In The 'Verse podcast launches the first episode of season 2 this Saturday. Mikey and I wrote songs inspired by the Doctor Who episode "Blink". I LOVE my new song. It's another that makes me feel like I'm becoming a better songwriter. I still need to write more songs. But this is a great start. The Celtic Christmas Podcast will release a new episode soon. Well, sort of new. I'm actually fundraising for a fully new episode. At this rate, I won't get it. But if nothing else, I'm gonna add the Celtic Christmas episode of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast to the feed as a promo for the podcast. Admittedly, I've had ZERO new patrons for that podcast. I'll post again next month. But it's looking like that podcast may not get a new episode this year. We shall see... Brobdingnagian Bards put out a new Bards podcast this month too. I actually had to re-release it. I was informed that the first version I released was actually an earlier Bards podcast. Not sure what Andrew did when he mixed it. But he sent it to me. I uploaded it without checking. So about two weeks later, the actual episode came out. I feel like this was a REALLY good month for the Gunn Runners on Patreon. I started releasing all of the MP3s that I record for Pub Songs & Stories exclusively to Patrons. So that means there are three new recordings PLUS the ones I've been releasing from the Virtual Public House CD. I debating how. But my current plan is to compile ALL of the Pub Songs recordings onto a USB that will be released next year, along with maybe my new CD, Selcouth. 18:46 - VIDEOS I made a big decision at the beginning of October. I decided to move the date of Coffee with The Celtfather mid-season. I hate doing that. But I kept having problems attending the Thursday show. Either work-related, family-related, whatever. Thursdays just seemed to be problematic. So starting in November, Coffee with The Celtfather will be on Wednesdays at 11 AM Eastern. Mark your calendar. There are no new public videos available. But I did record a first version of my song "Blink" for Patrons. I am hoping to do a bit of promotion for my Genetic Counseling Song for Genetic Counseling Awareness Day in November. I WANTED to release a single, but oh well. At least... 20:34 - IN THE STUDIO Selcouth is finally done! It took far too long. But Mitchell and I finally finished it up. I sent it to the printers. It should arrive by the start of November. I did finally sit down to start tracking two new songs this week: "Blink" and "Yuletide". "Blink" is my new Doctor Who song. I'm gonna try to track all of my songs in the future. That means, I'll record individual tracks for better editing. "Yuletide" is some lyrics I got from Nancy Flynn about the same time as I got "Christmas in the Shire" from her. I hope to have it ready for the holiday. The autoharp is done for both so far. 21:23 - MERCH I worked out a new merch strategy at MultiVerse this month. It needs some testing. But it involves selling more than just CDs at my merch table. There will be CDs, lapel pins, download stickers and songbooks. All have digital downloads attached to them. I'm not sure if this is a good strategy or not. But I'm gonna give it a shot. Remember, subscribe to my mailing list, you get a discount code to save 15%. Patrons save 25%! 24:23 - WEBSITES I made a special page for people who take my business card and use the QR code. It'll be interesting to see if this works. But the basic idea is the card will give you a quick link to listen to music, subscribe to my podcast and mailing list. It's similar to what you'll find at Celtfather.net but even more focused. I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: https://pubsong.com/how-dragon-con-saved-irish-music-238 25:08 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1151 is up from 1142 Celtic Music Magazine = 4087 is up from 4072 YouTube Subscribers =  5552 is up 29 from 5533 Facebook Likes = 3817 is down from 3824 Instagram = 1900 is up from 1896 Spotify followers: 1869 is up from 1854 # Number of listens on Spotify: 3153 is up from 3120 Latest Spotify Single Stats: Latest Spotify Album Stats: Most-popular songs on Spotify: "The Widow and the Devil" (2.5K), "Doctor of Gallifrey" (610), "Hobbit Hornpipe" (577),  "A Working in the Garden" (353), "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits" (234), "Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster" (194), "Hero of Canton" (184), "Reavers Malcolm Reavers" (148), , “O'er the Way” (140), “The Hobbit Journey Home” (101) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: "Doctor of Gallifrey" (468), "Hero of Canton" (332),  "The Widow and the Devil" (125), "I'm a Rover, Seldom Sober" (61), “St Patrick Never Drank” (46) Top albums on Amazon: Sci Fi Drinking Songs (752), As Long As I'm Flyin (549), Kilted For Her Pleasure (357), Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion (326), Don't Go Drinking with Hobbits (223) Last year's playlists from this time last year: Top Irish & Celtic Music: 602 is up from 600 Sci F'Irish Music: 13 is down 14 Nagians Only: 21 is down 1 Celtfather Experience: 31 (same) Hobbit Drinking Songs: 5 (same) Firefly Drinking Songs: 138 up 1 Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 80 (same) Jedi Drinking Songs: 33 (same) Marc Gunn Songwriting: 3 down 2 Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 110 up 1 Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families: 1941 is down 6 30:08 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 165 down 2 Patreon Monthly Income: $1286 down from $1305 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts, pin and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. 31:31 - NEW PODCAST TITLE. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly div data-pm-slice="0 0 []" data-en-clipboard="true">

Greetings Gunn Runner Did we just solve the death of CD problem? Songwriting podcast returns for second season. Convention successes. Selcouth nears completion. It's all on my monthly update, Celtfather Music & Travel, show #285. The podcast is brought to you by my amazing Patrons in the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. I have some new subscribers, and I hope to make this an even more important part of my general promotion in the weeks ahead. Subscribe to Marc's Musings and Get 21 Songs free!   0:26 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR THE COMING MONTH OCT 2: Fire Maker Brewing Co., Atlanta, GA OCT 3: Grant Park Farmer's Market, Atlanta, GA OCT 7: Browncoat Drinking Songs on Coffee with The Celtfather OCT 14: Playing Favorites on Coffee with The Celtfather OCT 15-17: Multiverse, Atlanta, GA OCT 21: Coffee Classics: Geek & Celtic Requests on Coffee with The Celtfather OCT 21: Firefly Drinking Songs on Celtfather Live on Bandcamp OCT 28: Boo! Scary Halloween Songs on Coffee with The Celtfather OCT 30: Lost Druid Brewery, Avondale Estates, GA THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 9) @ 12:00 PM EST 1:44 - RANT: ONE POSSIBLE SOLUTION TO THE CD PROBLEM CELTFATHER MONTHLY UPDATES 14:04 - PODCASTS The new release schedule for Pub Songs & Stories is pretty good. I'm starting to plan shows a month ahead. Course, that said, I'm also struggling to collect the stories. But maybe that'll become easier as the show grows and I spread the signal further. I also realized it would be beneficial for bands if they did more than one story. So what the heck. Until I get a couple months ahead, I'm gonna ask for more than one IF they have a good story to tell. Band O'Brothers had a good story for their song "Whiskey Spider". I also shared another story from Empty Hats that I recorded back in the spring. I rounded out September with a live podcast recording from Dragon Con. I meant to record a bunch of stories at Dragon Con and Gen Con. But I was just too busy and/or too wiped . That sucks. But that's the way of it. I did lay some groundwork to collect some stories though. So we shall see. One of the best things about this format is that if someone really loves a song, eventually I can just say, go check out the episode about that song in Pub Songs & Stories. So far, so good. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast had a full four episodes. I'm still not caught up. But as of this recording, I'm almost done with next week's show. So it's a start. The In The 'Verse podcast launches the season 2 announcement episode on October 2. You'll want to listen if you want to find out what are plans are for the next season. On Patreon, I released my thoughts on Gen Con 2021 as well as Dragon Con. I also released a new song called "You Are My Thor". It's a rough cut. But there might be more such things in the future. I also released two more MP3s. 17:44 - VIDEOS Coffee with The Celtfather had a few hiccup moments this month. I played a replay of one of my hobbit shows because I didn't have much of a voice after Dragon Con. Then the following week, I skipped it, because I was at Gen Con. I planned all of my Coffee shows for October. I'm gonna keep planning the themes a month in advance. I was a bit concerned about the attendance of Hobbit Drinking Songs show this month. But all went well. I'm excited about the Firefly Drinking Songs show for October. 18:35 - IN THE STUDIO In every episode of Pub Songs & Stories, I record, talk about and play at least one song. All of the songs from the first three months of the year were released on a CD called Virtual Public House. The MP3s are still up on my Bandcamp if you want to just buy that album. But that's the last of those digital albums I'm gonna release. In the future, you'll need to subscribe to Patreon. All of those MP3s will be drip released to my Gunn Runners Club. So if you want some more unique recordings, join the Gunn Runners Club today. Selcouth is still in the works. I thought we were all done, but right as we were getting ready to master the tracks, Mitchell and I noticed a few problems. So we did some MORE edits. Now we're down to one final song, "Kilty Pleasure". This is the one track that I recorded with autoharp and vocals at the same time. But the compression on the vocals made the autoharp sound weird. So I finally decided to re-record my vocals. That should make it easier to finish the mix. In the meantime, everything else is done. I have some songbooks, shirts, pins, USBs, stickers. They're all here. I just need the music finished so I can order CDs. Brobdingnagian Bards released a new EP at Dragon Con. It's called Another Faire to Remember. It was well-received at the conventions. We decided to postpone the Kickstarter. We're gonna aim for 2023 release for that album. That gives us PLENTY of time to record all of the songs for the CD and maybe even write a couple songs. 21:12 - MERCH I pulled Virtual Public House from my Bandcamp store. It's still available for private streaming so if you bought the album and have any problem playing it, please let me know. Remember, subscribe to my mailing list, you get a discount code to save 15%. Patrons save 25%! 21:50 - CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS No news about the Celtic Invasion of Scotland. It's still filled up. Sign up to the mailing list at CelticInvasion.com if you want to join the NEXT invasion. 22:45 - WEBSITES I updated YearOfTheKilt.com. That's a URL that goes with my Kilted For Her Pleasure bumper stickers. It's now designed just to get people to buy a sticker. My FireflyDrinkingSongs.com website now points straight to the In the 'Verse podcast. I wanted a simpler way to just share a URL for the podcast. So I used an existing URL I bought. I wasn't doing much with it anyway. I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: "Scots Wha Hae" "There's a Bug in Cabin Six" “My Father Was A Werewolf” https://pubsong.com/how-dragon-con-saved-irish-music-238 24:41 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1142 is up from 1126 Celtic Music Magazine = 4072 is up from 4048 YouTube Subscribers =  5533 is up 31 from 5502 Facebook Likes = 3824 is up from 3823 Instagram = 1896 is up from 1890 Spotify followers: 1854 is up from 1826 # Number of listens on Spotify: 3120 is up from 2992 Latest Spotify Single Stats: "By Amazing Grace" released on July 29: no clue (last one) Latest Spotify Album Stats: Flower of Scotland released on June 25 (next month): 96 is down from 119 (last one) Most-popular songs on Spotify: "The Widow and the Devil" (2.4K), "Doctor of Gallifrey" (711), "Hobbit Hornpipe" (621),  "A Working in the Garden" (356), "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits" (263), "Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster" (227), "Reavers Malcolm Reavers" (206), "Hero of Canton" (205), "Drunken Sailor" (142), "Beer, Beer, Beer" (132) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: "Doctor of Gallifrey" (475), "Hero of Canton" (371), "A Drop of Nelson's Blood" ( 159), "The Widow and the Devil" (97), "Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster" (40) Top albums on Amazon: Sci Fi Drinking Songs (797), As Long As I'm Flyin (557), Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion (316), Kilted For Her Pleasure (279), Going for Brogue (224) Last year's playlists from this time last year: Top Irish & Celtic Music: 600 is up from 599 Sci F'Irish Music: 14 is down from 15 Nagians Only: 22 (same) Celtfather Experience: 31 is up from 30 Hobbit Drinking Songs: 5 (same) Firefly Drinking Songs: 137 is up from 135 Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 80 is up from 78 Jedi Drinking Songs: 33 is up from 32 Marc Gunn Songwriting: 5 is up from 4 Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 109 Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families: 1947 28:41 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 167 is up from 163 Patreon Monthly Income: $1305 is up from $1255 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts, pin and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Could a Firefly Drinking Songs TV show be on its way? What's different with Coffee with The Celtfather. How close am I to completing my next CD? It's all on my monthly update, Celtfather Music & Travel, show #284. 0:13 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR JULY SEP 2-6: Dragon Con, Atlanta, GA SEP 9: Virginia Highlands Farmer's Market, Atlanta, GA @ 5:00 PM SEP 16-19: Gen Con, Indianapolis, IN. SEP 23: Hobbit Drinking Songs on Celtfather Live on Bandcamp. Buy tickets. OCT 2: Fire Maker Brewing Co., Atlanta, GA OCT 3: Grant Park Farmer's Market, Atlanta, GA OCT 15-17: Multiverse, Atlanta, KY THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 9) @ 12:00 PM EST 2:22 - RANT: FIREFLY DRINKING SONGS, THE TV SHOW? CELTFATHER MONTHLY UPDATES 8:02 - PODCASTS I released two episodes of Pub Songs & Stories this month. The first highlighted songs about selkies with stories from Elizabeth Sutherland and me. But also there was a story by Matt & Shannon Heaton about a tune they wrote. It was a good show. But afterward, I was lamenting to my engineer, Mitchell, that I can't seem to put out more episodes. He suggested shorter ones. So instead of compiling the next big one in September, we put out a short one featuring Tuatha Dea and their story about "Black Douglas", the original Braveheart. I'm gonna try out the new format for the next month or so. So far, I'm liking it. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast had a full four episodes. I keep hoping to get ahead on that show. Maybe this week, since I'm only doing four episodes a month, it might give me a week to get ahead... or it might not because of Dragon Con. On Patreon, I released a bonus episode about releasing music on vinyl. 9:52 - VIDEOS My Coffee with The Celtfather shows are going well. Season 9 started on Thursday, August 5. I'm still not overflowing with viewers. But there's a solid number watching. I ran a Kickstarter for two weeks. I raised enough money to pay for Restream.io. So now I can skip asking for tips and just focus on performing all season. One of the last shows was pre-recorded in some local woods. It was nice to get out. The next Celtfather Live is on Thursday, September 23 at 8 pm ET. This will be a Hobbit Drinking Songs show. Tickets will go on sale in September. I shared of a waterfall in North Georgia that my family saw back in May. And I made a new video for my music's Patreon page. 13:26 - IN THE STUDIO August was my big studio month. I spent the first couple days of August in the studio putting some final touches on Selcouth and recording tracks for a Brobdingnagian Bards EP that we will release at Dragon Con. Selcouth has 13 tracks and at the time of recording this, Mitchell and I are still cleaning up one more final song that we realized had sonic problems. I'm hoping we'll finish it up this weekend. I'm trying to complete the album by the end of the month. In the meantime, I finished the Selcouth booklet with lyrics and stories behind the songs. I ordered shirts for the Kickstarter. Then I just need to mail everything to all of my supporters. I sat down and recorded more music for the Brobdingnagian Bards EP. The album is called Another Faire to Remember. This sort of a preview/concept that will be released as a full-length album next year. We are over halfway done with the album. So we're gonna launch a Kickstarter for it probably in October. 17:13 - MERCH I'm getting ready to pull Virtual Public House from my store along with the As Long As I'm Flyin' vinyl album. If you want to own either, order it now. Coffee with The Celtfather coffee mugs are back in the store as are the pint glasses. Remember, subscribe to my mailing list, you get a discount code to save 15%. 18:30 - CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS The Celtic Invasion of Scotland officially opened this month. It also closed this month. That's because I already have more than full contingent of people joining me this year. Now it's time to start planning the invasion. Sign up to the mailing list at CelticInvasion.com if you want to join the NEXT invasion. 19:37 - WEBSITES I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: “Big Strong Man” “Rare Old Mountain Dew” (new song) “Selkie's Life” (new song) “The Cat Came Back… The Cat's Perspective” 19:58 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1126 is down from 1131 Celtic Music Magazine = 4048 is up from 4059 YouTube Subscribers =  5502 is up from 5472 Facebook Likes = 3823 is up 12 from 3811 Instagram = 1890 is up from 1884 Spotify followers: 1826 is up from 1813 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2992 is up from 2906 Latest Spotify Single Stats: "Peggy Gordon" released on July 2: 44 is down from 67 (last one) "By Amazing Grace" released on July 29: 26 Latest Spotify Album Stats: Flower of Scotland released on June 25 (next month): 119 is down from 230 Most-popular songs on Spotify: "The Widow and the Devil" (2K), "Doctor of Gallifrey" (634), "Hobbit Hornpipe" (530),  "A Working in the Garden" (394), "Hero of Canton" (226), "Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster" (221), "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits" (208), "Reavers Malcolm Reavers" (205), "Drunken Sailor" (139), "Beer, Beer, Beer" (136) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: "Doctor of Gallifrey" (600), "Hero of Canton" (319), "A Drop of Nelson's Blood" ( 213), "The Widow and the Devil" (130), "Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster" (53) Top albums on Amazon: Sci Fi Drinking Songs (951), As Long As I'm Flyin (590), Going for Brogue (424), Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion (329), Kilted For Her Pleasure (361) Last year's playlists from this time last year: Top Irish & Celtic Music: 599 is up from 596 Sci F'Irish Music: 15 is up from 13 Nagians Only: 22 (same) Celtfather Experience: 30 up from 29 Hobbit Drinking Songs: 5 (same) Firefly Drinking Songs: 135 is up from 132 Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 78 is up from 76 Jedi Drinking Songs: 32 is up from 31 Marc Gunn Songwriting: 4 (same) 23:50 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 163 (same) Patreon Monthly Income: $1255 is down from $1264 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts ,and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner A new single with the Brobdingnagian Bards and a Bards EP. Last chance to get my Firefly CD on vinyl. A short, new Kickstarter coming? Coffee with The Celtfather returns for its 9th season. Do you really have to put on a show to draw a crowd? It's all on my monthly update, Celtfather Music & Travel, show #283. 1:04 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR JULY AUG 13: Tucker Brewing Company, Tucker, GA @ 6:30 - 9:30 PM AUG 19: Celtfather Live @ 8 PM ET. Tickets $6. AUG 26: The Lost Druid, Avondale Estates, AL @ 6 PM - 8:30 PM ET THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 9 returns on Aug 5, 2021) @ 12:00 PM EST 1:58 - RANT: BUSKING SHOWMANSHIP I heard this quote from Elvis Presley years ago where he said, "You gotta put on a show to draw a crowd." CELTFATHER MONTHLY UPDATES 12:31 - PODCASTS Only one episode of Pub Songs & Stories this month. It highlighted "By Amazing Grace", my latest single. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast had a full four episodes, including a Women of Summer episode. Though I was pretty pleased with the Life Is Too Short episode as well. Amelia Hogan is one of my new favorite Celtic musicians on the podcast. The Brobdingnagian Bards Podcast came out later than usual. Andrew and I talked about "Songs That Get Stuck in Your Head". We talk getting comfortable on stage and chipmunk style Bog Off. Celtfather Music & Travel had a bonus episode where I talked about sound reinforcement at busking gigs. And Patreon was extra busy this month. In addition the free MP3s, I talked about a big happy success in July. I chatted about MP3s, CDs and streaming music, and I shared an unreleased podcast from Sherwood Forest Faire. 14:41 - VIDEOS At the beginning of the month I had one of those epic parenting successes. I was practicing music more with my kids. So my wife recorded a video of Kenzie singing "I'll Tell My Ma" while Inara danced and I played autoharp. It was amazing. One of those things I dreamed of, but never imagined would happen. The big news is the return of Coffee with The Celtfather. Season 9 starts on Thursday, August 5. I'm debating running a Kickstarter campaign to pay for Restream.io so that I can broadcast over multiple platforms. I feel like raising $120 is easy enough. AND since I don't earn much by way of tips, it would better fund the show, and show its profitability outside of Patreon. I haven't made a commitment yet, but it I'm seriously considering it. The next Celtfather Live is on Thursday, August 19 at 8 pm ET. 16:38 - IN THE STUDIO "By Amazing Grace", was released as a single on July 29. "Peggy Gordon" was released as a single on July 2. "Bright Side of Everything" is the next single. It's scheduled to come out on August 26. That one features the background music and vocals of Celtic rock band Screeched Inn, out of Canada. I have plenty of songs completed to finish up Selcouth. But there's one more I want to add. It's the "Reavers Drinking Song". I haven't recorded it at all, as of present. That's at the top of my recording schedule when the girls start back for school in August. I did record three songs for Another Faire to Remember. This is an EP that the Brobdingnagian Bards hope to release for Dragon Con. I still need to record at least one more song to make it happen. 18:58 - MERCH Virtual Public House is still on sale. I'm gonna pull it at the end of August. The As Long As I'm Flyin' vinyl album will no longer be available past September. So if you want either of those, you should order soon. Incidentally, sales for Virtual Public House have not been great. So I'm happy to say there will not be further editions released like this. I say happy because years ago, the Brobdingnagian Bards released Christmas in Brobdingnag, Vol. 1, with the intent that there would be future volumes. And there never were. I thought about naming Virtual Public House in a similar fashion. Now I don't have to. Instead of releasing Virtual Public House like I have, I'm just gonna continue to release the MP3s via Patreon. And then I might use the CD as a bonus item for Kickstarters. Meantime, you can download a free MP3 every month from this CD when you sign up to my mailing list. Merch sales at gigs this month were interesting. At Jordan Con, I didn't sell nearly as well as I hoped. But I did upgrade my merch table with a greater emphasis on my Celtic Heartstring necklaces. I love the look. Then I did a couple farmer's market gigs. That got me thinking about busking for Gen Con. So I updated my busking setup. It also sent me on a YouTube busking research binge. I watched a LOT of videos on busking. But few focus on merch. That is something I still need to work on. But I feel like my efforts will pay off... just not yet. Meantime, subscribe to my mailing list, you get a discount code to save 15%.  21:44 - CELTIC TRAVEL Nothing new to update about the Celtic Invasion of Scotland. However, sometime in August or possibly September, I hope to open up the sign ups for newbies. Details are coming. Sign up to the mailing list at CelticInvasion.com if you want to be one of the first on the list. 22:03 - WEBSITES I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: “Peggy Gordon” “Mairi's Wedding” “By Amazing Grace” “Wherever I May Roam” 22:21 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1131 is up from 1128 Celtic Music Magazine = 4059 is down from 4068 YouTube Subscribers = 5472 is up from 5438 Facebook Likes = 3811 is up from 3802 Instagram = 1884 is up from 1882 Spotify followers: 1813 is up 16 from 1797 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2906 is up from 2652 Latest Spotify Single Stats:   "Hobbit Hornpipe" released Aug 26: 536 is up from 499 (last one) "Cloghden More" released on April 30: 18 is up from 12 (last one) "Name On My Soul" released on June 4:  43 is down from 141 (last one) "Peggy Gordon" released on July 2: 67 Latest Spotify Album Stats: Flower of Scotland released on June 25 (next month): 230 is down from 239 Most-popular songs on Spotify: "The Widow and the Devil" (1.9K), "Doctor of Gallifrey" (552), "Hobbit Hornpipe" (536),  "A Working in the Garden" (297), "Hero of Canton" (257), "Reavers Malcolm Reavers" (202), "Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster" (191), "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits" (183), "Beer, Beer, Beer" (149), "Drunken Sailor" (116) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: "Doctor of Gallifrey" (538), "Hero of Canton" (379), "The Widow and the Devil" (94), "The Wreck of the Bold Irish Stout" (52), "I'm A Rover, Seldom Sober" (29) Top albums on Spotify: Sci Fi Drinking Songs (819), As Long As I'm Flyin (614), Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion (253), Kilted For Her Pleasure (250), Going for Brogue (167) Last year's playlists from this time last year: Top Irish & Celtic Music: 596 is up from 592 Sci F'Irish Music: 13 (same) Nagians Only: 22 (same) Celtfather Experience: 29 (same) Hobbit Drinking Songs: 5 (same) Firefly Drinking Songs: 132 is up from 130 Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 76 is up from 74 Jedi Drinking Songs: 31 (same) Marc Gunn Songwriting: 4 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 163 is down from 164 Patreon Monthly Income: $1264 is up from $1249 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts ,and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts.  Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Is louder, better? This is Celtfather Music & Travel show #282.   I booked a farmer's market gig. The booker told me I would need to play completely unplugged. Past musicians played too loudly. They disrupted the sales of the vendors. Those musicians won't be coming back. And now I might not get to play amplified.   Some people think that louder is better. Louder does stand out more. The more noise you make, the more people take notice. But it does not necessarily mean it's better.   For many years, the Elven Hill stage at Sherwood Forest Faire had a band that blasted their music. The sound traveled all the way down the hill. It disrupted the atmosphere of the Renaissance festival. But the musicians got noticed. They were a favorite for their Led Zeppelin and Last of the Mohican cover songs. It was a great for them. They grew their fan base.   Down the hill, the folk musicians suffered. They were drowned out by the music. We're talking 20 year veterans with amazing vocals and song arrangements. Their shows were interrupted. They grew slower. They had to adjust. Now most of the musicians at the faire amplify their music to get noticed.   Eventually, the over amplification was replaced with sound reinforcement at most stages. The loud band no longer exists. All of those acoustic musicians are still performing.   Seth Godin released a podcast back in June 2021 called "How Many Edges?" or "Fueling the Engines of Division". The podcast talks about social media companies and how they are pushing people to the edges. He suggests that maybe it is time for them to change their algorithms to stop pushing the extremes.   Social media companies used their algorithm to turn us into raving fans. They took us deeper and deeper into our fandoms and things we that evoked an emotional response. If it was just the things we loved, that'd be great. But many of the things we that moved us also infuriated us. That's why social media now makes us sad and angry. It brings very little joy.   But just imagine if those companies changed their algorithms. What if they stopped pushing us to the extremes. What if they stopped feeding the spread of disinformation or negative information. They have the power to make our feeds something we love again.   Yes. People would stay on social media less. But would that really matter? They already have monopolies. They make billions of dollars a year. They don't NEED more people on their platform all the time. And they would still make billions. That's how big they are.   The extremes are loud. For a short time, people will take notice. But it's the small folk musicians at the faire who are still making a living with their music. They aren't loud and obnoxious. They aren't drowning out other musicians. They are just as good or better than the bands blowing out their ears. But they are getting rehired for gigs because they aren't disrupting the culture.   That's what life is all about. It's about our culture. It's about things we love. Not things we loathe. We all want to be happy. The best way to do that is to be a bit more respectful of those around us, to not push people to extremes, even if those extremes might be good for us as individuals. Is it good for those around us?   We are all in this together. We can be happy without making others miserable. We can be respectful and get noticed. We can lift our neighbors up, even if it doesn't serve our own self interests. Because it's good for the community. It's good for the culture. And ultimately, it will be good for us too.   I hope you enjoyed this podcast episode. If you did you can show your support by joining the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. You can do that for as little as $5 per month. In addition to podcasts like this, you'll also get a couple exclusive free MP3s every month. You'll get video concerts and updates about what's new. You can find out more when you visit the website and subscribe at Celtfather.com.

How was the first science fiction convention back? Podcasting during a summer with kids. New songs finished. Plus, an alternate look at live performances. It's all on my monthly update, Celtfather Music & Travel, show #281. 0:26 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR JULY JUL 9: Interstellar Ginger Beer & Exploration Co., Alabaster, AL @ 7-10 PM CT JUL 10: Pepper Place Farmer's Market, Birmingham, AL @ 8:00 AM - 12 PM CT JUL 15: Browncoats on Celtfather Live @ 8 PM ET. Get your tickets. JUL 16-18: JordanCon, Atlanta, GA JUL 30: Ironshield Brewing, Lawrenceville, GA @  7:00 – 10:00 PM. THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 9 returns on Aug 5, 2021) @ 12:00 PM EST 1:21 - PAST MONTH 2:36 - RANT: AN ALTERNATE LOOK AT LIVE PERFORMANCES MONTHLY UPDATES 7:02 - PODCASTS Mikey Mason has a podcast called MikeyTalks. I listened to it while I was driving to Magic City Con last week. Curse him! It was really good. He's such a good storyteller. I find it frustrating that I'm not better because I would really like to do a show like that. I just don't feel it would be as good. Ah well... Summer break for the kids is making it difficult to plan ahead with podcasts. Pub Songs & Stories is coming out slower than I'd like. In June, I released... The Harpers #232: Was the harp banned by Queen Elizabeth? Hear the origins of the song Soul of a Harper by Rie Sheridan Rose. Songwriting as a parent offers its own special joys, songs about the children we love. Plus, was it horrible, the night that Paddy Murphy died? Next time, there are a couple stories by Carl Asch of Empty Hats and Adrian of Tartanic. So far the Virtual Public House CD is not selling well. I'm not sure if that's an issue of promotion (or lack thereof) or the type of CD. So if you want to own a limited-edition CD, get it now. The album will be available for just a few more months. But it won't last the year. I had some good episodes of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast in June. I'm particularly excited about the release of The Gothard Sisters' new CD, Dragonfly. I feature several tracks and will continue to. The Brobdingnagian Bards Podcast and Celtfather Music & Travel were on hiatus.  I did release a couple Stories from the Road podcasts on Patreon though. I'm also starting to think about the next In the 'Verse podcast. I need to get back to songwriting. That podcast will help. 9:34 - VIDEOS Coffee with The Celtfather ended well. Those season finales seem to do pretty well. I started planning the themes for season 9 which will start on Thursday, August 5. I'm seriously considering signing back up to ReStream, which will once again allow me to broadcast on multiple platforms. Though, I will still stick primarily with YouTube. Maybe I'll just do one month. The re-launch of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast YouTube channel is posing problematic. YouTube stopped allowing me to edit shows on their website. So I used a secondary website. And that's just too much work for someone who has not enough time. So I might discontinue that. My Celtfather Live concert this month had a fairly light attendance. But it was a great group of Gunn Runners. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to know there are so many people who support my music. The next Celtfather Live is a FREE SHOW. It's scheduled for Thursday, July 15 at 8 pm ET. 11:17 - IN THE STUDIO I finally finished up "By Amazing Grace", "Bright Side of Everything", "Favor of a Dance", "Kilty Pleasure", and "Breathing". So we much closer to finishing up Selcouth. I'm thinking of having a private listening party for Gunn Runners to help me decide which are the best tracks on the album. I'm also gonna do that with my family. ALEP is postponed once again. So looks like Sam Gillogly and I have more time to finish our Dancing With Hobbits album. We still have quite a few tracks to release. "Name On My Soul" by Kilted Kings was released as a single this month. Listens have not been great. But oh well... The full album is out on June 25 under the title Flower of Scotland. 13:14 - MERCH Virtual Public House is still on sale. I haven't picked a date for it to be pulled. But I will give you at least a month's heads up. You can download a free MP3 every month from this CD when you sign up to my mailing list. I'm brainstorming more merch to sell at conventions in the next couple months. I'll let you know how that goes. I re-released several Firefly related merch items in preparation for the next Celtfather Live show. Meantime, subscribe to my mailing list, you get a discount code to save 15%. 14:19 - CELTIC TRAVEL The Celtic Invasion of Scotland is officially open to past Invaders. I have a castle booked in near the just across the mountain from the banks of Loch Lomond for the first week of June 2022. I will open it up to non-invaders in August. Sign up to the mailing list at CelticInvasion.com if you want to be one of the first on the list. 15:13 - WEBSITES I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: “Lily the Pink” “Jedi Drinking Song” “The Last Jedi Drinking Song” “Black Velvet Band” “Donald, Where's Your Troosers/" "Drunken Sailor” “Rattlin' Bog” “The Night Paddy Murphy Died” “Soul of a Harper” “Everybody Needs A Drinking Song” 15:40 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1128 is down from 1138 Celtic Music Magazine = 4068 is up from 4062 YouTube Subscribers = 5438 is up from 5411 Facebook Likes = 3802 is same Instagram = 1882 is up from 1872 Spotify followers: 1797 is up 26 from 1771 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2652 is down from 2857 Latest Spotify Single Stats: "Slainte Mhaith" released on April 18: 25 is up from 23 "Proudfoot Shuffle" released on Mar 18: 20 is down from 127 (last one) "Hobbit Hornpipe" released Aug 26: 499 is down from 521 "The Hero of Christmas" released on Nov 17: 19 is down from 107 (last one) "Cloghden More" released on April 30: 12 "Name On My Soul" released on June 4: 141 Latest Spotify Album Stats: St Patrick's Day: 415 is down from 601 (last one) Flower of Scotland released on June 25 (next month): 239 Most-popular songs on Spotify: "The Widow and the Devil" (1.7K), "Doctor of Gallifrey" (536), "Hobbit Hornpipe" (499),  "A Working in the Garden" (246), "Hero of Canton" (220), "Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster" (193), "Reavers Malcolm Reavers" (193), "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits" (156), "Name On My Soul" (133), "The Parting Glass" (109) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: "Doctor of Gallifrey" (132), "Hero of Canton" (126), "The Widow and the Devil" (38), "Jedi Drinking Song Prequel" (17), "The Night That Paddy Murphy Died (12) Top albums: Sci Fi Drinking Songs (258), As Long As I'm Flyin (220), Going for Brogue (139), Kilted For Her Pleasure (87), Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion (51) Last year's playlists from this time last year: Top Irish & Celtic Music: 592 is up from 582 Sci F'Irish Music: 13 is up from 12 Nagians Only: 22 is up from 21 Celtfather Experience: 29 is down 30 Hobbit Drinking Songs: 5 is down from 6 Firefly Drinking Songs: 130 is up from 127 Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 74 is up from 71 Jedi Drinking Songs: 31 (same) 18:59 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 164 is up from 157 Patreon Monthly Income: $1249 is up from $1206 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts ,and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Honoring the Celtic Green Thumb for Earth Day and Arbor Day Today many of us have at least a few house plants for decoration indoors, or invest in a few pretty flower pots to set out on the porch. We sit on a bench under the shade of a big tree in the heat of the mid-day sun to take a break from mowing the lawn or playing with the kids. We may even tend to a little herb garden—or sew a few tomato plants and veggies in a small garden out back. Even so, it can be so easy to forget that in the not-too-distant past, trees and plants were both tied so much more strongly to all facets of day-to-day life—and in many different ways. The Celtic culture is rich with references to trees and plants; especially as one looks back to more primitive times. Between holding certain trees sacred, using plants for medicine, and believing that spirits could be found in some of these forms, the natural world certainly loomed large for the Celtic people. It’s something they lived with closely, and honored in many different ways. Add to that the true, heartfelt love of the land that Celtic people embrace, and it makes sense that we’d want to highlight both Arbor Day and Earth Day this month for our listeners. Earth Day takes place on April 22nd, and it’s really a good time to take a moment to think about our connection with the planet that we live on. With so many concerns having to do with the environment today, this is a topic that definitely could use some attention. Perhaps our Celtic ancestors, as primitive as things may have been back in the day, had the jump on us where this is concerned. After all, although all of our modern conveniences are quite lovely, they do tend to have the effect of separating us from the natural world in a way that lessens our connection with it. During the coronavirus crisis, many people found a little bit of that connection again in one way or another—be it through taking more walks outside, planning a garden from seed, or even just thinking more about the natural landscape and how it factors into this life we live. Although connecting with nature is certainly not a concept the Celtic people have dibs on, it is definitely a quality that defines this group of people. There’s so much we can do—even small things—to better feel that bond with the environment and all the living things that share the world around us. Arbor Day, this year celebrated on April 30th, is the perfect time to take action in this regard. Planting a tree is one of the most immediate ways to give back to the earth, and it’s easy to do as well! I encourage you to take a few minutes toward the end of April if you can, and plant a tree! Back in 2018 I did a podcast episode of Celtic music dedicated to Arbor Day, which you can find linked below. In 2020 I also put out a podcast centered around planting a tree. It would be great if even a few people took the time to don some head phones and get into the spirit of connecting with the land—just like the Celts did. Whether you jump back to these podcasts, or wait for some of the tracks that I’m including in the upcoming episode, head outside and spend some time listening to music and communing with the natural world. If you have a spot that would suit a tree, plant one—and if not, check into what native plants might work well in your landscape and zip a few into the ground. Not only will it feel good to do it, but you’ll be making the world a better place—and there’s no better way to do something like that then while playing Celtic music as you go. Don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already, and thanks so much for joining us here today. Be sure to check out our Earth Day podcast coming up on fill in the date here for some other great Celtic music to plant by! Support Celtic culture and our amazing planet Earth through music. Subscribe at Celtfather.com.

New stories in the virtual public house. Limited-edition CDs. I'm a Rover, Seldom Sober video. Who recorded on what Selcouth song. And a new hobbit single. It's all on my monthly update, Celtfather Music & Travel, show #279. 0:17  - PODCASTS I've made so many changes to the Pub Songs Podcast over the years. I'm always wondering what do I want it to be? I think I finally have a format I'm excited about. The new intro goes like this: "Welcome to the Pub Songs & Stories, the Virtual Public House where you hear the stories and inspiration behind the music." The new format solves several issues I've had. First, it gives me a way to share my music in a fun capacity, performing "live" for my listeners, in much the same way Bing Crosby would've done on the Kraft Music Hall back in the day. I can sing new recordings of songs. I can share my stories about songs too. These can be either what the song is about or just a story related to the song I'm singing in the show. This is by far the toughest thing about producing the show, coming up with engaging stories. The new format also allows me to share stories and help other musicians. I plan to feature two stories from two different artists in each episode, plus one of their songs from each. If I can get an acoustic original performance, all the better. But right now, I'm just sharing studio recordings. My goal is to help promote them in a more personal setting, again, through stories. But even better, I realized that most musicians don't have my skill with podcasting. I see this new feature as a way for musicians to sort of have their own podcast. Of course that also means I can promote to their fans as well. So it's a win-win as far as I can see... IF I can keep up with the stories. You may also note that I'm not limiting this to Celtic musicians. Instead it's gonna be around my niche Celtic AND Geek music. The new description zooms in on musicians in general. If there's  a story to be told, I might consider it. Oh! There's one more thing I am launching--limited-edition CDs. I asked Mitchell to start mixing down all of my songs in Pub Songs & Stories. Every three months or so, we will release a CD featuring the best of all of those songs. I'm also considering a possible USB which might include outtakes or song duplicates PLUS all of the podcast episodes. Again, it's limited edition. So the CD won't be available for long. 3-6 months. I though this might be another nice to fund the podcast. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast had some killer St Patrick's Day shows this year. Episode #500 was over four hours long. I LOVED hearing all of the congrats that were sent in by artists. It was a big pick me up. The March episode of Brobdingnagian Bards Podcast featured music. No big news there.  Hopefully, Andrew and I can stay on top of upcoming shows. 4:53 - VIDEOS I think YouTube algorithms are finally understanding my channel. I'm not seeing greater subscribers yet. But the channel is mostly live shows (Coffee with The Celtfather) and I'm getting a decent number of folks watching those. I posted a couple new video singles recently. One was recorded in 2018 for the Celtic Invasion of the Isle of Skye. It's my journey from Glasgow to Inverness by train. The music is for "I'm A Rover, Seldom Sober".  I have more video singles that are coming. I also created several new Canvases for Spotify. I'm still thinking about what videos to use for which song. Slowly getting those uploaded. The next Celtfather Live concert is scheduled for Thursday, April 15. This one is "For Mother Earth". I'm not sure what songs to include on that outside of "Heart of Fangorn". But whatever. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Tickets are different this time. All you have to do is spend $8 in my Mage Records store and you will get access to the show. And of course it's free to all Heroic Gunn Runners. 7:16 - IN THE STUDIO I'm still getting tracks back from musicians for Selcouth are done. No big update just yet. But I have most of the tracks from Screeched Inn done for "Bright Side of Everything". I'm waiting on some background vocals. Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer sent their tracks for "Favor of a Dance". They sound amazing. I have an update I'm waiting on from Andrew McKee, The Irish Bard, for "By Amazing Grace". The Muckers recorded their parts for "Kilty Pleasure" but I'm still waiting for the tracks. Nathan Deese sent his recordings for "Breathing". And it's perfect! Sam Gillogly and I released a new single on March 18 called "Proudfoot Shuffle". It's already getting a lot of streams on Spotify. I also started rewriting "Happy Birthday From Ireland". I never play that song because it's rather vain based. It was a birthday song for me. So now I'm editing the lyrics to make more about all of the children of Irish immigrants who are discovering their heritage. 9:08 - MERCH Of course, I already mentioned the Pub Songs & Stories CD that'll come out probably next month. I'm planning some package deals very soon. I don't remember which package deal is first. I think it's a comedy package... Keep any eye on the store and my mailing list for details. Subscribe to my mailing list, you get a discount code to save 15%. 9:33 - CELTIC TRAVEL Want to join me on Celtic Invasion of Scotland Sign up to the mailing list at CelticInvasion.com if you want to be one of the first on the list. 9:56 - WEBSITES I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: “Men of New Basin Canal” "Beer, Beer, Beer" "The Leprechaun" “Kilty Pleasure” "Kilkelly, Ireland" “When the Dairy Farm Caught Fire” "Molly Malone" “St Patrick Never Drank” “Breathing” “Kilted For Her Pleasure” 10:23 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR MARCH THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 8) @ 12:00 PM EST APR 15: "For Mother Earth" Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 8:00 - 9:30 PM ET. Tickets $8. APR 17: Pepper Place Farmer's Market in Birmingham, AL @ 8:00 AM - 12 PM CT APR 17: The Lost Druid Brewery in Avondale Estates, GA @ TBA APR 23-25: Sherwood Forest Faire, Paige, TX APR 29: Brobdingnagian Bards Live on YouTube @ TBA 11:53 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1228 is up from 1219 Celtic Music Magazine = 4062 is up from 4026 YouTube Subscribers = 5337 is up from 5009 Facebook Likes = 3763 is up from 3746 Instagram = 1869 is up from 1867 Spotify followers: 1751 is up from 1737 # Number of listens on Spotify: 4962 is up from 3395 Latest Spotify Single Stats: "Proudfoot Shuffle" released on Mar 18: 147 "Hobbit Hornpipe" released Aug 26: 569 is up from 458 "The Hero of Christmas" released on Nov 17: 111 is down from 119 Latest Spotify Album Stats: St Patrick's Day: 2.2K is up from 1K Most-popular songs on Spotify: "The Widow and the Devil" (2.5K), "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"  (1.6K), "The Leprechaun" (637), "Doctor of Gallifrey" (592), "Beer, Beer, Beer" (590), "Hobbit Hornpipe" (569), "Drunken Sailor" (543), "Lord of the Pounce" (438), "I'll Drink From Dusk Til Dawn" (407), "Nancy Whiskey" (386) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: "Hero of Canton" (1787), "Doctor of Gallifrey" (599), "The Widow and the Devil" (150), "Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster" (99), "Sail the Sky" (98) Top albums: As Long As I'm Flyin (2167), Sci Fi Drinking Songs (1117), St Patrick's Day Songs for Kids (608), Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion (515), Going for Brogue (505) Last year's playlists from this time last year: Top Irish & Celtic Music: 575 up from 564 Sci F'Irish Music: 12 (same) Nagians Only: 21 (same) Celtfather Experience: 29 is down 30 Hobbit Drinking Songs: 6 is up from 5 Firefly Drinking Songs: 126 is up from 122 Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 62 is up from 61 Jedi Drinking Songs: 32 is up from 31 15:18 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 159 is up from 156 Patreon Monthly Income: $1215 is up from $1194 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts ,and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

When it comes to Celtic music there’s so much to choose from that it can be overwhelming to know where to start if you’re looking for something suitable for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Naturally much of this will depend on your individual taste. Some people prefer a raucous band of musicians on pipes, others love a great vocalist, while still others like nothing more than peaceful harp music. There’s so much variety! Female-led bands or artists are one option that might be appealing for some. Whether you just want to support a female artist, or you love the sound of a Celtic song sung by a lady, there are numerous bands out there that showcase the ample talents of women in the Celtic music arena. Let’s take a closer look at just a few that you might want to check out this holiday… Lissa Schneckenburger grew up with music and has been playing the fiddle since the age of six. She attended the New England Conservatory of Music and graduated with a degree in Contemporary Improvisation, so there is a lot of knowledge behind this lady’s arrangements and playing ability. Listeners looking for something heavy on the fiddle would enjoy exploring her musical offerings, including albums titled simply, “Dance” and “Song”. Heather Dale is a contemporary Celtic music artist that is a singer, as well as an accomplished musician. She plays piano, hammered dulcimer, Irish flutes and whistles, and bodhran drum alongside her band members. Dale highlights original Celtic folk music, but adds an updated twist with the instrumentation. The theme of fantasy runs deep in much of her music, but she also offers an album (My Celtic Heart) that features traditional folk songs. The Gothard Sisters are another interesting Celtic band, and they blend Celtic, folk, classical, world and northwest musical influences. These three sisters play together seamlessly, and offer a lovely selection of contemporary Celtic music that has wide appeal. Having over 10 years of experience playing with one another provides a great foundation for the band, and their songs feature everything from acoustic guitar, to mandolin, to djembe, to octave violin, and more. It seems starting young on the fiddle may well be a recipe for success. Eileen Ivers began her studies at age eight, and went on to win nine All-Ireland fiddle championships. If the strings call to your heart, they are front and center in much of her work, and played just beautifully. Her latest album, “Scatter the Light” features some very good original music, but there’s plenty to explore on her other offerings as well. The Selkie Girls Screaming Orphans Lissa Schneckenburger Eileen Ivers Heather Dale Tami Curtis The Gothard Sisters While this is just a small sampling of all the talent that is out there, these Celtic bands should give you a starting point if you’re looking to add to your St. Patrick’s Day selection of excellent music to accompany you this holiday. We hope you’ll continue to join us here where we’re on a mission to bring you the very best and brightest Celtic music artists – male and female – all throughout this coming year! Please subscribe to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast so you don’t miss a thing. Celebrate Celtic culture through music at CelticMusicPodcast.com.

Some people grab a bottle of $3.99 wine and are perfectly happy pouring themselves a glass or three--and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. However, others would rather pass on that glass in favor of sipping on something that tickles their more well-developed palate. Fine wines are often a bit of an acquired taste, and I’ll admit that I can’t tell the difference between a decent wine and an exceptional one. The detail in the “notes” of vanilla and oak, etc. have always been a bit lost on me. That said, I do know that I tend to like wines from certain regions, such as New Zealand and Chile. Everyone is a little different, right? It’s what makes the world go ‘round. Although the comparison may not be direct, there is a similarity when it comes to Celtic music. Some people love any music that is in the spirit of the Celtic sound and are content to raise a glass on St. Patrick’s Day with any type of Irish-related music playing merrily away in the room. Again—there’s nothing wrong with that. However, others may be a bit more particular about the musical style and instrumentation, focusing on the skill of the players or vocals, and the overall quality of the band or group. And some might have a preference for authentic Celtic bands that deliver music that blends stories and a sense of heritage into the mix. Since the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is generally aimed more at those who are interested specifically in Celtic bands, what follows is a curated list of favorites that will all lend something special to your St. Patrick’s Day celebration. This won’t be the list you find on a typical roundup of tunes for the holiday—and that’s a good thing! Some of the groups or artists were chosen because they feature accomplished Celtic musicians or vocalists. Others earned a spot for their musical originality and authentic Celtic background. Many on this list have all those qualifications, and more. The fact is, this isn’t a list that is geared toward those who are satisfied with the "$3.99 version", instead it’s for those who feel a connection to Celtic music at a level that runs a little deeper than just plain fun. People who truly love Irish music and are into the Celtic culture every day, not just on St. Patrick’s Day. We Banjo 3 Jiggy The Selkie Girls Screaming Orphans Ockham's Razor Barleyjuice Lissa Schneckenburger An Lar Skeleton McKee Runa Stringer's Ridge Eileen Ivers Alexander James Adams Heather Dale Tami Curtis Jesse Ferguson W Ed Harris Kilmaine Saints Syr The Gothard Sisters No matter what kind of Celtic music palate you have developed over time, there’s something for you in this list. Have a listen, swirl it around, see what resonates, and get yourself ready for the holiday we all love so much. St. Patrick’s Day awaits—and it needs a playlist! Also, don’t forget to subscribe to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast so you can dig deeper and learn more about what’s out there in Celtic music. It would be great to have you with us! Thanks as always for supporting my music. Podcasts and streaming music give you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com!

I will share EIGHT great ways for you to have a spectacular St Patrick's Day today Celtfather Music & Travel. The best thing about St Patrick’s Day for me is that is a great time to celebrate Celtic culture. My passion lies in the music.  I immersed myself in nothing but Irish and Scottish music for over a decade. I took that knowledge to create newsletters, blogs, videos, and eventually podcasts that celebrate Celtic culture through music. St Patrick's Day is also my favorite time of year. It makes sense. I play Celtic music, and have done so since the 90s. I host the largest podcast of Celtic music in the world. Oh! And if that's not enough, it's also my birthday. I guess you could say I  know a little something about St Patrick's Day. So let's get started. The cream of the Celtic music crop is the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Since 2005, this show has shared the music of the Celts from around the world. It's a like your favorite Celtic radio program, except you can download it to you computer or phone. You can listen to it ANYWHERE at ANY TIME. And just like those most of those weekly Celtic radio shows, it's 100% free. It also focuses on the smaller Celtic bands. The ones that you might not hear on your favorite Celtic radio program. That's because most of these bands don't have record labels. They're doing it themselves. And they might be performing in YOUR community. You might not even know about them yet. But they are fantastic. The music ranges from traditional reels and jigs to pub songs to Celtic rock and fusion. It's a HUGE amalgamation of incredible music. And it's available for free on nearly all of your favorite podcatchers. And you can even download a free app to listen to the show on your phone. You can subscribe and find out more at CelticMusicPodcast.com This is a good time to mention the St Patrick's Day Podcast. That was a short-run show that was released by the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast many years ago. The goal was to provide you with a St Patrick's Day playlist of amazing Celtic music by some of the best indie Celtic bands online. There's not a lot of talking. It's mostly about the music. You can find that at stpatricksdayparty.net And some St Patrick's Day gifts here. Next on the list is the Pub Songs & Stories podcast. I started this show in 2005. It's gone through many renditions over the years, but right now, it is the virtual public house for Celtic and geek culture. I sing songs live in each show. I also chat about Celtic and Geek things that inspire me. I also share stories about my songs, both traditional and original. That's the thing that I love about the show. I love story telling. Pub Stories are stories from primarily Celtic musicians about their songs. It's stories from the road. The things that inspired them to write songs or share music. It's the stories that make you fall in love with Celtic music in the first place. Since I also host the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, I have direct access to hundreds of Celtic musicians. I'm adding new stories from these amazing bands in every show. It's fantastic! Again, you will find this podcast available EVERYWHERE online. Subscribe to the podcast for free at pubsong.com If you want to find other Celtic podcasts and stay on top of what's new, the Celtic Music Magazine is a great resource. I started publishing the weekly newsletter in 2000. It's still going today. You can still get 34 free Celtic MP3s when you subscribe. And every St Patrick's Day I share 17 more free Celtic MP3s from some of the bands featured on the Irish & Celtic  Music Podcast. But the best part is every podcast that features Celtic music or culture is featured in the newsletter.  It's a great way to find new podcasts of Celtic culture. Sign up so you don't miss  at BestCelticMusic.net If you just love Celtic music and want some of the best of the best, the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast hosts the Celtic Top 20 every year. This is where you vote for your favorite songs of each episode of the podcast. At the end of the year, I compile your votes and create a Best Of episode. You can listen to it on the website. However, my goal is to promote indie Celtic musicians. So I also made a playlist of all of these amazing Celtic bands on the Spotify. It's called Top Irish & Celtic Music playlist on Spotify. You'll hear MOST of the bands who won in the Celtic Top 20. Admittedly, some are no longer available. But the vast majority are. And it's a powerhouse playlist with hundreds of listeners. Follow it and enjoy! That alone will probably give you countless hours of Celtic musical entertainment. But before I let you go, I want to share one more really cool thing. Every year, I take a small group of people on the adventure of a lifetime. It's called Celtic Invasion Vacations. We go to the Celtic nations and locations. We stay in one area and get to know the region through it's culture, history and legends. I have numerous videos that highlight these amazing places. We've been to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany so far. You can watch these incredible Celtic Travel videos for free on YouTube. Plus, you get to hear some of my music in each of those travel videos. Finally, I am a performing musician. I've been live streaming video concerts since 2014. Every Thursday at noon eastern, I host Coffee with The Celtfather. These are short, themed concerts where I play for your tips and CD sales. With St Patrick's Day just around the corner, these shows are St Patrick's Day themed. And if you want a longer, even more fun shows, then you want to join my Celtfather Live concert series. These are usually Thursday night concerts. I play for over an hour on a theme. And again, during St Patrick's Day, that theme is Irish and Celtic songs. These concerts, however, are paid events. You can get tickets on my websites. There ye go. Eight amazing ways to celebrate Celtic culture through music this, and every St Patrick's Day. Oh! Before I finish, you often hear St Patrick's Day as mentioned as St Paddy's Day. Well, Paddy is the shortened version Padraig in the Irish language. Patty of course is the shortened version of Patricia. So if you want to say Happy St Paddy's Day, that's fine but mind the spelling. You can learn 11 St Patrick's Day facts in the Pub Songs & Stories podcast. Thanks as always for supporting my music. Podcasts and streaming music give you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com!

Greetings Gunn Runner How can you celebrate St Patrick's Day in 2021 with podcasts, videos, blogs and perhaps even live concerts. Enjoy St Patrick's Day stories. A new Dancing with Hobbits single. Learn about the Brobdingnagian Bards' next single. Save on a St Patrick's Day CD special. And get ready for my birthday. It's all on my monthly update, Celtfather Music & Travel, show #275. 0:26  - PODCASTS I am on fire with podcasting. I finally have systems that allow me to complete episodes and plan future ones in a timely fashion. So I'm ahead on all of my podcasts. I have nearly completed all the March episodes of the Pub Songs Podcast. I also have a new primary feature for that shows. I'm sharing stories from musicians. I love it because it's something solid. It gets other musicians involved. And again it's evergreen. The first March episode features two stories. One is from na Skylark. The second is from Stout Pounders. The St Patrick's Day show is most like a St Patrick's Day concert. I'm singing a bunch of songs that you requested in that episode. If you'd like to help out with future shows, there's One thing that would be amazing. Make a song request. You can suggest either a song I know or one I don't. Maybe I'll learn it. I'd like to learn some new songs for the podcast. To keep it interesting. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast has several St Patrick's Day episodes. My 17 for St Patrick's Day show comes out on March 4. All of the songs in that episode will be available for free download three days before St Patrick's Day. Then my BIG St Pat's show is also the 500th episode of the podcast. It was supposed to JUST be a 3-hour special. But when I remembered that my graphic artist, Miranda Nelson, had asked musicians to submit audio feedback. It became quite a bit longer. In fact, it's still being edited as I record this. Because there were over 60 songs in that show. That should be nearly 5 hours long... in one podcast. Yeah. I think this will officially be my longest podcast episode yet. Thankfully, I have Mitchell editing it. [Sorry Mitchell.] And I have a plan for recording and releasing it. Pro tip for anyone creating podcasts... or anything. Create a system to complete your projects. It helps! Finally, I created a system for releasing Brobdingnagian Bards Podcast episodes on a more regular basis. Andrew's been swamped. But I got him to record a February show. And I'm recording a simple music show for March. After that, I hope to stay on top of monthly episodes. The show will come out in the middle of each month. 4:04 - VIDEOS I started creating Canvases for Spotify. Basically, artists can share a 3-8 second video that plays on loop when you listen to a song on Spotify. I'd love to add that to as many of my songs as I can. I just need to figure out what kind of videos to add to each song. I haven't figured out WHAT to add yet. But there are a few that now have them. I just realized last week that Coffee with The Celtfather is doing exceptionally well. There are about 20 people watching the show every week. That's much higher than the 5-10 that used to. Facebook was really hit and miss and unreliable. So this is fantastic. My viewership is growing. I planned out themes for the rest of the season. Theming shows seems to help attendance. But boy it is tough coming up with themes. If you have any cool show titles, let me know. The next Celtfather Live concert is scheduled for Thursday, March 11. It is a St Patrick's Day show. I am theming my Celtfather Live shows once again. So for this show, I will play fun Celtic songs for St Patrick's Day. Then I will take your song requests. And I'll play for another 30-60 minutes depending on how many requests I get. So if you have any song requests, let me know. This show is a ticketed event. Tickets are $8. You can get them in my MageRecords.com store. Spend $15 or more in the store, you'll also get access. And of course, if you are a Heroic member of the Gunn Runners Club, pledging $10+ per month, you will get free access. I haven't released any new video singles as I mentioned last month. But I am planning the next Travel Music Video. Stay tuned. 6:40 - IN THE STUDIO All of my tracks for Selcouth are done. Songs are sent to guest musicians. Now I am waiting on the final tracks so we can finish mixing the album. It's looking very good that I'll have the album done by April or May for Patrons. So I should have an official release by Gen Con or possibly Dragon Con. I also hope to release a bunch of singles in the lead up the official release. A new single from Dancing With Hobbits with Sam Gillogly will come out the day after St Patrick's Day. That's March 18. The track is called "Proudfoot Shuffle". I need to figure out what my next single will be. I'm also hoping to have a Brobdingnagian Bards single... or two, released in the coming months. We have a couple instrumental track we recorded for the release of I Will Not Sing Along. Andrew also recorded on my song "By Amazing Grace". So I plan to release that as a single at some point too. 8:03 - MERCH St Patrick's Day CDs are not selling phenomenally well. It's not selling bad. I mean, it IS SELLING. But I see it was a good idea not to do a serious reprint of that album. I'm hopeful that I'll sell out the copies I have before March 17. You can now buy the album in my MageRecords.com store on Bandcamp. They are $20. And you can still get the 4 CD Celtic Collection for just $40. These offers good from now until March 17, St Patrick's Day. Subscribe to my mailing list, you get a discount code to save 15%. I am putting together some new special offers for the coming months. Details. The Firefly Celtic Heartstring was really well received. I made a couple more. But again, I can't say they're selling spectacularly. About as well as I expected though. You can find them and my other Celtic Heartstrings in my store. 9:26 - CELTIC TRAVEL I finally canceled my castle booking in Scotland. The Celtic Invasion of Scotland is officially delayed until next  year. Sign up at CelticInvasion.com if you want to be one of the first on the list. 9:42 - WEBSITES I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: 10:15 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR MARCH THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 8) @ 12:00 PM EST MAR 11: "St Patrick's Day Party" Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 8:00 - 9 PM EDT. Tickets $8. MAR 13: Ironshield Brewing in Lawrenceville, GA @  7:00 – 10:00 PM. MAR 17: The Lost Druid Brewery in Avondale Estates, GA @ 4:30-7:00 PM 11:23 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1219 is up from 1201 Celtic Music Magazine = 4026 is down from 4030 YouTube Subscribers = 5009 is up from 4961 Facebook Likes = 3746 is down from 3752 for the second month in a row Instagram = 1867 is down from 1869 Spotify followers: 1737 is up from 1712 # Number of listens on Spotify: 3395 is down from 3929 BIG ST PATS SPIKE Latest Spotify Single Stats: "Hobbit Hornpipe" released Aug 26: 458 is up from 441 "Tough Times" released Oct 21: 35 is up from 14 "The Hero of Christmas" released on Nov 17: 119 is down from 178 Latest Spotify Album Stats: Browncoat Christmas: 136 is down from 200 (last month) St Patrick's Day: 1K is down from 1.7K Most-popular songs on Spotify: "The Widow and the Devil" (1.7K), "Doctor of Gallifrey" (523), "Hobbit Hornpipe" (458), "Danny Boy" (400), "A-Working in the Garden" (368) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: "Hero of Canton" (1269), "Doctor of Gallifrey" (446), "The Widow and the Devil" (107), "A Drop of Nelson's Blood" (93), "Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster" (63) Top albums: As Long As I'm Flyin (1526), Sci Fi Drinking Songs (839), Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion (420), Kilted For Her Pleasure (296), Going for Brogue (284) Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families = 1983 is down from 1991 (Last until next season) Last year's playlists from this time last year: Top Irish & Celtic Music: 564 is up from 556 Sci F'Irish Music: 12 (same) Nagians Only: 21 (same) Celtfather Experience: 29 is down 30 Hobbit Drinking Songs: 6 is up from 5 Firefly Drinking Songs: 122 (same) Christmas Drinking Songs: 39 (same, last of Season) Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 108 is down from 109 (last of the season) Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 61 is up from 59 Jedi Drinking Songs: 31 (same) 16:27 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 156 is down from 158 Patreon Monthly Income: $1194 is up from $1184 I ran Special Offer last month. I got a couple new subscribers. But I can't say it was a rousing success. Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner St Patrick's Day is re-released and it's back on CD for a limited time. Selcouth moves closer to completion. A little bit of kindness goes a long way. And Get a sticker and access this month's Celtfather Live by joining the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. It's all on Celtfather Monthly for February 2021, show #274 0:22  - PODCASTS The Pub Songs Podcast started with some strong evergreen episodes. The first highlighted the re-release of my St Patrick's Day CD. More about that in a bit. Then there was an interview with Bruno Maia of Tuatha De Danann. I shared my recording of "Johnny Jump" and then shared Tuatha De Danann's Celtic rock version. I love that recording. I also did a Robert Burns Day episode. That one features Scottish kilt-loving songs. I have an interview with Devo Spice. He's a huge Doctor Who fan who wrote the song "Doctor of Gallifrey". He shares a little Whovian facts. I love these interviews. And I want to do more. But I realize that it might be easier if I only plan to do one episode per month. And then the second one is mostly music. I'm not saying that's how it will be. But the first episode of February is a Top 5 Irish Drinking Songs episode. So stay tuned for that. Over the past few years, I themed new episodes of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast.  A couple years ago it was Celtic women. Last years was the love of planet earth and nature. I feel my themes go on the wayside though. I released a two hour episode at the start of this year where I announced a repeat of the Planet Earth theme. It was sort of a do over year for the podcast since last year's theme was replaced by the pandemic. Then we had an insurrection. It was then I realized I already established the theme for 2021 a few months ago when I said I was voting for Joe Biden. I voted for kindness back in the White House. And kindness for America. Well, if there's one thing I can hope and pray for our nation, it's that we can bring kindness back to our country. Less name calling. Less anger. More forgiveness. Kindness is what you can expect to see more from me through everything I do this year. I'm keeping that as my mantra as I peruse Facebook. If it's not kind, I try not to share it or like it or whatever. I want to see a return to Kindness. 2:40 - VIDEOS The new Coffee with The Celtfather is back. As usual, it's a free to watch show. I'm trying to have at least one show with my "hit songs" so newbies might be interested in watching too. So far shows are getting decent attendance. But I'll keep it up. Of course, if you enjoy the show, tips are always gratefully appreciated. The next Celtfather Live concert is scheduled for Thursday, February 18. I'm trying to decide how to theme this show. If you have any theme requests, let me know ASAP. That show is still a ticketed evening event. Tickets are $8. You can get them in my MageRecords.com store. Spend $15 or more in the store, you'll also get access. And of course, if you are a member of the Gunn Runners Club, you will get free access. I was struck at the end of last month with the question. Is it worth my time and effort to release video singles every week? I looked at the numbers and realized the answer is no. It's not the best strategy. Yes. If I record a stellar performance of a song during a Coffee show, then sure, it's probably a great idea to release a single like "Hallelujah" back in November. But I think that's the exception to the rule. So I'm starting to think about how to edit a solid music video highlighting my music instead. It's a little tougher to do. But oh well... 4:38 - IN THE STUDIO I finally had a good sit down to look at my recording schedule. What do I have left to do to finish Selcouth? One of the big things is deciding what instruments I want on a recording. I finally heard back from Nathan Deese. He's gonna start working on "Breathing". I think he will be perfect for this song. "Favor of a Dance" was sent to Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer. I'm still waiting to hear back from them. But it sounds promising. Though I might've suggested an extra difficult way of recording. The song reminds me of West Side Story with The Jets and The Sharks doing a dance off battle. That's sort of what I want for this song. Again, I might be asking too much. "Kilty Pleasure" feels like it needs to be a rocked up. Since the beginning, it had a sort of Pogues feel to me. So when Jeff Shaw of The Muckers showed up at my Tucker Brewing Company gig this month, I decided to ask them. I'm patiently waiting to see what they come with. After chatting with The Muckers, I decided to work next on "Bright Side of Everything". That has a pop sort of to it. The first band that came to mind was Screeched Inn out of Canada. They are a Celtic rock band. But they have a super friendly sound. I sent the tracks to them. They started working on it immediately. And it's going right in the direction I hoped it would. Meanwhile, I finished recording and mixing "Battle of Aughrim/Star of Munster". I also recorded the autoharp tracks for "Just A Hero". This is the last song that I NEED on the album. And there are only two more songs that I HOPE to have on the album. If I can nail those vocals, I'll be on the final steps of finishing this. And if I can make it happen, I might get another guest musician for that song. Finally, St Patrick's Day was officially re-released at the beginning of the month. So far things are looking good. But there are some downsides. First, I screwed up and accidentally listed one song as Explicit. CD Baby said they can fix that. But it's gonna take a while. Will it be fixed by St Patrick's Day? I don't know. I also wish I waited to release the album in February. That's because the album is doing great on Spotify. Spotify is releasing new tracks to the release radar every week, I think. You'll see in the stats. Several songs already have a couple hundred new plays. Including "Purple Flower". I love that song, but didn't expect it to go anywhere because of the title. So color me impressed. I'm hoping it'll get some more visibility especially since I don't have any new tracks scheduled for release yet. So here's hoping it kicks butt by March 17. 8:18 - MERCH Gunn Runners asked that I release a physical copy of St Patrick's Day on CD. You can now buy that in my MageRecords.com store on Bandcamp. That's selling for $20. Or you can get a 4 CD Celtic Collection for just $40. These offers good from now until March 17, St Patrick's. I should also point out that St Patrick's Day is a seasonal release. That means, it won't be available again until next year. If you're subscribe to my mailing list, you get a discount code to save 15%. I don't remember what inspired it. But I just sat Inara down to do some art. I didn't feel like painting or drawing. I thought I should do the art I enjoy. So I went and grabbed the items I need to make Celtic Heartstrings. I sat down and thought, "What should I make a butterfly? A dragonfly? Hm. A firefly?" So I did a quick search to see what a firefly would like like. Of course, I immediately thought of the TV show too and lo and behold, I saw a beautiful picture of the ship and decided to try and make one using my techniques. I finished. And I gotta say, the final pendant is pretty cool looking. Seems others liked it as well. I'm gonna make a few and then we shall see if this will be come a regular part of my Celtic Heartstring products. 10:00 - CELTIC TRAVEL The Celtic Invasion of Scotland is officially delayed until next year. Sign up at CelticInvasion.com if you want to be one of the first on the list. 11:15 - WEBSITES I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: "Kilkelly, Ireland" "Johnny Jump Up" "Rocky Road to Dublin" "A Man’s A Man For A' That" "Skye Boat Song" "A Man Who Wears A Kilt Every Day" "Wild Mountain Thyme" 11:50 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR FEBRUARY THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 8) @ 12:00 PM EST FEB 12-14: Boskone 58, Boston, MA (online event) FEB 18: Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 8:00 - 9 PM EDT. Tickets $8. MAR 11: Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 8:00 - 9 PM EDT. Tickets $8. MAR 13: Ironshield Brewing in Lawrenceville, GA @  7:00 – 10:00 PM. MAR 14: Tucker Brewing Company in Tucker, GA @ 3:30-6:30 PM  Pending MAR 17: The Lost Druid Brewery in Avondale Estates, GA @ 4:30-7:00 PM. Birthday Party! APR 23-25: Sherwood Forest Faire, Paige, TX MAY 1-2: Sherwood Forest Faire, Paige, TX 13:41 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1201 is up from 1191 Celtic Music Magazine = 4030 is up from 4027 YouTube Subscribers = 4961 is up from 4907 Facebook Likes = 3752 is down from 3755 Instagram = 1869 is up from 1858 Spotify followers: 1712 is up from 1684 # Number of listens on Spotify: 3929 is down from 7838 Latest Spotify Single Stats: "Hobbit Hornpipe" released Aug 26: 441 is up from 373 "Tough Times" released Oct 21: 14 is down from 69 "The Hero of Christmas" released on Nov 17: 178 is down from 1454 "Firefly Jingle Bells" on Dec 1: 9 is down from 81 "Grandma Got Devoured by Reavers" on Dec 1: 8  is down from 69 "12 Days of Firefly Christmas" on Dec 1: 5 is down from 93 Latest Spotify Album Stats: Browncoat Christmas: 200 St Patrick's Day: 1.7K Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.5K), Hobbit Hornpipe (441), Doctor of Gallifrey (429), Christmas in the Shire (330), A-Working in the Garden (305), Danny Boy (252), "Slainte Mhaith Christmas" (249), Nancy Whiskey (240), Drunken Sailor (192), A Drop of Nelson's Blood (191), Purple Flower (189), Hero of Canton (188), Rising of the  Moon (185) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: "Hero of Canton" (690), "Doctor of Gallifrey" (442), "The Widow and the Devil" (89), "As Long As I'm Flyin'" (70), A Drop of Nelson's Blood (61) Top albums: As Long As I'm Flyin, Sci Fi Drinking Songs, Going for Brogue, Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion, Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families = 1991 is up from 1927 Last year's playlists from this time last year: Top Irish & Celtic Music: 556 is up from 547 Sci F'Irish Music: 12 (same) Nagians Only: 21 (same) Celtfather Experience: 29 is down 30 Hobbit Drinking Songs: 5 is up from 4 Firefly Drinking Songs: 122 (same) Christmas Drinking Songs: 39 is up from 36 Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 109 is up from 89 Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 59 (same) Jedi Drinking Songs: 31 is down from 32 18:16 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 158 is up from 155 Patreon Monthly Income: $1184 is down from $1202 I just posted a Special Offer on Patreon. Everyone who signs up to my Patreon and is a member on February 15 will get access to my next Celtfather Live concert on the 18th. Plus a Marc Gunn sticker. Oh! And you can now get an annual membership through Patreon. You'll also save 15% off your membership when you sign up that way. Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. 20:25 - RANT There's a meme from the presidential debates. Obama and Biden are sitting together. Obama asks Biden, "Did you take the high ground like I told you?" Biden replies, "I told him to shut up." I would like to say that I took the high ground these past four years. I did not either. Trump will go down in history as the most divisive president ever. No one has polarized America so much as Trump. That's one of his worst legacies. He intentionally pit Americans against Americans. That division has weakened us as a nation. So of course, I am happy that he is no longer the leader of our great country. He dragged us down. But now that he's gone. I see the high ground again. And I confess, I am ashamed. I allowed his petulant behavior to drag me down to his level. As it has with so many Americans. Yes. There will always be division. Especially with competing media sources telling us different extreme ideas. But I am ashamed that I allowed myself to become angry and nasty. I have no excuse  for that. One of the many reasons I voted for Biden was to bring kindness back into the White House. Back into our nation. Sure, Biden is far from perfect. But he's kind. Or at least he's kinder than Trump could ever be. We need a kind president. Because that sets the tone of the nation. Kindness, generosity. Those are the way you build up a community of people. I  still get Facebook posts of people lambasting the president or his supporters. But I know from talking to some that most are not bad people. Most just support a conservative ideal. I remember when I talked to conservatives in the run up to 2016. EVERY SINGLE ONE said their #1 issue was to reduce the national debt. It was not about the racist agenda Trump later pushed and used to divide us. Most called themselves fiscally conservative but socially liberal. These are people who just have a different opinions of the federal government. They believe in the same inalienable rights of our Constitution. The only difference is they don't want the government spending so much money on social services. That is not my enemy. I disagree with the role of the federal government. But that's a difference of opinion. What's more important is that we are kind to one another. I keep seeing a call for unity. I agree with it. I believe we need to take a step back and be kind to one another. Because it is very likely we are not seeing eye-to-eye because we are all just blinded by anger. The best way to beat anger and hate is by kindness and forgiveness. And if there's one thing I learned about forgiveness is that it does have to be unconditional. It also heals. It's magical. It doesn't mean we forget. It means we recognize our own negative contribution to the situation. We correct it. Then we ask forgiveness for our part, and we heal. Because never in the history of ever were there two different competing perspectives where one is right and the other is wrong. They both always screwed up. And that's the only way we can move forward. Not spouting conspiracy theories. Or blaming someone else for our own failures. But by recognizing our own fault in the situation. Because that's when we realize things aren't all as bad as they seem. We are able to see the high ground. Through the lies, through the anger and through the hatred. On the side is a world of kindness and healing. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner It's time to take a look back at the past year, to decide what worked and what didn't. What is useful and what isn't? Before we get to all that, we're gonna do a review of December. It's all on Celtfather Monthly, show #273 0:14 - PODCASTS December is always the toughest month for podcasting for me. That's because in addition to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, I have the Celtic Christmas Podcast and I have to create the Best Celtic Music of the Year episode. I can't do that until all of the votes in the Celtic Top 20 are in. So December is a little bit different. There was only one regular episode of the podcast this year. That came out on the first Thursday of the month. The second episode was a Patron Request show. that was a good and long show. This year's Christmas episode highlighted Celtic women playing Christmas music. It was a two hour special, thanks to a Patreon milestone we hit. Fantastic show whether you enjoy Christmas music or not. Meanwhile, I finished up the final two episodes of the Celtic Christmas Podcast. It was a pretty good year, though a bit labor intensive. Again, that's in large part to all of the other podcasts and work I need to do. I'm probably gonna cut back on shows. But we shall see. I'm gonna set some new milestones next year to see if I do more or less episodes. If you love the podcast, look for those in October. I did enjoy releasing the Hang the Holly episodes of the Celtic Christmas Podcast. Stay tuned. I will publicly release them to the feed in the months to come. Planning for the Pub Songs Podcast is getting better. It's amazing how much easier things become when you create a solid plan and plan ahead. There's still a little uncertainty. But I find myself already planning the January episodes. I even recorded one of those already. So I know what's coming. If I can keep that up and fine tune it, this may become favorite podcast. What I don't know yet is what listeners think. The show gets a really good number of downloads. But is it something that gets people excited? Something that makes you want to share it? I'm reading another book on Bing Crosby. He ran the Kraft Music Hall for over a decade. That was one of the most-popular radio programs of the 30s and 40s. I often liken podcasting to the early days of radio. So I'm looking for ideas. While I can offer music that I feel like you will enjoy, I don't have the comedic skills of Bing. Certainly not as a solo podcaster and I don't have the easy ability to add co-host. Hm. I don't know. Maybe I could work out something with Andrew. Honestly, I'd love the Brobdingnagian Bards Podcast to become something more. I just haven't figured out how. And sadly, Andrew and I had trouble the past couple o'months recording a podcast at all. 6:27 - VIDEOS Coffee with The Celtfather came to a wonderful conclusion. We had a bunch of viewers watching the final episode of the season. Season 8 returns on Thursday, January 7 at noon eastern. I'll have to let you know about Celtfather Live. I'm cataloging this BEFORE that show. So I'm not sure about the success. I'll let you know next month. But you can also catch the next Celtfather Live on January 21. All Heroic Gunn Runners will get access to that show. The video single release plan is working great. I have enough videos to release them weekly. I put out "Slainte Mhaith Christmas", "Let's Have a Celtic Christmas", "Kilty Pleasure", and "Hero of Christmas". 8:06 - IN THE STUDIO Oh, the studio. I did not spend much time recording, at least at the beginning of the month. I did write a new tune that I'm gonna try and record, maybe add a guest musician to as well. In fact, it might turn into a hobbit tune with Sam Gillogly. We shall see... I did decide to finish "Wherever I May Roam" though. That song just needed completion. It sounds great. Is it everything I dream it should be? I don't know. But I'm not sure where to go with it. Or how to revamp. The Browncoat Christmas EP I released with Mikey Mason is getting more play than some singles. But it doesn't look to be added to a bunch of Firefly or Christmas playlists. It's just getting light play as of recording this. 9:32 - MERCH I have some new merch packages that I will probably launch in January. If you're into some discounted CDs, keep an eye open. And if you're subscribe to my mailing list, you get a discount code to save 15%. - CELTIC TRAVEL Hooray for a vaccine! I know it's still rolling out. And I will happily get the vaccine as soon as it is available to me. May be I can finally back to planning the Celtic Invasion of Scotland. Sign up at CelticInvasion.com if you want to be one of the first on the list. 9:53 - WEBSITES I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: “Rosin the Bow” “The Smial or the Tree” “Hero of Christmas” "Kilkelly, Ireland" "Johnny Jump Up" "Rocky Road to Dublin" 10:06 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR JANUARY THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 7) @ 12:00 PM EST Season 8 will start on January 7. JAN 15: Tucker Brewing Company in Tucker, GA @ 4:30 - 7:30 PM ET JAN 21: Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 8:00 - 9 PM EDT. Tickets $8. JAN 23: Ironshield Brewing in Lawrenceville, GA @  7:00 – 10:00 PM. 10:52 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1191 is down from 1194 Celtic Music Magazine = 4027 is up from 4021 YouTube Subscribers = 4907 is up 16 from 4891 Facebook Likes = 3755 is up from 3752 Instagram = 1858 is up from 1856 Spotify followers: 1684 is up from 1670 # Number of listens on Spotify: 7838 is up from 3265 Latest Spotify Single Stats: "Hobbit Hornpipe" released Aug 26: 373 is down from 447 "October Waltz" released Oct 14: 13 is down from 103 "Tough Times" released Oct 21: 69 is down from 163 "The Hero of Christmas" released on Nov 17: 1454 is up from 148 "Firefly Jingle Bells" on Dec 1: 81 "Grandma Got Devoured by Reavers" on Dec 1: 69 "12 Days of Firefly Christmas" on Dec 1: 93 Most-popular songs on Spotify: "Christmas in the Shire" (3K), "Slainte Mhaith Christmas" (2.9K), "Frosty the Irish Snowman" (2.6K), The Widow and the Devil (1.5K), Hero of Christmas (1.5K) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: "Doctor of Gallifrey" (377), "Hero of Canton" (303), "The Widow and the Devil" (117), "Christmas in Scotland" (97) "Jedi Drinking Song Prequel" (77) Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families = 1927 is up from 1762 Last year's playlists from this time last year: Top Irish & Celtic Music: 547 is up from 426 Sci F'Irish Music: 12 Nagians Only: 21 Celtfather Experience: 30 Hobbit Drinking Songs: 4 Firefly Drinking Songs: 122 is up from 101 Christmas Drinking Songs: 36 is up from 29 Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 89  is up from 83 Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 59 Jedi Drinking Songs: 32 14:30 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 155 is down from 158 Patreon Monthly Income: $1202 is down from $1221 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. 15:18 - GOALS FOR 2021 I'm gonna break down last year's successes and then share plans for 2021. Promote one "Hit" song every month. (in videos, podcasts, blogs, on social, mp3 giveaway, in emails). Pick 12 songs. Give away original recording of hit song. Once a month. Mingulay Boat Song. Wild Mountain Thyme. Promote one Coffee event per month FOR NEWBIES. The show AFTER Celtfather Live Encourage and seek a cover of an original song once a month. Take photos for promo purposes. Build up Instagram. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Welcome Behind the Music on The Celtfather podcast. I’m gonna chat about my album of hobbit drinking songs called Don’t Go Drinking With Hobbits. The show is generously brought to you by my  Patrons in the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. You can help me write new hobbit music. Join the Club for just $5 per month. Then subscribe to my Pub Songs Podcast at Pubsong.net. I love hobbits. It was the 1977 animated movie of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien that started it all for me. Shortly after watching it, I started playing Dungeons & Dragons. My favorite characters were hobbits. I finally gave my love of hobbits the attention they deserved in 2011 when I released Don’t Go Drinking with Hobbits. The concept? What kind of songs might you have heard while walking thru the shire? To help me create the songs for the album, I turned to my friend and lyricist, Rie Sheridan Rose. She wrote a song for me a decade earlier called “Soul of a Harper”. I loved it so much I asked her to write a Firefly song ("Browncoats Keep Flyin'") for a soundtrack project I hoped to be a part of. I loved that song too. So in 2010, I asked her to help me round out an album of hobbit songs. What kind of songs should be on a hobbit album? Well, hobbits are down to earth, practical people. So folk songs made sense. I spent the prior 11 years singing Irish, Scottish and Renaissance festival folk songs. So I started with the idea of adapting certain styles to this hobbit project. I wanted drinking songs. I wanted a gardening song. I wanted a song like “The Parting Glass” and a list song. I also wanted a song about food and pipe weed but neither of those made the final cut. I mixed those with new recordings of songs I had already written, including a couple from the 2004 Brobdingnagian Bards album, Memories of Middle Earth. The next step was finding musicians for the album. This felt like a community project. So I posted on Facebook and reached out to my community. I asked for volunteers. I was swamped with singers and musicians of all types. Some like Sam Gillogly and Daniel Briggs became a regular part of my recording team to this day. The result was 20 tracks of hobbit fun. It’s gone on to be one of my most-popular albums, and one that I’m super proud of. I even lead a 300 person sing along at Dragon Con every year. And it all came to be because of the success of the title track. But that’s the subject of another podcast about the true story behind "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits". You can find out more me Marc Gunn and my hobbit albums by visiting HobbitSongs.com.

Greetings Gunn Runner A new season of Celtic Christmas music and a new format to Pub Songs Podcast. Hallelujah and The Hero of Christmas and a Black Friday Sale. It's all on Celtfather Monthly, show #271 0:11 - PODCASTS It was a good month for podcasts. I planned ahead and recorded several Irish & Celtic Music Podcast episodes. I'm also getting ready to finishing up episodes so I can put out the Celtic Top 20 during the last week of December. I am liking the direction of the Pub Songs Podcast. It requires a lot more planning. I also feel like there are more open loops. That's because I have multiple sections. It includes a short interview, a CD feature, and some facts about any trad Celtic songs. I have to figure out how to better streamline that. But I still feel more flexible. For instance, I had the idea of releasing an episode at the end of December with Auld Lang Syne and what not. But it would lack many of those sections. And happily I was okay with that. I'm keeping my mind open and flexible with the format. That's tough for me. Ultimately, I tossed that show idea, but only because of lack of time. Not because of the show idea. The Celtic Christmas Podcast is in full swing. Two episodes in 2020. A third will be out before the end of the month. I also started a bonus podcast featured called "Hang the Holly". That is sort of a new podcast where I share details about artists in the latest episode of the Celtic Christmas Podcast. The idea started because I was expecting the show to be booted from Spotify. And I wanted to keep it on there. You see, last year, Spotify was the #1 player of the podcast. But Spotify is rejecting any podcast that is primarily music. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was kicked off last spring. Now I have Hang the Holly promoting the latest shows. Or at least that's the hope. Admittedly, the listens are so few so far, that I'm not sure I will continue this feature. But we shall see. I'm not really sure how to measure the success. But it will continue through Christmas at least. 2:46 - VIDEOS Season 7 of Coffee with The Celtfather is coming to an end. The first two episodes in December are Christmas music shows. And on Thursday, December 17, the season ends with who knows what kind of music. Maybe I should do a poll. What were your favorite new songs in 2020? I definitely played a lot of new music. December 17 is also the next Celtfather Live concert. I am feeling good about those shows. If you're following, I changed the way those shows worked. Basically, tickets are $8 or you can spend $15 or more in my store and get a ticket. In November, I made the show available to all my Heroic Patrons who pledge $10 or more on Patreon. Overall, sales were down from October. But only by $23. So that's pretty fantastic. Plus, I saw a bunch of new Heroes in the Gunn Runners Club. I say bunch but like 2 or 3 is just a lot in general and as you'll see in the stats, it greatly affects my income. So again, I call that a HUGE win. Now as a sort of Christmas gift, the December show will be available to every member of the Gunn Runner Club plus the ticketed people. But that's one month only. Well, unless I see some major rise in Gunn Runner memberships at the $5 level. We shall see how it works out. I had a LOT of video singles made this month. ONE of the reasons I moved Coffee with The Celtfather back to YouTube was to streamline the video single creation process. I was having a lot of trouble recording video singles of me singing songs. But if I just record a show on YouTube. I can pick the best performances and turn 'em into videos to promote my music. This month was great for those videos. I'm releasing one new video per week. This month was "Bright Side of Everything", "Bring Me Home, Boys", "Hallelujah", and "Close Your Eyes (aka The Demon Lullaby)". "Hallelujah", in particular, is doing exceptionally well. It's getting a higher than normal number of views. It felt like a really fantastic performance when I sang it on Coffee at the beginning of November. 6:41 - IN THE STUDIO I got a little bit more time back in the studio this month. I finally recorded "Genetic Counseling Song". I also sent it to some musicians, including Matt Hughes, who's on the next Pub Songs Podcast. And my friend Rimbo laid some bass for the song as well. I did some practicing for some traditional Irish tunes I want on the CD. Sam Gillogly recorded the fiddle part. But I just did not know how to play along. I'm working on that. I also started a secret recording with a daughter. I will say no more about that. Also in November, my engineer, Mitchell sent me a recording of "Wherever I May Roam". It was the final... version... Well, that's what I thought. Shortly after telling him we were done, I told him, we were not actually done. I'll be talking about that on #221 of the Pub Songs Podcast. In a last minute move, Mikey Mason and I are officially releasing Browncoat Christmas on December 1st. This is a 4-song EP of Christmas songs inspired by Firefly, including our newest single release, "The Hero of Christmas". I also have lyrics by Nancy Flynn that I want to record this season. We shall see if I have anything for Gunn Runners in the next month. 8:16 - MERCH I feel like merch should be a greater priority in a musician's career. It's one of the best ways for biggest methods for us to make money. Alas, I just don't do it. It's lowest on my priority list behind creating music and podcasts and a dozen other things. Oh well. I did at long last put A Celtic Christmas in my Mage Records store. This is a compilation CD I released in 2013. It's a great album with a lot of fun Christmas songs by Celtic musicians. Nevertheless, I did create a Black Friday sale, of sorts. And it's good until the end of November. You can buy Any CD in my store. You'll get a second copy of that CD to share with a friend for free. Then you can pick one more CD from my store and get that one doubled as well. Basically 4 CDs for just $20. Oh! If you're subscribed to my mailing list, you still get a discount code to save 15%. 9:27 - CELTIC TRAVEL I have my first invaders for the Celtic Invasion of Scotland. And I'm happy to see there are vaccines coming out. That's a good sign for the 2021 invasion. I suppose it's time to do some serious planning. 9:41 - WEBSITES I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: “Barnyards of Delgaty” “Genetic Counseling Song” “Hero of Christmas” “Galway Shawl” “Maid Went to the Mill” “Wild Colonial Boy” “Wreck of the Bold Lady Jean”  - SHOWS PLANNED FOR DECEMBER THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 7) @ 12:00 PM EST End of Season on December 17. Season 8 will start on January 7. DEC 4: The Lost Druid in Avondale Estates, GA @ 7:00 - 9:00 PM ET. Free. DEC 17: Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 8:00 - 9 PM EDT. Tickets $8. 11:15 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1194 is down from 1196 Celtic Music Magazine = 4021 is up from 4001 YouTube Subscribers = 4891 is up from 4853 Facebook Likes = 3752 is down from 3755 Instagram = 1856 is up from 1851 Spotify followers: 1670 is 16 up from 1654 # Number of listens on Spotify: 3265 is up from 2532 Latest Spotify Single Stats:  "Hobbit Hornpipe" released Aug 26: 447 is up from 399  "Whiskey in the Jar" released Sept 8: 17 is down from 73  "Brandywine River Reel" released Sept 22: 19 is down from 75 "O'er the Way" released Oct 1: 20 is down from 85 "Together (KrabbeConnect) released Oct 7: 52 is down from 257 "October Waltz" released Oct 14: 103 is up from 54 "Tough Times" released Oct 21: 163 is up from 28 "Wild Colonial Boy" released on Nov 3: 63 "The Hero of Christmas" released on Nov 17: 148 Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.5K), "Christmas in the Shire" (493), Doctor of Gallifrey (483), Hobbit Hornpipe (447), Slainte Mhaith Christmas (403), A-Working in the Garden (330), Frosty the Irish Snowman (268), Hero of Canton (187), Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (172), Tough Times (163) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: Doctor of Gallifrey (379), Hero of Canton (342), The Widow and the Devil (117), As Long As I'm Flyin' (84), Jedi Drinking Song Prequel (82) Christmas playlist starting nov 14 = 1762 is up from 1743 18:34 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 158 is up from 157 Patreon Monthly Income: $1221 is up from $1208 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts.  - RANT Before I conclude, I want to send a HUGE congrats to President-Elect Joe Biden. America definitely spoke with a landslide victory. At least by Trump's past definition of a landslide. Except Biden won definitely won the popular vote AND the electoral college vote. America wanted kindness back in the White House. We got it! I thought about not mentioning this at all because I know a lot of people in our country voted for the incumbent president. Our nation has a lot of healing to do. But I spent the last couple o' months promoting Biden. I firmly believe he is the best person to not only actually make America great again, but to heal our country. No. I don't expect a smooth transition. Trump has already corrupted our democracy by declaring voter fraud, without ANY actual evidence that stands up in a court of law. yet, millions of Americans believe that lie. But the fact is Trump lost the majority of American votes, again. He lost the popular vote. He lost the electoral college. Joe Biden definitely won the presidency. And I'm proud that America stood up for what is right. There's obviously more to talk about. I was shocked by how many people did vote for Trump. After all the verifiable lies, after all the attacks on decency, and the intentional inflammation of division, I'm curious why. I believe in balance. Trump tipped the country into extremism and corruption. Why would good people continue to support him? I just don't know. Hopefully, I can ask that question in the future and try to understand how we can better unite our country. Until then, I'm thankful that we have a new president coming in January bring a more principled character as the leader of our country. Congratulations President Elect Joe Biden and definitely a big congrats to America's first female Vice President, first Black and Asian woman VP, Kamala Harris. This is a BIG step for a better America. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner The power went out. Fortunately, I have a portable digital recorder. I was able to capture this episode with news about batch recording shows, campaigning for a president, live concert successes, album delays, and Celtfather Box Set. It's all on Celtfather Monthly, show #270. 2:26 - PODCASTS I love the  Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. I feel like I’m finally getting a handle on batch recording episodes. That means, I create and record 2-3 episodes at one time. Then I release one each week... ahead of time. I love this method because it gives me room to focus on my music business. Writing songs. Recording songs. Listening to edits. Making changes as I need them. I can’t tell you how important that is to my mental health. It's extremely helpful. I pre-recorded three episodes in October. But released four regular ones and a bonus show. There was the Celtic Fusion, Lost Passport, Fairy Tale, and the Celtic Halloween show along with a bonus Celtic Rock episode since I wanted to promote one of my new singles, "Together". I did a bit more scripting for the Pub Songs Podcast episodes this month. That's because I wanted to clearly talk about stuff without coming off like arse. That was especially true with the Tough Times episode. I was campaigning for Joe Biden. But I don't like hard sells and didn't to piss off people who already had their mind made up for the other guy. Ah well... Again, I'm happy the election will be over! Next month, I have some cool new stuff. There's a Celtic Geek spotlight, a feature on the song "Wild Colonial Boy" and I have an interview with Mikey Mason about one of our new Firefly Christmas songs that will be released. I'm excited about these episodes. I recorded the first episode of the Celtic Christmas Podcast. The show officially launches in mid-November. The first episode is a shorter, teaser episode. My goal is to get the show charting again starting November 1. But it's also there to raise money for those who want to support the podcast. It's a lot of extra time and mental energy. So I'm trying to keep it simple as can be. Finally, I was interviewed for the Running Anthropologist. The host found my running episode of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. And I had to get on it. I graduated college in cultural geography, which is basically anthropology. And I'm a runner now. I'll talk about that some point in the future. But you can get a sneak peak on that podcast. 7:23 - VIDEOS Coffee with The Celtfather is going strong with season 7. I feel like I had some shows this month. Though I only nabbed a few video singles that I felt were good enough to publish as singles. Those include Tough Times and O’er the way. Though I have a couple already scheduled for November. My Celtfather Live for October was a GREAT success. My goal was to basically increase sales in my store either through tickets or through merch sales. So you could buy an $8 ticket in the store to watch the show. OR you could spend $15 and get access to the show. Sales were nearly as high as they were in September for Dragon Con. So again, SUCCESS! I also worked out the technical details. Things like how to email people the show link and what not. I feel like one or two people bought twice. That was a bummer. But overall, it seemed to work. I'm doing it again in November. This time all of my Heroes in the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon will get free access. On the one hand, I suspect this will cannibalize some sales. But considering these folks are pledging $10 per month... I'm okay with that. It just becomes a little bit more difficult to track. 9:57 - IN THE STUDIO Oh the studio. Well, I think I will officially announce that I will not have Selcouth completed and mailed out in November like I planned. I am sorry. I am still making great progress. But I have at least five tracks that I want to complete. Others are with musicians. In fact, let's break it down. I have two songs that are in the mixing stage with my engineer. Those are "Serenity Valley Waltz" and "Wherever I May Roam". Those were challenges to get the right mix. But they are coming along. "Breathing" is currently with Nathan Deese to record, along with "Favor of a Dance" and "Bright Side of Everything". I also have Randy Wothke I hope to add percussion to "Bright Side of Everything". "Genetic Counseling Song" was tracked. I'm getting instrumentation added by Matt Hughes and Jimmy "Rimbo" Rimmer. It's getting closer. As for the songs still in the work, I have "Kilty Pleasure", "Just a Hero", and "By Amazing Grace". I laid tracks for "Kilty Pleasure", but I'm not sure if I want to re-record those or not. The other two, I haven't started on. Finally, I have two tune sets, some jigs and some reels. Admittedly, I'm having trouble figuring out what to play on those. As you can see, there are just FIVE tracks that need recording. You'd think it would be no big deal. If I could get a weekend, I could probably nail 'em. Course, the instrumentation will take longer as will the mixing. Heck, I haven't even figured out an album cover yet for Selcouth. So I think it's safe to say, this will be pushed back until January or February with an official release maybe next summer. Again, my apologies. I did release a bunch of singles last month. I'll tell you how they did in a little bit. But there were four: O’er the way Tough times October waltz Together All in all, I'm seeing some great results. When my current release schedule is over, I'm gonna try to release new tracks every 2-4 weeks. But I definitely want to keep new singles coming. I feel it's helping me a lot. 13:33 - MERCH Nothing new was released in October outside of the ticket sales. Though I did adjust the Celtfather CD Box Set that I have in the store. You save 50% off all of my current physical CDs when you buy it. There's also a white Irish & Celtic Music Podcast t-shirt. It's just $7. And you also get a digital copy of my St Patrick's Day album. That was updated as well. I found a some album reviews of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers. It was interesting to read. Because this is an album that is VERY focused. If you like Irish music AND you love cats, you will probably love this album. But of the 11 reviews on Amazon, 3 are mediocre to loathing. I like reading people's reviews, because they help show how much something resonates with a community. But of course, it's also nice to have an abundance of glowing reviews. So if you haven't posted anything on Amazon. I'd love for you to do so. If you're interested in any of my music, I'd suggest you shop my store at magerecords.com. If you're subscribed to my mailing list, you'll get a discount code to save 15% in my store. 16:00 - CELTIC TRAVEL No new plans for my Celtic Invasion of Scotland. However, there was one happy thing I missed. A month or so ago, I contacted past invaders. I told them about the invasion. I was met with crickets. Well, it turns out there were reasons for crickets. I apparently did NOT email anyone but myself... Luke noticed the error. And now I have four new invaders signed up. 17:00 - WEBSITES I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: The Wreck of the Bold Lady Jean The Bridge Close your Eyes Tough times Black is the color 18:04 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR NOVEMBER THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 7) @ 12:00 PM EST NOV 19: Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 8:00 - 9 PM EDT. Tickets $8 or shop the store. Spend $15+ get access. 18:40 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1196 is down from 1203 Celtic Music Magazine = 4001 is down from 4008 YouTube Subscribers = 4853 is up 63 from 4790 Facebook Likes = 3755 is down from 3759 Instagram = 1851 is the same Spotify followers: 1654 is up 22 from 1632 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2532 is down from 2588 Latest Spotify Single Stats: "Hobbit Hornpipe" released Aug 26: 399 is down from 801 "Whiskey in the Jar" released Sept 8: 73 is down from 160 "Brandywine River Reel" released Sept 22: 75 is up from 22 "O'er the Way" released Oct 1: 85 "Together (KrabbeConnect) released Oct 7: 257 "October Waltz" released Oct 14: 54 "Tough Times" released Oct 21: 28 Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.3K), Doctor of Gallifrey (474), Hobbit Hornpipe (399), A-Working in the Garden (373), Together (KrabbeConnect) (255), Reavers, Malcolm, Reavers (230), Hero of Canton (214) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: Hero of Canton (472), Doctor of Gallifrey (383), As Long As I'm Flyin' (354), Sail the Sky (174), The Long Arm (147) 23:47 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 157 is down from 162 Patreon Monthly Income: $1208 is up from $1196 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. 25:07 - RANT NOTE: I decided to cut the audio of this rant. I just ran out of time for editing. I am SO sick of our president who lies so blatantly and often, you would think that no one would support him. Alas, that's not the case. If you believe him, you probably already plan to vote for him. So my rant isn't gonna help you make a decision. This rant was all about children. Mine in particular. But all children. Do we really want them to grow in an environment of maliciousness which is the tone set by the leader of the free world?  I voted no. I voted for Biden. That's it. It's now in the hand of Americans who respect people and want a better America. --- My wife pointed out one of the biggest reasons why I want Trump out of office. My daughters Inara and Kenzie. We have not involved them in the political process. We didn’t let them watch the debates. Not do we let them hear the president talk. That’s because we are scared at what vile, hateful thing will come out of his mouth. What female reporter will he gaslight. What black man will he belittle. What middle easterner will he call a terrorist. What Hispanic will he call a rapist. What person with a disability will he make fun of. What hateful insult will he lob carelessly at over half of our country because they are Democrats. He doesn’t serve America. He serves himself. This is the leader of the free world. And he is a sad, shameful human being. Let alone American. Is this what Kenzie should aspire to? Is this how Inara should behave? Should they act despicable? I mean after all, our president is. I don’t believe so. I voted for decency and kindness back in the White House. That is joe Biden. I am so happy the election is almost over. It’s consuming me and all of America. I’m sick of it. Yet I feel it’s essential to the healing of our nation that we get rid of Trump. There’s never been a more divisive president. I am so ready for a new president.  I did my duty for a better America. I voted for Biden. Now it’s time to move on. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner Pub Songs Podcast on the charts. New singles gaining traction. Coffee with the Celtfather is back. And finishing up the Selcouth CD. And a rant on voting. It's all on Celtfather Monthly, show #269 Before we start, I want to remind you to register to vote. It looks in most states, you have until about October 5th to register, but it does vary. And just because you think you're registered, does not mean you are. Georgia has a lawsuit against it because there were over 200,000 people illegally purged from the voting record. Go to vote.org to check your registration and to register. 0:36 - PODCASTS Four episodes of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast were released in September, including a Celtic Women's special for Halfway to St Patrick's Day. I had a lot of great comments about that episode. Coming up is a Celtic Fusion episode and a Samhain or Celtic Halloween episode. I'm still debating how to theme the show. The first episode of the Pub Songs Podcast in September was a performance I recorded for Virtual Dragon Con. It was a fun show. Though as always, it's weird doing shows without audiences who respond. But I feel like I'm getting good at it. At the end of the month, the Pub Songs Podcast topped the Music Commentary Charts on Apple Podcasts. That's because I did the first big push I've done for the show in a LONG time. It was all a part of the Hobbit Day show I released on Sept 22. It features hobbit songs as well as the second single from the Dancing With Hobbits album I'm recording with Sam Gillogly. It's called "Brandywine River Reel". I feel like that was a good episode where I share my love of hobbit origin story. I created a couple themes for the October shows. One is about coming together. And the other is Firefly-related in time for the single release of "Tough Times" which I hope to get done before the election. It's also time to start thinking about the Celtic Christmas Podcast again. I know that sounds early for you. But in the music biz, bands should start submitting Christmas music tracks to radio and such in October. So that's one thing I hope to start on next month. 2:39 - VIDEOS I released several new video singles this month. There's one for "Whiskey in the Jar". This one is just me and the autoharp. It seemed like a good idea for a video to record since I released a single at the beginning of the month too. Another features two toy sheep I got for my daughters last summer. It's called "Sinead & Saoirse at Killarney National Park" and features the music of "Hobbit Hornpipe". The videos are all from my Celtic Invasion of Dingle last summer. We had a side trip to Killarney which was a lot of fun. And got silly too! My favorite video was "Lords of the Run". I go running with a couple friends 2-3 times per week. We decided to run in costume on the Saturday of Dragon Con to celebrate the Dragon Con parade that didn't happen this year. It was SO MUCH FUN to record. The video also features the music of "Brandywine River Reel". Coffee with The Celtfather is BACK for Season 7. This time it's on YouTube every Thursday at noon eastern. So far, I am feeling really good about the move from Facebook. Most of my regular viewers made the transition. The time seems better. Attendance feels up. And those who watch actually stick around (unlike on Facebook). Oh! As a cool bonus, I have themes for many shows. I've no problem coming with theme ideas too because of all the singles I'm releasing. So woohoo!!! I also am now notifying Coffee fans every Thursday via email. If you haven't signed up, please do so! 5:06 - IN THE STUDIO Last month, I scheduled 12 different singles I planned to release. I have new tracks coming out every 2-3 weeks through January. So far, the results are encouraging. I'll tell you more about the stats in a wee bit. But each of my singles is doing better and better. This test is looking very positive. Meanwhile, I'm still working on my next CD Selcouth. I have three new songs finished. But I still have some big tracks I need to finish recording. My goal was to release the album to fans by November. I'm starting to doubt whether I will achieve that goal. Songs that need work include: Breathing Bright Side of Everything Genetic Counseling Song By Amazing Grace? Serenity Valley Waltz Kilty Pleasure I'm so proud of all of those tracks. Which is why I find myself coming to a mental block to completing them. But I hope to make more progress tomorrow. 7:11 - MERCH The Sainted Song Hengers Collection is back in my store. This features this year's Irish & Celtic Music Podcast shirt, some pint glasses and more. It's only available for a limited time. I also added some two new USBs: Cats 'n' Celts and Rise of The Celtfather. Oh! And if you're subscribed to my mailing list, you'll get a discount code to save 15% in my store. Shop at magerecords.com. If you're a Brobdingnagian Bards fan, then you might want to pick up one of the last copies of "Songs of Ireland". We have finally almost sold out of that physical CD. I think there's only five copies left. You can get it in the Bards store. 9:12 - CELTIC TRAVEL Join my in 2021 for the Celtic Invasion of Scotland. We're staying in a castle in Helensburgh, Scotland. This is about 20 minutes from the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. 9:32 - WEBSITES I made several updates in preparation for Halfway to St Patrick's Day to that website. I made sure all the links were updated as well as any new information. I updated lyrics for the Irish Song Lyrics website, including: "We'll Have A Pint", "Everybody Needs A Drinking Song", "Prettiest Hobbit" and "Whiskey in the Jar" since I added a new video. 10:05 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR OCTOBER THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 7) @ 12:00 PM EST OCT 3: Interstellar Ginger Beer & Exploration Co in Alabaster, AL @ 6:00 - 8:00 PM EDT OCT 17: The Lost Druid in Decatur, GA @ 7:00 - 9:00 PM EDT OCT 22: Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 8:00 - 9 PM EDT 12:00 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1203 is up from 1171 Celtic Music Magazine = 4008 is up from 4003 YouTube Subscribers = 4790  is up 52 from 4738 Facebook Likes = 3759 is up from 3755 Instagram = 1851 is up from 1838 Spotify followers: 1632 is up 24 from 1608 is up 29 from 1579 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2588 is up from 2280 Latest Spotify Single Stats: "Hobbit Hornpipe" released Aug 26: 801 is up from 18 "Whiskey in the Jar" released Sept 8: 160 "Brandywine River Reel" released Sept 22: 22 Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.4K), Hobbit Hornpipe (789), Doctor of Gallifrey (469), A-Working in the Garden (251), Hero of Canton (200) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: Hero of Canton (454), Doctor of Gallifrey (280), The Widow and the Devil (78), Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (39), Bring Me Home, Boys (39) 16:33 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 162 is up from 159 Patreon Monthly Income: $1196 is up from $1178 We'll see what happens to those numbers when I finish this podcast on a rant. But first... Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. 17:32 - RANT ON VOTING At the start of the podcast, I asked you to register to vote. It is absurd to say. But I feel like it's now necessary to encourage you to vote in November.  Some people are talking about voting fraud. Some are talking about foreign interference in our elections. Some don't think voting makes a difference. I want to share a few hopefully bipartisan thoughts on the topic. The statistics say that voting fraud is immaterial. Anyone who tells you otherwise is committing voter fraud by making you think your vote doesn't count. It does. So don't believe those liars. We already know that Russia and China are trying to manipulate the outcome of this election. We know that Russia succeeded in the last election. They're using social media to manipulate us. How? They share memes and fake news that appeal to you. And you end up sharing them. My suggestion. Stop. Put a moratorium on sharing news or memes until December. Instead, share who you plan to vote for and why. That said, I will vote for Joe Biden in November. And I will tell you why. I want to bring kindness back to the White House. I want stability. I want a return to Law and Order. Trump promises that but makes things worse Every time. Vice President Biden will do that. He's not the candidate I want. But he's the candidate our country needs. He's a moderate who will actively try to serve ALL Americans. Not just his people. Trump is threatening our Constitution. He said he will refuse to leave office if he loses. That is the definition of a coup. That is treason. And right now, the polls have him with a 22% chance to win. A landslide victory is the only way America will have peace and prosperity back in our nation. It's the only way Trump will willing leave and our country will remain intact. So Yes, I do want you to vote for Joe Biden in November. Our country depends on it. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner Dragon Con approaches. New coffee dates. Brobdingnagian Bards concerts. And lots of news from the studio. It's all today on Celtfather Monthly. Let’s talk about it... on show #268. 0:12 - PODCASTS This was a good month for podcasts. I'm still ahead on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Four solid episodes for August. I even have next two recorded and ready for editing. And I'm getting a few new band submissions to the show. I released two episodes Pub Songs Podcast in August. They were fairly easy to produce too. One is on Irish Rebel Songs and the other touches on Dragon Con and my newest Hobbit single. If you have any show ideas, I would love to hear them. I recorded another Brobdingnagian Bards Podcast with Andrew McKee. We've been a bit lax about recording those. We wanted to get out an episode before Dragon Con. Though we were also recording video concert for Dragon Con. We had a very productive day. 2:04 - VIDEOS The video situation is still kind of on hold right now. I have a lot of things on my plate. So it's just on the back burner. And I must say, it feels good to focus on music creation. More about that in a moment. I did look a couple past video concerts to see if I could find any singles I wanted to release. But I had no luck there. My Coffee show is coming back. I am planning to relaunch the show on Thursdays, starting September 10 at noon. It looks like everything I do ends up on Thursday. For better or worse, that seems like the best day for me. So I'll see what I can do to stick to that new date and time. I am debating rebranding the show title. Maybe something like Coffee with Celts or Coffee n Celts... or maybe even using Sci F'Irish music... I don't know. All I know is I never drink coffee during the show. It was always a bad time. So we shall see... I am actually recording video concerts though. That's because Dragon Con is Labor Day weekend. I plan to have some pre-recorded shows for that. I might do a live stream too. But we shall see. There will be some Brobdingnagian Bards live streams. But I'm working out details right now. I'm still brainstorming a Musical TV Show idea. It's sort of like the Firefly Drinking Songs show from Gen Con and will also be at Dragon Con. But I can't come up with a concept I love. And that makes sense. Hopefully, I'll figure something out. Oh! And Andrew McKee was finally able to setup our computers to stream live. And it's sounding pretty amazing so far. Hopefully, he and I can have some live concerts together in the future. But we have several planned for Dragon Con. 4:45 - IN THE STUDIO I feel like I am creating a lot of new music. It feels good to closes some loops on new and old music. I have six songs currently in the works for my next CD Selcouth. I'm waiting on instrumentation for three others. And I have one that still needs a final mix. All in all, I'm proud how the CD is progressing. I still hope to release it to my Kickstarter supporters by October or November. I'm also excited about my release schedule. I have a bunch of new releases coming soon. Last week, I released "Hobbit Hornpipe". That's the first single from the album Dancing With Hobbits with Sam Gillogly. We hope to release a hobbit dance CD next year. We're gonna try and release a new single every month. I am proudly re-releasing St Patrick's Day. Formerly known as Not Every Day Is St Patrick's Day, I pulled the album from the net in August because the album has not done nearly as well as I hoped. There are many reasons for this. But the album will be back in time for Halfway to St Patrick's Day. I added three new songs to the album. And there's one new recording of a previous song. And a couple remixes. You can get the album now on Bandcamp. But it will be streaming everywhere come September 7th. The physical CD is pending... I have to make a decision how to release that. On September 22nd, my next single with Sam Gillogly comes out. It's called "Brandywine River Reel". And it's a fun one! Another good hobbit dance tune. October 7th is the official release of "Together". This is the Celtic rock song I recorded a couple months back. There's a big KrabbeConnect convention happening on the weekend of October 10th. So the song will be available just in time for the big event! 7:30 - MERCH Every Friday since the pandemic started, Bandcamp has waived all of their profits for items purchased in the store. If you're looking for a time to support my music... well, anytime is good. But if you want to maximize my income, buy any time on Friday, September 4 at magerecords.com. 7:59 - CELTIC TRAVEL I opened the 2021 Celtic Invasion of Scotland to past invaders. As expected, I am flooded with no responses. I guess some could be mailing application forms. But again, this is what I expect. I realize many of the challenges of hosting a trip in Scotland while we're still in the middle of a pandemic. Should we wear masks? Will the country let us in? Will there be a vaccine? Will the U.K. require a quarantine period? It's bizarre. But yes. Masks will probably be necessary. It's totally dependent on entry into the country. And if a vaccine is available, I will might require invaders to be vaccinated. As for the quarantine period, who knows... Nevertheless, we are booked for June 5-12, 2021. And if my family and I can go stay at the castle in Helensburgh, Scotland, we will. I do hope I have others joining us though. - WEBSITES Not much is new for the Irish Song Lyrics website. Slipped out of my priorities. I still need to do the lyrics for the latest Pub Songs Podcast episodes. 9:16 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR SEPTEMBER THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather, YouTube (Season 6) @ 12:00 PM EST SEP 2: Brobdingnagian Bards Concert with Dragon Con Filk Music Track @ 8:00-9:00 PM ET SEP 4: Brobdingnagian Bards Concert with Dragon Con Filk Music Track @ 4:00-5:00 PM ET SEP 4: Dragon Con TV presents Firefly Drinking Songs w/Marc Gunn @ 10:00-11:00 PM ET SEP 5: Marc Gunn Concert with Dragon Con Filk Music Track @ 2:30-3:30 PM ET SEP 5: Andrew McKee Concert with Dragon Con Filk Music Track @ 4:00-5:00 PM ET SEP 6: Songs Lyrics I Wish I Rewrote But Didn't [Panel] w/Marc Gunn @ 1:00-2:00 PM ET SEP 6: Writing Music w/Andrew McKee [Panel] @ 2:30-3:30 PM ET SEP 6: Hobbit Drinking Songs with Brobdingnagian Bards for Dragon Con High Fantasy Track @ 8:30-9:30 PM ET SEP 7: Promoting Your Music With Podcasting [Panel] w/Marc Gunn @ 1:00-2:00 PM ET SEP 7: Pub Songs Podcast Live with Dragon Con Digital Media Track @ 2:00-3:00 PM ET SEP 17: Halfway to St Patrick's Day at Tucker Brewing Company in Tucker GA @ 6:30 - 9:30 PM EDT 14:74 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1171 is up from 1158 Celtic Music Magazine = 4003 is the same as last month YouTube Subscribers = 4738 is up 63 from 4675 Facebook Likes = 3755 is up from 3754 Instagram = 1838 is up from 1832 Spotify followers: 1608 is up 29 from 1579 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2280 is up from 2090 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "Hobbit Hornpipe": 18 Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.4K), Doctor of Gallifrey (501), Hero of Canton (366), A-Working in the Garden (292), Reavers, Malcolm, Reavers (241) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: Doctor of Gallifrey (233), Hero of Canton (186), The Widow and the Devil (167), Scots Wha Hae (56), I'm A Rover, Seldom Sober (42) 18:38 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 159 is up from 158 Patreon Monthly Income: $1178 is down from $1191 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Irish music at Celtfather.com! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner Two new singles are coming out. Selcouth progress report. Something new and different for my live streaming concerts. New songs written. And would you like to stay with me in a castle in Scotland? Another month down. Another to begin. Let’s talk about it... on show #267. 0:21 - PODCASTS The toughest thing about making podcasts is coming up with a concept. What is the show about? For the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, it's easy. I don't usually do themes. Because they are hard to create. Even the Celtic Running Music show I ran this week. It had to pick out a good running rhythms and tap out the tempos to make sure the show picked up speed as you ran. It's much easier to just create a show and then name it after a song or an organic theme. I can't create that podcast and stress about a theme if I want to put it out every week. That's the problem I'm having with the Pub Songs Podcast. Some days I come up with a theme. Others, I have no idea. Then the show keeps getting pushed back. That's what happened with the Gen Con show. It was a couple days late before I was struck with the thought, DUH! I can just call it the Gen Con show and promote those shows. That makes the second show of August a little easier. I can make that the Dragon Con show. I still don't know what to do for the first episode. So if you have a theme idea, let me know. The other episode I did in July was a replay of Coffee with The Celtfather where I highlighted the songs of Rie Sheridan Rose. It's amazing that we've been writing songs together for probably 18 years. It's just mind-blowing. I'm so fortunate to have her helping me create music. My only sadness is that I hadn't done that episode sooner. That theme issue put Stories from the Road on the back burner this month too. I just didn't think to publish it. And here we are at the end of the month. Mikey and I published the final Firefly episode of the In the ‘Verse podcast. This was for Objects in Space. I'll be honest. I was surprised in this months Celtfather Live that I got a song request for that song. I kinda felt it was a throw away. But guess we shall see. 2:51 - VIDEOS I published two video singles this month: "The Mermaid" and "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits". They were both from Andrew McKee's Life's a Faire webcast in June. "The Mermaid" has done pretty well with 186 views as I type. I was surprised that "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits" didn't do better. But I guess that's the random nature of the beast. Some songs get caught up in the algorithm and do well. Others don't. The best thing about that Life's A Faire broadcast is I learned how to create video singles FROM video concerts that are posted on YouTube. This means if I get a good recording of a song or two during Coffee or Celtfather Live, I can always repost it as a video single. Boo-yah! One of the big projects in July was recording a Firefly Drinking Songs concert for Gen Con and Dragon Con. This was super cool because it was scripted show. I learned how hard it would be to create a TV series. Oy! That's because I recorded each section live. I scripted what I would say. And I tried to tell a story. The story is basically that I hijack the Cortex in order to broadcast a Bob Hope style concert for the Browncoat troops fighting during the Unification War in Firefly. It ends in disaster. It was fun to create. But it also took much of the day. And I'm still uncertain if the video quality is not as good as it should've been. You can get tickets to watch the Firefly Drinking Songs show at Gen Con. I'll tell you more about it later. As for the Dragon Con version, there are a couple parts that are different. And I'm hoping it'll broadcast on Dragon Con TV. Oh! And Mikey Mason is a guest as usual during both shows. My live streaming video concerts ran into some problems this month. Some are still not resolved as I type. Our internet router is on the complete opposite side of where my office is. So when my internet extender died right before the Celtfather Live concert this month, I've been living with crappy infrequent internet access. It's very frustrating. Coffee with the Celtfather is a challenge because of that. That said, I have a 150' chord to plug directly into the router for a special project with Andrew and a new extender is on its way. Here's hoping I can do something in time for my live streaming shows at Gen Con next week. 6:10 - IN THE STUDIO Moments before typing this I finished recording "Together", the Krabbe Connect song I mentioned last month. I got the final tracks from Daniel Briggs. He recorded bass, mandolin and octave mandolin for the song to give it a more Celtic feel. It's hilarious. As I was finishing the mix, I realized I COULD share it on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast because I added this mando reel to the intro to turn this sort of pop song into a Folk Pop song. LOL. I love it. It has a great sound. And again, as I was listening, I realized the song could actually go beyond the Krabbe Connect world. So that's an extra WIN in my book. That is not the only song I'm getting ready to release. Sam Gillogly and I confirmed that we are going to release an album called Dancing With Hobbits. This is an idea that came from the last ALEP. That's the hobbit gathering in Kentucky that I talk about a lot. We talked about recording an instrumental album of original dance music for hobbits. We recorded a track several years ago after the last ALEP, I think. That's when we started talking about this idea. But a week ago, Sam and I finally confirmed that we would make an album together. But we're gonna do it by releasing singles. The goal is to put out one a month until we release the album late next year in time for the next ALEP which is currently delayed until 2021. I am excited about this for several reasons. One of the big ones is that I LOVE traditional style Celtic music. The tunes. But because I play the autoharp, I don't really record many. Yeah. I CAN. But I don't. It just doesn't sound right. But get me a fiddle player... So hopefully, I'll have lots of new tunes to share via the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast in the months to come. Now i just have to figure out what tune comes first. And to stay on that schedule. The first one is called "Hobbit Hornpipe". I'm trying to get permission to share it with Patrons. But I'll let you know if that's possible. I made progress on Selcouth too. My parts for "Breathing" are laid. I think I need to re-record one more vocal for "Bright Side of Everything". But it's close to being done. I also laid down a track for "Kilty Pleasure", "Favor of Dance", and "Tough Times". That's pretty good progress. Though I'm already worrying about hitting my October/November deadline for Kickstarter supporters. Finally, I wrote and recorded another new song called "Back in the Ocean". It's a story about a male selkie who goes to land, has some fun, and decides life on land ain't all it's cracked up to be. He's much happier back in the ocean. 13:15 - MERCH I have not touched my Bandcamp store in quite a while. Not since I posted those new Celtic Heartstring necklaces a couple months ago. No doubt this is one reason I'm not selling great over there. But I'm happy just be creating right now. So if you haven't been, check it out. Buy something. 13:36 - TRAVEL I'm jonesing to travel. I love traveling. So I've been back on YouTube watching videos of Scotland and other places in Europe. I can't wait. I am researching the 2021 Celtic Invasion of Scotland. In fact, I booked a castle in Helensburgh, Scotland. The dates for the invasion are June 5-12. Obviously, that's assuming we are able to get out of the country to go there. But I can't hang on that. So I'm gonna plan right now. 14:51 - WEBSITES Not much is new for the Irish Song Lyrics website. Slipped out of my priorities. I still need to do the lyrics for the latest Pub Songs Podcast episodes. 15:07 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR AUGUST I don't know if I have said this before. But booking for the forseeable future will be tentative. I had two physical shows in July in Birmingham. Both were canceled. I'm booked at Pepper Place Farmer's Market in Birmingham in mid-August. I'm assuming that will be canceled too. So if there's a date on my schedule. Check in with me or the venue a few days before to see if it's happening. JUL 30: Comedy Music Cabaret at Gen Con ONLINE at 6:00 - 7:00 PM EDT JUL 30: Sci F'Irish Drinking Songs at Gen Con ONLINE at 8:00 - 9:00 PM EDT JUL 31: Firefly Drinking Songs at Gen Con ONLINE at 8:00 - 9:00 PM EDT AUG 1: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers at Gen Con ONLINE at 6:00 - 7:00 PM EDT AUG 1: Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion at Gen Con ONLINE at 8:00 - 9:00 PM EDT AUG 15: Pepper Place Farmer's Market in Birmingham, AL @ 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM CDT SEP 2-6: Dragon Con in Atlanta, GA (pending) Weds Morning: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook (Season 5!) @ 11:00 AM EST   - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1158 is up from 1130 Celtic Music Magazine = 4003 is down from 4007 YouTube Subscribers = 4675 is up 26 from 4649 Facebook Likes = 3754 is up 19 from 3735 Instagram = 1832 is up from 1825 followers Spotify followers: 1579 is up 35 from 1548 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2090 is up from 2003 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "Molly Malone": 12 is down from 21 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "The Last Jedi Drinking Song": 43 is down from 64 Spotify Latest Album Stats: I Will Not Sing Along: 217 is down from 293 Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.4K), Doctor of Gallifrey (419), A-Working in the Garden (229), Reavers, Malcolm, Reavers (195), Hero of Canton (180), Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (164) Most-popular songs on Amazon Music: Doctor of Gallifrey (218), Hero of Canton (151), The Widow and the Devil (89), I'm A Rover, Seldom Sober (40), Come Ye By Atholl (37) - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 158 is down from 160 Patreon Monthly Income: $1191 is up from $1175 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Iirsh music. Slainte! #CFMonthly

Gerry O'Beirne is an Irish guitarist and songwriter behind the scenes of many great Celtic musicians. I met him when he toured the U.S. with Andy M. Stewart. But his history playing music is long and fascinating. I was surprised on last summer's Celtic Invasion Vacations that he's living in Dingle, Ireland now. He's performing both solo and with many of the top Irish musicians there. Show #266. We talk about his new CD Swimming the Horses, the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, and how he got started as a songwriter in the desert of America. Find out more about Gerry O'Beirne here.

And the secret is... There is no secret with a mind like mine. It's show #264 of The Celtfather. I was kicking myself recently that I was having so much trouble creating my shownotes for the Pub Songs Podcast. There are too many working parts for my brain. There's the pub chat, the live streaming, the story in the middle, all the news. Then it struck me. Never in the history of that podcast have I stuck to a consistent format. That's not what that show is all about. Every episode can be different. And that's okay. That's the same for my life. Every day is different. Yes. Some are more alike than others. But mostly, my days vary. This podcast has a more solid format. So let's start talking about how things went and where things are goin. 1:03 - PODCASTS In June, I featured an interview I did with Mazz O'Flaherty. That interview is in THIS podcast. I will cross-post some of the interviews I do to this podcast. If they seem relevant. It's more promotion for the people I interview. So mo the bettah. I was on target with two episodes of the Pub Songs Podcast. The first had an interview with Gerry O'Beirne. He's an Irish singer/songwriter who performed on last year's Celtic Invasion of Dingle. I played Famous Irish Songs in between those previously mentioned moving parts. In the second episode, I talk about the castle I booked for the Celtic Invasion of Scotland in 2021. Do you listen to Stories from the Road? Just curious. I stayed on top of it. And I even felt like they were pretty interesting thoughts, including "Performing in the time of Covid-19" and the "Litmus Test for a Coffee Pre-Show". I'm about a week ahead with the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. The Pride Show did very well. As has the podcast this month. The show is back up to over 11k downloads in about a week's time. It had sunk to about 8000 earlier this year. I don't have any special episodes currently planned. That's allowing me to get ahead. But I do have ideas. I also feel like I need to reach out to more bands. There's not a lot of new music coming. I'm not sure that is normal for this time of year. Admittedly, I never care because I'm usually overseas. Mikey and I recorded a new In the ‘Verse podcast. It still needs editing. But the song for the final episode of Firefly, "My Beating Heart", was released to the Gunn Runners Club too. 4:22 - VIDEOS June was NOT the month of videos. In fact, this was another situation where I thought, it's okay if I'm inconsistent with video production. I did a benefit concert for Andrew McKee's Life's a Faire podcast and video series. We raised a few hundred dollars. I released a video of "Tough Times". Its done remarkably well as my video singles are concerned. There's a short Fairy Walk video I made for Inara's birthday. It took a month to get it out. But it was fun. And finally, I uploaded a Coffee with the Celtfather episode where I celebrated the songs of Rie Sheridan Rose. That turned out pretty dang good as a performance. That won't be a regular thing. But I thought it'd be nice to promote the songs that I wrote with Rie. So I'm going all out. In fact, the next Pub Songs Podcast is largely that show. 6:47 - IN THE STUDIO I didn't have much time in the studio this month. Though I did re-record the vocals for "Bright Side of Everything". The first version was weak. I also recorded a new song for a friend. It's called "Together (Krabbe Connect)". Krabbe is a lysosomal storage disease, I think. I'm not super certain. The lyrics were written by my friend who works in the field and requested a song. It was fun to produce. It even includes hard-hitting drums that I recorded with my drum machine. I also started talking with Samantha Gillogly again about a hobbit dance CD I want to release with her. We started it a few years back. But nothing has come of it yet. But stay tuned. We might start releasing singles. 8:03 - MERCH I had my first physical show since the pandemic struck. I got to test some of my ideas for selling CDs in the new environment. My plan was to use a QR code and Bandcamp site to make it easy for you to figure out what CD you want to buy at the show. So far... not so successful. But I have other ideas coming. I'll let you know how that goes. 8:31 - TRAVEL The 2021 Celtic Invasion of Scotland will have us staying in a castle 20 minutes from Loch Lomond. That's the only detail I know about next year's invasion. But it's a first step for the trip. The size of the castle means we might have a larger than normal group. I also know my family will stay at the castle as well. But they won't be a part of the regular touring. 8:59 - IRISH & CELTIC SONG LYRICS Here are some of the new Irish & Celtic Song Lyrics that were updated this month: Tough Times, A Well-Dressed Hobbit, My Father Was a Werewolf, Green Grow the Rashes I also updated some videos and information on these songs:  Reavers’ Lullaby, Why Do You Torture Me, Mingulay Boat Song, She’s Shiny, Zombie Love Song, Gollum Blues, Harry Potter and the Rising of the Moon, Purple Flower, Soul of a Harper, Thorin’s Eulogy, Elves 9:40 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR JULY JUL 16: Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 7:30 PM EDT JUL 18: The Lost Druid in Decatur, GA @ 7:00 - 9:00 PM JUL 24: Interstellar Ginger Beer & Exploration Co in Alabaster, AL @ 7 - 9:30 PM CDT JUL 25: Pepper Place Farmer's Market in Birmingham, AL @ 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM CDT JUL 29 - AUG 2: Gen Con in Indianapolis, IN WEDS: Coffee with The Celtfather on Facebook (Season 6) @ 11:00 AM EST 10:38 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1130 is up from 1088 Celtic Music Magazine = 4007 is up from 3999 YouTube Subscribers = 4649 is up 42 from 4607 Facebook Likes = 3735 is up 20 from 3715 Instagram = 1825 followers Spotify followers: 1548 is up from 1530 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2003 is down from 2109 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "Molly Malone": 21 is down from 23 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "The Last Jedi Drinking Song": 64 is down from 94 Spotify Latest Album Stats: I Will Not Sing Along: 293 is down from 302 streams Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.3K), Doctor of Gallifrey (422), Reavers, Malcolm, Reavers (215), A-Working in the Garden (173), Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (168), Hero of Canton (160) 12:21 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 160 is up from 159 Patreon Monthly Income: $1175 is down from $1208 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts and other merch. And Patreon funds my songwriting! Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon to support my songwriting. You will step behind-the-scenes with new music, bonus podcasts, videos, and live concerts. Thank you for supporting Sci F'Iirsh music. #CFMonthly

Mazz O'Flaherty owns the smallest record shop in Ireland. It's in Dingle, Ireland. It is a place you don't want to miss. It's walls are lined with music from Irish musicians, especially those in the County Kerry. In 2019, I took my Celtic Invasion Vacations to Dingle, Ireland. Ten years after my last trip. Mazz was as delightful a person to talk to as ever. Show #264

There were a lot of new podcasts and videos I released in May. I had saw some YouTube success. I recorded a Pride Month podcast. I learned new techniques for live streaming shows. I lost a Bog Off... twice. I worked on my next CD. And I started planning how to sell physical CDs at shows... while social distancing. It's all on show #263. 0:46 - PODCASTS Whew. I just barely finished my two episodes of the Pub Songs Podcast this month. At the beginning of the month, I recorded a Star Wars Drinking Songs shows where I several of my Star Wars songs. The second I released last week. It was a summer music special. There was an interview I did with Mazz O'Flaherty last summer. It was a good show. I had a good month with Stories from the Road. Every month, I ask myself if I completed an episode each Friday. I did good this month. I talked about our trip to Texas, a time I forgot the lyrics to "Wild Rover", and one of the wild things that happens with studio recordings. I also included an interview I did on a local Celtic radio program. All in all, it was a good month. I did NOT stay ahead with the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. One of the reasons I don't record many specialty shows is they are intimidating... mentally. I had two I needed to complete. One was the Celtic Women Singers show. That wasn't too bad. I had a guest host, but she had to back out. But the tough episode was the Pride Month show. I spent the last 8 months trying to find LGBTQ artists to put on this special show celebrating Celtic musicians who are also gay, lesbians, transgender, etc. I came up short on artists. But fortunately Kris Clements of the Seattle-based Celtic rock band, Ockham's Razor offered to help out. So he guest hosts with me on that show. It'll be out the first week of June. I'm very happy with how the show turned out. But it was a lot of mental effort to compile. I was hoping to complete it in January. And I just finished it last week. So that's just added stress. On the In the ‘Verse podcast, I wrote a new song called "By Amazing Grace". I was hoping to have another episode of the show out. But alas, I just ran short on time. So Mikey and I will record the next one next week. Of course, he already finished his song. But that's okay. I'll have mine out. We're covering the episode "Objects in Space" next. 3:53 - VIDEOS May was the month of videos. It was the month where I found out why people post cover songs on YouTube. Sure, I already knew WHY. But I reaped the rewards because in April I recorded four videos back to back. So I released a new video, I think every week. I started the month with "Wild Rover". That was followed by a travel video of "Skellig Michael" in Ireland. Then came "Wild Kitty", my parody of "Wild Rover". After that was "Loch Lomond". I finished the video singles with "Reavers, Malcolm, Reavers". And what were the results? I saw the viewership rise with each release. I'll talk about stats in a bit. But if you look back to my "Lookout Mountain" video from March which has just 74 views and compare it to "Wild Rover" with 234 in just one month... or "Loch Lomond" with 757 in just one week. Well... you can bet I'm happy. They're not all doing THAT great. But "Wild Kitty" almost has 200 views. And "Reavers" has some of the the longest watch time of my video singles. All in all, I am psyched. Now if I can just make time to record four more. Something about the video singles... I have block for recording those. Though it's not as bad as the educational videos. I wanted to do a "How to Play Wild Rover" video. That is still not recorded. Coffee with the Celtfather is still going. Though I planned to stop it in mid-May, that plan is out the window for now. I'm still learning a lot even if viewership is hit and miss. My fellow Brobdingnagian Bard, Andrew McKee, started live streaming his new Life's A Faire podcast. Because of that he's learning a LOT about new ways to live stream. And we are trying them all out together and sharing our knowledge. I learned a LOT this month. Meanwhile, Andrew and I live streamed a couple of Bog Offs. We each performed "Rattlin' Bog" to see who could sing it faster. It was a fun event. It also stretched some ideas for other events. You can watch the 2nd Bog Off on the Brobdingnagian Bards Facebook page. Oh! And Andrew has a new Facebook page too. Follow him if you're not doing so yet. 7:57 - IN THE STUDIO I spent a little bit of time working on Selcouth this month. I recorded two new songs and tracked them. Meaning, I recorded them to a click track. So my vocals, which need re-recording, can easily be done without re-recording. I don't usually prefer tracking albums. I want to with this one. 8:32 - MERCH I didn't add any new merch this month to the store. But I have started brainstorming HOW to sell music while social distancing. I have my first shows booked at the end of June. I'll talk about that in a moment. But what struck me was the buyer's experience at a show where you're still trying to social distance yourself. Imagine. You're at an outdoor event listening to music. You love the music. You want to support the artist. The artist takes a break. You go up to the merch table wearing your mask. Now what? Do you want to pick up CDs that have been handled by a dozen other people? Probably not. What do you do? That's what I'm trying to figure out. If you have thoughts, let me know. 10:47 - TRAVEL Gwen and I are starting to plan the 2021 Celtic Invasion of Scotland. I have no details. But I hope to email my Celtic Invaders. If you want to join me in Scotland, let me know. 11:11 - IRISH & CELTIC SONG LYRICS Here are some of the new Irish & Celtic Song Lyrics that were updated this month: Maid Went to the Mill Reavers Malcolm Reavers Come By the Hills Jedi Mickey Happy Birthday from Ireland Wild Rover Loch Lomond The Last Jedi Drinking Song Purple Flower 11:35 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR JUNE JUN 7: Gathering of the Faire on Facebook @ 8 PM EST JUN 11: Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 8:30 PM EST JUN 20: The Lost Druid, Decatur, GA @ 7:30 - 9:30 PM JUN 25: Tucker Brewing Company, Tucker, GA @ 6:30 - 9:30 PM WEDS: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook (Season 6) @ 11:00 AM EST 13:30 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1088 is up from 1037 Celtic Music Magazine = 3999 is up from 3992 YouTube Subscribers = 5607 is up 57 from 4550 (about 11 more than usual) YouTube Watch Time = 29.5K is up from 25.8K (about the same as usual) YouTube Views = 11.8K is up from 9.4K (48 more than usual) Facebook Likes = 3715 is up from 3711 FB Page Views = 470 is down from 568 FB Reach = 29.5K is up from 15.3K FB Video Views = 2592 is down from 10383 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "Molly Malone": 23 is down from 48 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "The Last Jedi Drinking Song": 94 is up from 79 Spotify Latest Album Stats: I Will Not Sing Along: 302 is down from 306 streams Spotify followers: 1530 is down from 1533 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2109 is up from 2027 Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.4K), Doctor of Gallifrey (418), A-Working in the Garden (222), Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (175), Hero of Canton (174), Reavers, Malcolm, Reavers (158) 17:53 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 159 is up from 153 Patreon Monthly Income: $1208 is up from $1059 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, videos, and live concerts. Slainte! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner April was a pretty good month for me overall. Looking back, I feel like I was fairly productive. But I'm not sure about May yet... Let’s try and unpack it... on show #262. 0:26 - PODCASTS The Pub Songs Podcast is going strong with two episodes in April, as planned. One based around my Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers CD and the other Celtic Music for Arbor Day. Both were streamed live. And I feel like both will be good evergreen podcasts for the future. I'm trying to share old content that is just as relevant today. That's what evergreen podcasts means. I've been doing it with podcasts and videos. And I feel like it helps. I have created SO MUCH stuff over the years. It's crazy that I'm not resharing it. And so I am... Stories from the Road is also back strong. I wrote down some notes to remind me what I can share there. And I have a lot of options. So I'm being pretty consistent with new stuff. Plus, I wrote a couple new songs in April. The quarantine has been good for that at least. I got ahead on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Let's see if I can stay ahead of it. I released five episodes in April, including two two-hour long episodes. I decided to put out a bonus episode because of all the people staying at home. It stressed me out a bit. But I got through it. Check out the two-hour instrumental show especially. The song I wrote for the In the ‘Verse podcast is a new favorite. It's called "Bright Side of Everything". And even with the dark twist ending, I feel like it's a very positive upbeat song for this stay-at-home time of the pandemic. 3:24 - VIDEOS I released a couple of travel videos at the end of March and one in April. The first two were from some weekend travel in Northern Georgia. We visited some parks before they were shut down. I was able to capture some video of the trip. I'm learning a lot about video making from these excursions. In April, I released another video from our visit to Ballincollig Castle outside of Cork from the 2019 Celtic Invasion of Ireland. I'm pushing myself to edit more of these videos. I like how that one came out. I also started recording Stories from the Road to promote those videos. Coffee with the Celtfather is still going. Live streaming is definitely the thing right now. So I'm not giving up on them. I'm also running a test. I created a Facebook event page and added a ticket link a few weeks back. And that event showed up on a live stream before my show started. That was amazing and potentially life changing... except, I've been unable to duplicate it. I'm not sure why. So more tests will come. But again, at some point, I might step back from the regularly scheduled coffee show. 5:55 - MERCH I finally created a whole bunch of new Celtic Heartstring necklaces... and no one has bought them. LOL. That's okay. I have plans to do a big promo for them soon. I am looking at other merch ideas. Someone suggested Celtfather masks. There are companies creating those. But I'm not sure I want to commit to buying a whole bunch. I realized Selcouth won't be released until 2021. And I have a couple other projects. But I have no CDs planned. So I'm debating making short run, just me and the autoharp, CD release performing songs. I'm not sure. I think about the last album I did like this--St Patrick's Day Songs for Kids. On the one hand, the physical CD doesn't sell well. Except during St Patrick's Day, of course. But I thought it was a fun album... I feel like this could be a good way to supplement my income when I finally have shows or even before then. I'm not sure though. I'd love your thoughts. 8:37 - TRAVEL The Celtic Invasion of Italy was officially canceled. On the bright side, I only had four people signed up. But I was REALLY looking forward to that trip. Oh well... At some point, I'll start working on the itinerary for the 2021 Celtic Invasion of Scotland. I did update that website a little. I removed all of the Google Ad links. 9:43 - WEBSITES I'm staying on top of my lyrics for both the Irish Song Lyrics website as well as on my website. My goal is to make it easier for you to play along. One of these days, I'll make videos to teach how to play... In the meantime, I'm making them as straightforward as possible. 10:38 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR MAY BOG OFF???? MAY 7: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM MAY 9: The Lost Druid, Decatur, GA @ 7:30 PM Weds Morning: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook (Season 5!) @ 10:30 AM EST 11:33 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1037 is up from 1028 Celtic Music Magazine = 3992 is up from 3938 YouTube Subscribers = 4550 is up 68 from 4482 YouTube Watch Time = 25.8K is down from 26.7K YouTube Views = 9.4K is down from 12.4K Facebook Likes = 3711 is up 27 from 3684 FB Page Views = 568 is down 809 FB Reach = 15.3K is down from 21,234 FB Video Views = 10383 is down from 13298 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "Molly Malone": 48 is down from 389 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "The Last Jedi Drinking Song": 79 is down from from 150 Spotify Latest Album Stats: I Will Not Sing Along: 306 is down from 604 streams Spotify followers: 1533 is up 32 from 1501 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2027 is down from 3485 Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.1K), Doctor of Gallifrey (452), Reavers, Malcolm, Reavers (199), Hero of Canton (181), Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (173) 15:42 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 153 is down from 154 Patreon Monthly Income: $1059 is down from $1061 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, videos, and live concerts. Slainte! #CFMonthly

The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is no longer on Spotify. But it is still coming out each and every week.   Spotify announced at the beginning of 2020 that they will no longer host music podcasts like ours. So in February, they pulled it from their app.   This stinks, but it is understandable. And it doesn't affect the delivery of the podcast into the future. The podcast still comes out every week.    You can subscribe at BestCelticMusic.net.    Subscribe on your favorite podcatcher and to our Celtic Music Magazine so you're up-to-date on all of our podcast news.   While you're there, you can download our free app and never, ever miss a single episode.   Thanks for listening on Spotify while you did.   Slainte! Marc Gunn, The Celtfather, show #261 Irish & Celtic Music Podcast

Greetings Gunn Runner What a crazy March! Covid19 took over the world. St Patrick’s Day disappeared, along with most musician gigs. But my Kickstarter for Selcouth was a huge success. Let’s try and unpack it... on show #260. 0:28 - PODCASTS The Pub Songs Podcast is my new favorite thing. It accomplishes many of the goals that got me started podcasting in the first place. I wanted a fun, engaging, and interactive way to promote my music and news. The challenge was that podcasting is typically not intuitively interactive. But over the past month, it's become so. I finally figured out how to get responses from the Pub Chat by using the Celtic Geek Facebook group. I also added a live streaming element.  That means the show now broadcasts on YouTube too! And it's more than just an audio podcast on a video platform. Now the only struggle is do I keep it bi-monthly or should I go weekly? And if the later, COULD I go weekly without adding as much additional work as I'm trying to avoid? I'll try 'n let you know what I decide. The virus has made some of things more difficult at home. I’m running Daddy Daycare right now. It’s pretty much sidelined most of what I do. I feel like Stories from the Road is one such sidelined podcast. Tho admittedly, I have a couple episodes I recorded. Just need to upload them.  So I guess I’m not too bad at keeping the show coming. But I feel bad inattentive nonetheless. I have trouble focusing as is. This isn't helping. I'm happy to say I am on top of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. And now that the holiday is over, I find myself getting back ahead of releasing episodes. I'm actually starting to plan them weeks ahead. I just need to pick songs. But the themes. Those are coming along brilliantly. It also helps that I can a bonus week in April. I'm taking the 9th off so that I can get ahead on OTHER shows... maybe even recording... We'll see... Mikey Mason and I recorded an episode of In the ‘Verse right before the Coronavirus became a national issue. It was also right around the beginning of March. So I never wrote my song. I started one. But it just wasn't good... And right now, I feel disheartened like I don't have time to write music. That's frustrating. 3:39 - VIDEOS My live streaming videos are about to go off the deep end. Coffee with the Celtfather is in its final season. Well, it's the end, in so far as I'm gonna stick with an exact time on an exact day. I love doing these shows. But they aren't growing and they take up most of my Wednesday work time. So does this mean I'm abandoning them? Nope. I'm just gonna change it up. My plan is to turn Facebook into a full on busking experience. Meaning I'll pop in now and then. The show will be focused on tips, nothing else. I might even try to fund raise a busking show... meaning--when I hit a certain financial goal, I will go live. Or something like that... It'll be on days when I feel like I can spare the time. I do still plan on going live at least once a week... but it's gonna be a bit more random. As I said earlier, I started to live stream the Pub Songs Podcast on YouTube. I love this. I will try to notify folks in the Celtic Geek community when I'm about to go live. That is also the place to get your thoughts added to the Pub Chat. While I record the show live, I don't do much interaction with viewers. But that too will change with the next show. The main part of the show will be the recorded podcast. But there will be bonus songs, again fund raised by viewers after the regular show ends. So that's another reason to watch if you're able. As for pre-recorded videos, I'm slowly dolling some of those out as well. Not nearly as many as I planned. I just checked. I'm still doing pretty well with my 2020 goals. W00t! 6:48 - MERCH My free CD offer is still going strong. I don't have nearly as many people taking advantage of it. But I'm happy to say it's still financially worthwhile doing. So SCORE! Oh! And if you didn't get the free album from the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, follow the link. The Kickstarter for Selcouth was a rousing success. Over $8800 was raised. That's my second highest Kickstarter. The highest as a soloist. Interestingly, you'd think... or maybe not you, but I would think I made a KILLER profit on sales. But I actually didn't. I still did well in terms of pre-sales. But I don't think the take home pay will be more than a thousand dollars. I find that fascinating to realize... That said, I will get new merch, CDs, and I get to hire musicians in need. So that's a big bonus. Check out The Doubleclicks' latest Kickstarter. 9:07 - TRAVEL What's the status of the Celtic Invasion of Italy? I wish I knew. I plan to make a decision by mid-April if I'm gonna be able to keep it running or not. It's not looking good. So maybe we will reschedule... or maybe not... 9:50 - WEBSITES The Irish Song Lyrics website has once again come into its own. I've updated a couple dozen song lyrics over the past month. You can now play many of my most-popular songs as well as a bunch of traditional Irish and Scottish songs. But if there's one that's missing, please let me know. I'll get it added asap. It's a pretty sweet site. Next I need to start making videos teaching folks to sing and play along. 10:58 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR APRIL My full schedule is empty, like most musicians. I have a couple of local gigs and some official internet concerts planned though. APR 9: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM APR 24: Tucker Brewing Company, Tucker, GA MAY 7: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM MAY 9: The Lost Druid, Decatur, GA @ 7:30 PM Weds Morning: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook (Season 5!) 11:44 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1028 is down from 1038 Celtic Music Magazine = 3938 is down from 3963 YouTube Subscribers = 4482 is up 41 from 4441 YouTube Watch Time = 26.7K is down from 314.8K YouTube Views = 12.4K is up from 8.5K Facebook Likes = 3684 is up from 3667 FB Page Views = 809 is up from 501 FB Reach = 21,234 is up from 9214 FB Video Views = 13298 is up from 9485 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "Molly Malone": 292 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "The Last Jedi Drinking Song": 150 Spotify Latest Album Stats: I Will Not Sing Along: 604 down from 1.4k streams Spotify followers: 1501 is up 25 from 1476 # Number of listens on Spotify: 3485 is up from 3266 Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.3K), When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (707), Doctor of Gallifrey (581), Wild Kitty (345), Rattlin' Bog (316), Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (294), Molly Malone (292), Hero of Canton (255) Spotify seems to have stopped showing subscriber numbers to playlists. 15:46 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 154 is down from 155 Patreon Monthly Income: $1061 is up from $1050 16:05 - The Morbid Irony of the Music Business Thanks as always for supporting my music. Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, videos, and live concerts. Slainte! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner And farewell February. Things might've run a little behind. But I made big progress this month. Especially with the release of my Kickstarter for Selcouth. I conquered my $5000 goal just a few days after it launched. It still has two weeks to go. So I'm feeling pretty good about it so far. But before we talk more about that, let's talk about... Show #259 0:40 - PODCASTS The Pub Songs Podcast is back with a vengeance. I am a podcaster at heart. I figured it'd be fairly easy to knock out completely live episodes of the Pub Songs Podcast to my Kickstarter every week. And I was correct. I recorded four new episodes so far. Which is good because in addition to promoting the podcast, it also allows me to keep to my initial schedule of how many episodes I want to release this year. Plus, I love the format. I'm fine tuning it still. But it starts with a song. I go into some news, add a stories from the road, and a couple more songs. It feels good. Like something I COULD keep up every week. Though I don't plan to at present. Stories from the Road is not getting ahead. But I have a lot of new content. So I'm staying on top of it. That's good because this is my Patron-only podcast. I got ahead for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. But I already feel like I'm losing that lead I got. I want to try and knock out a bunch of summer episodes. But I'm stalling for St Patrick's Day. Sooooo we shall see.   The In the ‘Verse podcast is coming. I apologize for the delay. But it's been crazy. Course, that doesn't mean I didn't go ahead and setup the Cat Music Lovers podcast. The first podcast I ever published was the Cat Lovers Podcast. I created it to promote my Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers. But I ran out of time and had less interest in keeping it going. But I was still proud of that show. I was happy it was still available. Until I realized it was No Longer available. So I did a bunch of maintenance on the show. It should be back up on Apple Podcasts soon. 2:54 - VIDEOS My voice is back. Which means Coffee with the Celtfather is back as well.  I feel like I've had some good shows. Though the attendance still seems a little lower than I'd like. Maybe I need to promote the show more. That said, I am posting new videos on YouTube. And I'm working on a new strategy for the site. My views have dropped dramatically since I deleted all of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast videos. Now each video I post gets about 50 views. That's not too good. But it allows me to start over and decide what this channel will be. So what will it be? Family videos set to my music. I like doing videos of my family. It's extra cool when I can add in my own music to spice up the video. I haven't figured out how to name the videos yet. But these videos help me learn a lot about shooting and editing videos. I have a new one featuring Inara. We went for a hike the other day. It was't too bad a video. My editing still needs work though Travel videos. I recorded a lot of video these past couple o'years going on my Celtic Invasion Vacations. These are a great way to promote my trips. So I'm gonna keep editing these videos. The sucky thing is that as I edit them, I realize I should've done this or that... Like in the latest video from The Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye. I did a poor job filming. But there was enough footage that it's not too bad. Song Performance videos. I thought I had recorded a lot of these videos. After reviewing my site, I realize I haven't. So I'm gonna keep recording me singing individual songs. This is a great way to attract new followers of my site. So hopefully, you'll see more. Celtic Geek Thoughts. I'm not yet sure how to do these videos or what content to put on them, aside from the Celtic Top 40 videos I wanna do. But I'll have to tell you when I figure that out. 10:26 - MERCH My free CD offer went over GREAT last month. If you ever want to find out how many of your fans listen to physical CDs. Give one away. LOL. I had over a hundred that went out into the world. And of course, all you have to do is pay the shipping cost. You'll find a link in the shownotes if you want one. Again the Kickstarter for Selcouth is going great. I'm $700 over my initial goal. Yes. My actual goal is to earn $7500. But at least my base expenses are covered. I CAN create a new CD. And I still have two weeks to go to hit my first stretch goal. I ran into one interesting problem as the goal has started to stall out. That is, how do I keep up momentum. Seems like every time I post something fun or interesting, I get a spike. But I'm not the best storyteller I think. So that's making it tough. I discussed this challenge with Andrew. He suggested that I bring people in on video to chat about it. I'm gonna try and do that the next couple o'weeks. Stay tuned... 12:06 - TRAVEL The Celtic Invasion of Venice closed up. We have a very small group this year. And I can start planning for Scotland in 2021. But I'm excited to see what happens next... 12:56 - WEBSITES With St Patrick's Day just around the corner, I started updating my Irish Song Lyrics website. I started this site years ago to promote my Celtic songs. Admittedly, I've done little with it the past few years, Except around St Patrick's Day. But I decided to update it for two reasons. One, it's that time of year. And two because I want to get back to helping people learn these songs. You see, the reason I started the site was to offer an incredible resource. How to play songs the way I learn them, by ear. There are just lyrics, chords, and music to listen to on the site. You can play along with me over and over again if you so desire. This makes it a lot easier. I'm also trying to make it entirely about the user. I removed much of the advertising that was on the website. Now it's just the stuff you really want. It's an amazing, free resource. So go along with me. 14:15 - PROMOTION I also had a new promotion idea I thought up recently using Facebook groups... Well, actually any online community. I have two groups that I actively share to on Facebook: Celtic Geeks and Irish & Celtic Music Club. Most everything really goes to the Celtic Geeks group. If I find something I love, unless it's hardcore Celtic, I share it to the Celtic Geeks group. That makes it easy. I don't use my personal profile. I share to an interactive community. It's awesome. And that's the tip I came up with. Instead of trying to share my music to your friends who may or may not share you interests, share to a group, where your interests definitely align. I haven't seen many Gunn Runners doing that yet, well aside from Sarah, who sort of inspired this idea when she shared Selcouth to a Firefly fan group. 16:04 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR MARCH I updated the gig calendar on my website. I'm using Google Calendars again. This is going GREAT for listing shows. You can see everywhere I'll be this year. And yes, it is fully up-to-date. MAR 7: The Lost Druid, Decatur, GA @ 7:30 PM MAR 12: St Patrick's Day Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM MAR 13: Interstellar Ginger Beer & Exploration Co, Alabaster, AL MAR 14: St Patrick’s Day at 5 Points, Birmingham, AL MAR 20-22: ConCoction, Cleveland, Ohio MAR 26: Tucker Brewing Company, Tucker, GA @ 6:30 PM APR 4-5: Sherwood Forest Faire, Paige, TX APR 9: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM APR 11-12: Sherwood Forest Faire, Paige, TX APR 17-19: JordanCon, Atlanta, GA Weds 10:30 AM EDT: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook (Season 5!) 17:24 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1038 is up from 1024 Celtic Music Magazine = 3963 is up from 3859 at the beginning of the year YouTube Subscribers = 4441 is up 53 from 4388 YouTube Watch Time = 314.8K is up from 19.0K and 32.1K min from the month before YouTube Views = 8.5K is down from 8.8K Facebook Likes = 3667 is up from 3666 FB Page Views = 501 is up from 392 FB Reach = 9214 is up from 8839 FB Video Views = 9485 is up from 8466 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "Slainte Mhaith Christmas": 3347 is up from 3310 is up from 3238 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "The Last Jedi Drinking Song": 832 is up from 696 Spotify Latest Album Stats: I Will Not Sing Along: 1.4k streams, "One Note Concerto in G" has the most streams Spotify followers: 1476 is up 31 from 1445 # Number of listens on Spotify: 3266 is up from 2224 Most-popular songs on Spotify: Wild Kitty (1.6K), The Widow and the Devil (1.2K), Doctor of Gallifrey (567), When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling (331), Furagone's Wake (320), Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (289), Reavers, Malcolm Reavers (264), Hero of Canton (224) Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits (162) Top Irish & Celtic Music: 431 is up from 426 Firefly Drinking Songs: 103 is up from 101 PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 155 is up from 151 Patreon Monthly Income: $1050 is up from $977 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, videos, and live concerts. Slainte! #CFMonthly

The Kickstarter for Selcouth is launched. I tell you more about the project, a wee bit about the songs and rewards. Plus, I share an essential social promotion tip.   Click here to support the Secouth Kickstarter.   Slainte!   Show #258

Greetings Gunn Runner January was a rough month. I spent a lot of time with bronchitis. It was tough getting stuff done. I've even delayed my Kickstarter release because of this until February 10th. I'll tell you more about it below. But first... Show #257 0:33 - PODCASTS The Pub Songs Podcast will be back soon. I had big plans for it this month. I'm considering more live recordings in the show mixed with news... At least that's what I planned for the two episodes I thought I was gonna put out. Alas... it did not happen. My apologies In the meantime, I have new Stories from the Road episodes already lined up. I had some good brainstorm ideas on the topic. So hopefully, I won't miss any more of those. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is out. I was barely staying on top of it until this week. Now I have the whole month of February planned including a Celtic Women of St Patrick's Day episode at the end of the month. I also launched the Sainted Celts Collection to show off the podcast shirt design. There's a new episode of In the ‘Verse. And if all goes well Mikey and I will record the next episode this Thursday. Knock on wood. Hopefully, we can get another done in a couple weeks. 1:50 - VIDEOS Coffee with the Celtfather is back tomorrow. I might get a little hoarse. But I'm gonna try and pull through as usual at 10:30 AM Eastern on Facebook. I'm starting to think of new video ideas. But nothing lined up yet. So stay tuned. 2:20 - MERCH With any luck, you got an email from me this week about a Free CD offer. This is something I've tried to make happen for a while. I finally set it up on my Square store. Basically, I will send you a free copy of my CD Happy Songs of Death or Songs of Ireland from the Brobdingnagian Bards. All you have to do is pay for the shipping. Well, I sent out a couple emails to fans, and the offers were super well-received. This was my first step. Next, I have to see I can advertise with this offer. My hope is to make fans with these free CDs. But I thought I'd first see if I could convince fans to take advantage of the same offer. And it worked! The timeline for Selcouth has changed. The Kickstarter will launch on Monday, February 10th. It'll close on Friday, March 6, 2020. My apologies for the delay. But getting sick has really put a damper on my ability to talk and make a video, record podcasts, and even record songs for the album. It just sucks. So I have to try and catch up now... Sigh... Meanwhile the Brobdingnagian Bards album I Will Not Sing Along, is still planned February 2, 2020--GROUNDHOG DAY! In fact, we have some SUPER FUN VIDEOS planned for the release. Yes. Groundhog Day videos. You will want to follow the Brobdingnagian Bards on Facebook and maybe also on my YouTube channel so you don't miss 'em! 4:45 - TRAVEL I still have space for my Celtic Invasion of Venice. You can listen to the Celtic Invasion Vacations itinerary. To find out how amazing this trip will be. Email me if you have questions. The deadline to sign up is February 15. 4:58 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR FEBRUARY FEB 1: Tucker Brewing Company @ 6:30 - 9:30 FEB 13: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM FEB 15: The Lost Druid, Decatur, GA @ 7:30 PM MAR 7: The Lost Druid, Decatur, GA @ 7:30 PM MAR 12: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM MAR 20-22: ConCoction, Cleveland, Ohio Weds 10:30 AM EDT: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook (Season 5!) 5:22 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1024 is down from 1030 YouTube Subscribers = 4388 is up from 4355 YouTube Watch Time = 19.0K is down from 32.1K min YouTube Views = 8.8K is down from 12.2K Facebook Likes = 3666 is up from 3653 FB Page Views = 392 is down from 447 FB Reach = 8839 is down from 10942 FB Video Views = 8466 is up from 6419 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "Slainte Mhaith Christmas": 3310 is up from 3238 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "The Last Jedi Drinking Song": 696 is up from 539 Spotify followers: 1445 is up from 1428 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2224 is down from 10184 Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.2K), Doctor of Gallifrey (463), Reavers, Malcolm Reavers (213), Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits (152) Top Irish & Celtic Music: 431 is up from 426 Firefly Drinking Songs: 103 is up from 101 7:36 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 151 is down from 152 Patreon Monthly Income: $977 is up from $946 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, videos, and live concerts. Slainte! #CFMonthly

It's a brand new year. Compiling stats to watch my growth each month is a little time consuming. But it is also pretty fantastic for plotting statistical growth. I know exactly where I was this time last year. I’m gonna start the show with the usual updates. Then I’ll go into stats and finish up with goals for 2020. 1:53 - PODCASTS I published a bonus episode of the Pub Songs Podcast to 2019. I shared my love of the new Frozen 2 movie. The next couple of episodes I’m gonna share thoughts about my next album, Selcouth, as well as talk about individual songs on the album. I think February will move towards promoting St Patrick's Day featuring some top 5 and 10s. I don’t have any specific Stories from the Road episodes planned. But I hope to get ahead when I get a full work day next week. The first episode of the 2020 season of the  Irish & Celtic Music Podcast kicks off next week. I took a much needed break. You can still expect more features of women in the upcoming year. I also want to draw attention to our environment, something close to the heart of the Celts. The Celtic Christmas Podcast released three episodes last year. I'm already planning to launch an early fundraiser for the show in 2020. Mikey Mason and I recorded an episode of In the ‘Verse back in December. We did not release it because with the holiday, I think we both had trouble making time to write a song. But I finally sat down with my song. The episode we wrote songs for was "War Stories". It's one of my favorites. I had trouble writing a song for the episode though. But right before we left for Christmas vacation, I wrote "My Man". It's from the perspective of Zoe, and wow, I love it. It kinda helped me understand Wash better than ever. Hopefully, we'll release it soon. I'll see Andrew McKee at Georgia Filk next weekend. I suspect we will record a Brobdingnagian Bards podcast while we're together. We also have some videos we need to record together to complete our Kickstarter rewards. 4:20 - VIDEOS Season 5 of Coffee with the Celtfather begins on January 8. The show will continue at 10:30 AM Eastern on Wednesday. However, It will be exclusively available on Facebook. I made quite a few updates to my YouTube channel. In particular, I deleted many of my most-successful videos. That's because they were episodes of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast... and they were blocked by Facebook. It seems Facebook will only keep podcasts up if it's not primarily a music show. I'm still debating whether I want to keep episodes of the Pub Songs Podcast up there. I talk in a lot of those so many of those aren't getting blocked. But I think I might just rework the entire channel into a Marc Gunn music channel. It's wild looking at the most-popular videos now that all the Celtic podcast videos are gone. Bizarre! My top video is a review of my portable amp. Then comes a "Whiskey in the Jar" video featuring the Bedlam Bards. "Danny Boy for Cat Lovers" is after that. Then just a recording of my version of "Whiskey in the Jar" with just the album cover. And #5 is Funny Irish Pub Songs, a live video I made. Wild! The channel will see a big change in the days to come. 7:07 - MERCH I posted a Gunn Runners Card on Patreon. This card gives Heroic Gunn Runners on Patreon a 25% discount on all merch in my store and at shows. Seems like a lot of Gunn Runners are happy to pay full price to support my music. I am very grateful to all of you. But if you need or want the discount. It's there for you. Selcouth is the name of my next album. The Kickstarter officially launches on January 27 and goes through February 14. I still have a TON of videos and text to write for this Kickstarter. Heck! I still don't have an album cover. So stay tuned. Oh! And make sure you subscribe to my mailing list if you're not already. I will let you know when it goes live. In the middle of that, the Brobdingnagian Bards officially release I Will Not Sing Along, our 10th studio album on February 2, 2020--GROUNDHOG DAY! 9:00 - TRAVEL I still have space for my Celtic Invasion of Venice. You can listen to the Celtic Invasion Vacations itinerary. To find out how amazing this trip will be. Email me if you have questions. The deadline to sign up is February 15. 9:51 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR JANUARY JAN 10-12: GaFilk in Atlanta, GA JAN 16: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM JAN 18: The Lost Druid, Decatur, GA @ 7:30 PM JAN 24: Interstellar Ginger Beer & Exploration Co, Alabaster, AL @ 7:30 PM JAN 25: Maggie McGuinnes Pub, Huntsville, AL @ 7:00 PM FEB 1: Tucker Brewing Company @ 6:30 - 9:30 FEB 13: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM FEB 15: The Lost Druid, Decatur, GA @ 7:30 PM MAR 7: The Lost Druid, Decatur, GA @ 7:30 PM MAR 12: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM MAR 20-22: ConCoction, Cleveland, Ohio Jan 8 and on, Weds 10:30 AM EDT: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook (Season 5!) I will continue to provide audio versions of most shows for Heroic Patrons. 12:45 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1030 is down from 1077 YouTube Subscribers = 4355 is up from 4324 YouTube Watch Time = 32.1K min (535.0 hours) is up from 27.1 YouTube Views = 12.2K is up from 11.6K Facebook Likes = 3653 is up from 3646 FB Page Views = 447 is up from 434 FB Reach = 10942 is up from 5684 FB Video Views = 6419 is up from 1883 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "Slainte Mhaith Christmas": 3238 up from 0 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "The Last Jedi Drinking Song": 539 up from 0 Spotify followers: 1428 is up from 1400 # Number of listens on Spotify: 10184 is up from 4237 Most-popular songs on Spotify: Christmas in the Shire (4.9K), Frosty the Irish Snowman (14.6K), Slainte Mhaith Christmas (3.2K), Celtic Christmas Elf (2.3K), Jingle Bells (2.3K), Top Irish & Celtic Music: 426 is up from 416 Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families: 1858 is up from 1573 Firefly Drinking Songs: 101 is up from 99 Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 83 is up from 58 Christmas Drinking Songs: 29 is up from 24 18:31 - PATREON Patreon Subscribers: 152 is down from 158 Patreon Monthly Income: $946 is down from $968 Tier Changes in 2020: GUNN RUNNERS: Behind-the-Scenes. $5 or more per month. Includes: DOWNLOAD new MP3s that are recorded and mixed before they are released. Plus get rough mixes of new songs EARLY ACCESS to some publicly available content GO BEHIND-THE-SCENES with the Stories from the Road podcast. I share my adventures, thoughts and news exclusively with you. HERO. $10 or more per month. You'll get everything above, plus BOOTLEG audio recordings of coffee shows and some concerts. LEARN how to play my songs with PDF sheet music. Make a request for a song you'd like to learn. SAVE 25% off everything in my MageRecords.com store! ACCESS to over 40 Bootleg Concerts, both audio and video and 7 Full-Length Albums. SUPERHERO. $25 or more per month. Includes: SPECIAL THANKS to you in each new single that is released. One-time Physical Copy of "Heroes" CD, autographed at your request, after 3 months of membership at this level 24:17 - GOALS FOR 2020 My success is ultimately defined by how I inspire you. So if you are sharing, enjoying, And creating, then I am successful.  And if all that happens, then I should see an increase in everything I do in online. So many people focus on metrics. But that distracts from the point of what we are trying to do. Hopefully, this will inspire you to create your own goals for 2020. I spent a lot of time in December trying to plan my next year. I haven't even thought about that five, ten or twenty year plan. I just needed to get in control of THIS YEAR'S plan. But I feel I did. BEST WAYS TO GROW MY FANBASE Live Shows Promote hit songs Give away free music Irish & Celtic Music Podcast Music videos. Covers, keywords or popular songs. One evening video concert per month. Second Thursday of the month at 8:30 pm. Coffee. At least one newbie concert a month. Create an event. Last BEST WAY TO SUPPORT EXISTING FANS Live Shows Marc’s Musings. Should I go monthly? or bi-monthly? Irish & Celtic Music Podcast Pub Songs Podcast Stories from the Road In the Verse Teach fans to play/sing along. Monthly tutorial. Video Singles New music Build Community One evening video concert per month. Second Thursday of the month at 8:30 pm. Coffee. At least one newbie concert a month. Create an event. Last 30:35 - BEST STRATEGIES Perform live Increase mailing list. With free Lead generator. Promote top videos and songs 33:40 - MUSIC Release Selcouth Release 3 singles with other musicians Hero of Christmas Hobbit tune with Samantha Gillogly Molly Malone with Jesse Ferguson Write 10 new songs Hit #1 on reverbnation in March. Teach online how to sing and play 10 songs. Also videos. Release 10 sheet music pieces 38:35 - GIGGING Play 6 new venues Play 8 monthly internet concerts Play 24 coffee shows. 12 episodes over two seasons. Play 2 house concerts Contact 20 conventions 40:18 - PODCASTS Pub Songs Podcast. 2 podcasts per month. 20. Commit to one more year of the pub Songs Podcast. And I see if it has done me any good. Or should I do just monthly? What if I plan each episode in advance to do about songs? For new album? Or classic song? 12 about a song episodes. 2nd episode of the month. 10 episodes custom to promote stories Stories from the Road. Weekly. 45 Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Weekly. 48 Brobdingnagian Bards Podcast. Monthly. 11 In the 'Verse. Monthly. 10 43:03 - VIDEO 1 Official music video for a CD. 3 travel videos to promote Celtic invasion vacations 8 videos of me singing live some of my most-popular songs 1 videos of me singing along with myself on a song 1 official off-the-wall music video. Fun and silly. Unrelated to the music played. update YouTube channel to reflect Celtic Geek 46:26 - SALES Bandcamp sales. $300 per month. $3600 for the year. Social = 10000 followers on YouTube, Spotify, Facebook, mailing list Thanks as always for supporting my music. Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, videos, and live concerts. Slainte! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner It’s hard to believe we’re entering the final month of the year. Where has the time gone? What will next year bring? I suppose it is time to start planning for 2020. It’s time to settle on the next CDs. Time to review all that I have accomplished this year. And it’s time to decide what changes to make. I don’t ever remember doing that when I was younger. I focused on creating. I never understood how important it was to truly review my successes and failures. I’ve been doing it for a decade or so. But I still felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants. I am nearly done with the audiobook, Getting Things Done. I am trying to unlock all of the ideas and thoughts that are in my brain, get them down on paper, and figure out what I will do next. What about you. What kind of future planning rituals do you do each year? All right, let’s get on with the monthly news, starting with... PODCASTS The Pub Songs Podcast is doing pretty well staying on schedule. The new simplified format works for me. Hopefully, it works for you too. I announced my new CD in November. I shared a cool way to vote, be it for the Celtic Top 20 or in general. And I encouraged listeners to remember success is best measured by how much you help others. I have two episodes planned for December. Both have Christmas names. But I haven’t solidified the themes yet. Stories from the Road is successfully coming out twice a week. I feel eventually I’m gonna get behind. That seems like a LOT of content. But so far, I’m ahead. And I have lots to talk about in the run up to the Selcouth Kickstarter. Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is doing fantastic as usual. I have so much feedback. I did a two hour special to highlight all the feedback I missed over the past couple years. I’m ending the Year of the Celtic Woman on that show. However, I decided I will not stop my quarterly Celtic women episodes. I feel that’s important. So it will be a regular part of the content that I release into the future. The first episode of the Celtic Christmas Podcast is now online. And I put it into the hands of listeners as to whether there will be more than one. That’s because I started a Patreon page for the podcast. You see, I’ve been losing money with the Celtic Christmas podcast for as long as it’s been running. And I was OK with that. It was sort of like my gift for the holiday. The trouble is I spend a lot of time and mental effort to create and release episodes, especially in December. That takes me away from things that I should be doing. Ultimately, it was not a smart marketing move to run that podcast, even if it made me happy. And so in comes patreon once again. I started a new fundraiser for the show to help pay for the production and my time producing the show. Patrons sponsored the first episode of the season. If we hit our next goal, then we will get either one or two more episodes this year. Depends on when or if the next milestone is hit. There is a new episode of In the ‘Verse with Mikey Mason. We discuss themes from the episode, "Out of Gas". It has one of my new favorite songs to sing. That's a song called "Breathing". The next one will tackle the episode "Ariel". We are also going to try to get back onto a monthly schedule. So this episode will come out on December 1. 8:04 - VIDEOS Season 4 of Coffee with the Celtfather comes to close on December 11. The show did does not have a huge number of viewers. But it seems a favorite nevertheless. There's a steady stream of 15-20 people watching each week. So I’m going to run it for at least one more season, restarting in January. The show will continue at 10:30 AM Eastern on Wednesday. However, It will be exclusively available on Facebook. I tried a web service that allowed me to broadcast on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. I was hoping that would increase my reach, which would also mean more tips or more patrons signing up in the Gunn Runners Club. It didn't make an impact sadly, at least not enough to really justify paying $20 a month. It was a good test nevertheless. I learned that Facebook is a good busking platform. And YouTube is probably better for video singles. So next season, I might try release one video every week or two and make them line up with the coffee show. Oh! And Patreon Heroes get the full audio recordings of the coffee show. I also record a couple extra songs for that audio. I will continue to do that next season. But I’m not sure if anyone enjoys that. The feedback has been limited. So if you like it or if you don't bother listening, especially if you don't listen, let me know. That will help decide if I should keep it going. 10:05 - MERCH Selcouth is the name of my next album. I’m planning a kickstarter for January.  The CD features my uniquely strange yet marvelous mode of music. You will enjoy many of the songs that I have played but not released over the past year. There will be several Firefly songs, some traditional Irish songs and tunes, some comedic songs, some sci-fi and fantasy and cats, and some uniquely Marc Gunn songs. This is the mixed bag that I promised myself for a long time. I will have more details coming on future podcasts and definitely in January. I skipped the Black Friday sales this year. Even though I have a bunch of new products in my store at magerecords.com. I also have some great special offers. Visit my home page for details. I also have THREE NEW SINGLES that you can look for in the days to come. The first is the Brobdingnagian Bards' "The Last Jedi Drinking Song". That comes out on December 13. Just in time for the release of the last Star Wars episode. The second is "Slainte Mhaith Christmas". Basically, I re-recorded my song "Slainte Mhaith" and gave it a Christmas twist when I realized it could easily work for that. I don't have a release date yet. But it'll be ASAP. The last one was an even more last minute Christmas release. That is "Hero of Christmas". This is one of the songs that Mikey Mason and I wrote last year for our Blue Sun Holiday Tour. It's a parody of "Hero of Canton" all about Santa Claus. Again, I don't have a release date for that. I'm gonna aim for December 15th. But I should've released these two songs sooner. Oh well... TRAVEL I still have space for my Celtic Invasion of Venice. You can listen to the Celtic Invasion Vacations itinerary. To find out how amazing this trip will be. Email me if you have questions. 13:00 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR NOVEMBER Dec 12: Public YouTube Show Dec 14: Tucker Brewing Company, Tucker GA Jan 10-12: GaFilk, Atlanta, GA (not a guest) Jan 24: Interstellar Ginger Beer & Exploration Co, Alabaster, AL Jan 25: Maggie McGuinness Pub, Huntsville, AL Mar 20-22: Cleveland ConCoction, Cleveland, OH May 14-17: California Autoharp Gathering, Dunlap, CA Sep 30-Oct 4: ALEP 5, Shakerstown, KY Dec 4 & 11, Weds 10:30 AM EDT: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook, YouTube 14:20 - STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1077 is up from 1015 YouTube Subscribers = 4324 is up 39 from 4285 YouTube Watch Time = 27.1 is up from 26.3 YouTube Views = 11.6K is up from 9.4K Facebook Likes = 3646 is up from 3642 FB Page Views = 434 is down from 481 FB Reach = 5684 is down from 5808 FB Video Views = 1883 is down from 3386 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "When She Held Me in Her Arms": 661 is up from 647 Spotify followers: 1400 is up from 1375 # Number of listens on Spotify: 4237 is up from 2053 Most-popular songs on Spotify: Christmas in the Shire (1.4K), The Widow and the Devil (1.3K), Frosty the Irish Snowman (1.2K), Jingle Bells (707), Celtic Christmas Elf (451), Scottish King of Christmas (400) Top Irish & Celtic Music: 416 is up from 398 Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families: 1573 is up from 1433 (already more than 1539 in February) Firefly Drinking Songs: 99 Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 58 Christmas Drinking Songs: 24 Patreon Subscribers: 158 is the same Patreon Monthly Income: $968 is up from $962 Thanks as always for supporting my music. Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, videos, and live concerts. Slainte! #CFMonthly

Greetings Gunn Runner Life in Atlanta is finally settling down, at least a little bit. I'm starting to get ahead on podcasts, book local gigs, and I have news about my next album. I'll even tell you the name... First, my blog is becoming packed. I always considered blogs to be very important for any entrepreneur, especially musicians. Once upon a time, when Google was trying not to be evil, it was a great source of traffic. That's no longer the case. But it is still important. That's why I'm keeping the blog updated. I post most of my podcasts there. I'm starting to share my newsletter there. But I'm also getting back to just blogging to share new interesting things in my career. So if you haven't check it out in a while, please head on over. PODCASTS Andrew and I are trying to release a monthly Brobdingnagian Bard Podcast. We've been mostly successful. But we've also been trying to come up with fun and unique and regular content for our Nagians Only Club. We finally have that. Members of the Bards Patreon page now get to hear us talk about individual songs from our CDs. And more. We recorded two last week. The first is online. So if you're a fan of the Bards, I think you'll enjoy these short bits. The Pub Songs Podcast is now on its every other week schedule. I'm starting to plan ahead for that show. I'm also planning episodes of its sister podcast Stories from the Road. This one is exclusive to $5+ members of the Gunn Runners Club. Twice a week, I am chatting about songs or travels or thoughts in my head. And I share them in podcast form on Monday and Friday. And yes, this is now a part of that schedule. But most of them are private. Just for my generous supporters like you! The latest Pub Songs Podcast tackles the new Celtic Invasion Vacations itinerary. I finally published it online. But it's short. So I go into more detail to try and help you better understand what kind of fun we will have in Italy next year. Because that's where we're going... The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is gearing up for the holidays. I did a Celtic Halloween episode. I shared a couple years of feedback that I hadn't before published. And I answer the question "Why do I use the term Celtic music" for the podcast. I also hope to have the first of two Celtic Christmas Podcast episodes coming out in a couple weeks. I kinda wonder why I do this podcast. But a couple new episodes a year is not too bad a thing for the good will it provides. Hunting Dragons is a new podcast. Actually, it is the old Pirates vs Dragons podcast I released a few years back to promote the CD. The feed had issues and was killed by iTunes. I fixed all that and renamed it. You can now listen to the true story of how I was shanghaied by air pirates to hunt dragons. SHOWS PLANNED FOR NOVEMBER Nov 15: Brennan's Irish Pub, Birmingham, AL Nov 16: Pepper Place Farmer's Market, Birmingham, AL Nov 29-31: Starbase Indy, Indianapolis, IN Jan 10-12: GaFilk, Atlanta, GA (not a guest) Jan 24: Interstellar Ginger Beer & Exploration Co, Alabaster, AL Jan 25: Maggie McGuinness Pub, Huntsville, AL Mar 20-22: Cleveland ConCoction, Cleveland, OH May 14-17: California Autoharp Gathering, Dunlap, CA Sep 30-Oct 4: ALEP 5, Shakerstown, KY Weds 10:30 AM EDT: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook, YouTube Restream. Venmo. Tips. The Celtic Halloween concert was a big attendance success and fun show. But tips and sales were not so great. STATS Mailing list subscribers = 1015 is up from 1006 YouTube Subscribers = 4285 is up 22 from 4263 YouTube Watch Time = 26.3 is down from 30.0K and I figured out why YouTube Views = 9.4K is down from 11.6K Facebook Likes = 3642 is up from 3630 FB Page Views = 481 is slightly down from 486 FB Reach = 5808 is up from 4357 FB Video Views = 3386 is up from 2325 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "When She Held Me in Her Arms": 647 is up from 578 Spotify followers: 1375 is up 22 from 1353 # Number of listens on Spotify: 2053 is down from 2061 Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.3K), Doctor of Gallifrey (469), Reavers, Malcolm Reavers (251) Top Irish & Celtic Music: 398 is up from 394 Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families: 1433 is down from 1539 in February Patreon Subscribers: 158 is up 2 Patreon Monthly Income: $962 is up from $961 CD News I have a new CD in the works. It's called SELCOUTH which means "When everything feels strange and different yet you find it marvelous anyway." My plan is to record my parts these next couple o'months. I'll launch a Kickstarter in January. If you want more details now, listen to the Stories from the Road podcast on Patreon. If you'd like to be included in the feedback section of the Pub Songs Podcast, use the hashtag #pubsongs. I would love to make the show more interactive. Look for questions on Facebook. I'm using those too. Thanks as always for supporting my music. Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, video, and live concerts. Slainte! #CFMonthly

There’s a lot of great Celtic music that you can enjoy for St. Patrick’s Day in 2019. I’m going to share with you for awesome resources to get you in the mood for your St. Paddy’s Day celebrations. You can subscribe to  Pub Songs Podcast Irish & Celtic Music Podcast Coffee with The Celtfather on YouTube Celtic Music Magazine This show is brought to you by Marc's Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. Sign up and support my music, podcasts, and videos. Follow the links at Celtfather.net

Let me share with you the best new Irish and Celtic music of 2018 with this podcast guide to the Christmas season.   Welcome my name is Marc Gunn. I am a Celtic musician and host of the multiple award-winning Irish & Celtic Music Podcast.    Today, I want to share with you some of the great Celtic Christmas music I found this holiday season. This by no means a fully comprehensive list. Rather, I am sharing with you the music that I received through the podcast, plus a few of my own videos, playlists and more.   There's a lot to share. Let's get going.   Christmas Tour:    Before we get started, I wanted to let you know about a Christmas tour I am planning. I play a lot of Celtic music. However, I am also a geek. I love science fiction and fantasy. Thus comes...   Blue Sun Holiday Spectacular Tour Firefly and Christmas music   New Singles   God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Kilted Kings Jingle Bards by Brobdingnagian Bards   New Celtic Christmas Albums to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast   Winter Lore: Songs of Celtic Christmas by The Selkie Girls A Christmas Minding by The Wee Heavies Port Isaac Christmas Album by The Grenaways On Christmas Day in the Morning by Spencer & Beane Winter by Peat in the Creel Kudzu for Christmas by A Shamrock in Kudzu In the Moon of Wintertime by Sarah Marie Mullen Wintertide Ep by David Pedrick   You can also get my album Celtic Christmas Greetings. It's an album of Celtic-themed Christmas music. There's a lot of beautiful original Celtic Christmas songs.   And if you'd like a Christmas album you can enjoy year round, make sure you check out A Celtic Christmas. This is a compilation CD I released for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. You can buy it on iTunes for just $5.   New Christmas Videos   Let's Have a Celtic Christmas Frosty the Irish Snowman Little Drummer Bard The Gothard Sisters Videos Celtic Christmas Radio on YouTube   Playlists   Celtic Christmas Playlists Celtic Christmas Greetings Podcast Celtic Christmas Podcast    Celtic Christmas Gift Guide   Celtic Heartstring "Christmas Cross" Ornament Celtic Christmas Greetings CD Monahan's Mudder's Milk Shirt Irish & Celtic Music Podcast Shirt   Do you have a friend who might enjoy this Celtfather Guide to Irish & Celtic Christmas music of 2018, please share it with them. You can send them to Celtfather.com for details.   Follow me on Spotify or your favorite streaming music services to hear more of my music.    Finally, the best way to find out more about my music is by subscribing to Celtfather News. This is my personal  newsletter. I will keep you informed of all of the new projects I'm working including: new music, new shows, new podcasts, videos, and more. It's totally free to subscribe, and I hope to bring a smile to your face with each email.   

My music, my life, I am a product of change. I buck traditions in favor of trying something new. I am both proud and ashamed of how I have reacted to change in my life. Seth Godin is one of the foremost thinkers of our era. He is a trendsetter a ruckus maker. He inspires people to think outside the box. He's also the most-read blogger online. He's written dozens of books and I've read many of them. He also a podcast called Akimbo. It's sort of a spoken blog where he talks about important things we need to think about. And how we can grow, either in business or in our personal lives. It's brilliant. He released an episode called "Anthems, Pledges, and Change" which inspired this podcast. I confess, I've thought about podcasting my thoughts on his podcasts because he's THAT inspiring. But this is one of the first of me actually doing it. That's because this podcast defines my career and my life. If you don't understand this, I'm not entirely sure why you follow me. Because this is it. So I highly recommend you listen. In my episode, I spent 20 glorious minutes understanding how change has happened for good and ill in my own career. I learn from my past experiences. I find new ones to move forward to find new success. I don't know that I did it all right. But I think it's a good conversation. It's a good starting place for you and me to come together move past the traditional to find peace and happiness in the new and undiscovered, to make change happen. I hope you love the show! Special note: Seth Godin has a new book out. It's called This Is Marketing. I highly recommend it! If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe at Celtfather.com. While you're there, sign up to my mailing list to get 21 songs for free! I also have relaunched the Pub Songs Podcast. You can hear my album Happy Songs of Death played from start to finish, plus find out a little bit about how the album came to be. More shows are coming. Subscribe now.

"Slainte mhaith". That means "here's to your good health". "Slainte" means "cheers" or "here's to your health". "Mhaith" is good. Greetings my name is Marc Gunn. I play Celtic Geek music. I'm originally from Texas, though now residing in Birmingham, Alabama. Despite that introduction, I don't speak Gaelic. But I love Celtic culture and music. And yes, I am a geek. My entire life revolves around music, science fiction and fantasy, traveling, and Celtic culture. Welcome to Celtfather Music & Travel! This is a podcast where I bring my passions together. I rarely follow the status quo. In fact, you could say I strive to be different. You can hear in in that I play an autoharp. And I celebrate the differences of all people. I fight for the underdogs. In fact, when I was a kid my dad would watch football. I would root for the team that was losing, even if that changed in the middle of the game. I just switched team. I try to help out the little guy. Hmm I wonder if that's part of the reason I love Firefly. And that's what the next few episodes are all about. We're gonna start with music: how I fell in love with it and how it completes me. Then we're gonna talk about some of the biggest influences in my life. As a hint, it started on the big screen. Then I'll share with you how I fell in love my Celtic culture. And finally, I'm gonna take you on a trip, both literally and figuratively, as we explore how I fell in love with traveling. Before we dig deeper, I want to share with you a quick glimpse of what I have to offer you. I learned at the beginning of my music career that if I want to make it in the music business, I had to be more than just a musician. I knew that no record label was gonna sign me as a Celtic artist, let alone a Celtic Geek musician. If I want to be successful, then I need to know how to promote my music, and I need people like you to not just listen, but be an active part of our community. More than likely, you've never thought of yourself as a Celtic Geek. Perhaps you love Celtic music. Perhaps you are a Geek. But the two together don't make much sense on the outside. And yet, when I when I went to my first science fiction convention, I-Con in Stony Brook, New York, I was dumbfounded by the number of kilts and Celts at the convention. I realized there were a lot of Celtic Geeks out there. I was not alone. But no one had yet put two and two together. So I created an album that I call Celtic Geek. It features 21 songs from my first 20 albums. You'll hear some traditional Irish and Scottish songs. You'll laugh along to some parodies of those same songs. You'll breathe peacefully with some instrumental tunes on the autoharp. You'll smile to original songs inspired by science fiction and fantasy. It's a fun album. It's 100% free to you when you subscribe to my mailing list. Some musicians cling their music to their chests. The only way you can hear it is if you buy a CD. That is not me. I learned long ago that if I want to be successful with music, then I have to let go. I have to let you be a part of the music. Not just listen to it. But to be involved in it. So I share my music freely. I offer free licenses for podcasters to play music on their shows. I encourage you to share my songs and CDs with your friends. I want you to send me your song lyrics. I've recorded a number of songs by fans. I want you to record your own version of my songs or to sing them around the campfire or the water cooler. No, I'm not gonna sue you if you copy an album and give it to someone. I want you to. It turns out, I was right to have this philosophy. Because now with streaming services, anyone can listen to my music for virtually free. You'll find me on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Google Play, Pandora, pretty much everywhere online. And I want you to listen. Yes. Please follow me on Spotify or whatever streaming service you're on. Those services are doing me a great favor. They are getting my music heard. Anonymity is my greatest challenge. But streaming music helps me overcome that. You can listen for free. Sure, I won't begrudge you if you decide to go to CelticMusic.org to buy digital downloads or a CD. I would love it. But I don't expect it. My hope is that you love my music so much that it inspires you... to listen, to share it, to try and watch a live show, to sing or play along, and well, to be a better, happier person. I want you to have a little bit more fun in your life. I try to make it easy for you too. Right now, I have weekly live streaming concerts online. In fact, I have two shows at present. On Monday, you can hear me sing a couple songs and catch up on my latest news on my YouTube channel. On Wednesday, I have a series I call Coffee with The Celtfather. It's a longer show featuring some of your requested songs. If that's not enough, once a month, I also host an evening live streaming concert on YouTube. Sometimes it is publicly available. Other times, it is an exclusive benefit for my Heroes in the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. These are great ways to get to know me and my music in a more personal setting. But there are other ways, including podcasting. You see, I was one of the first podcasters in the world. I started Irish & Celtic Music Podcast in the summer of 2005. It originally came out about every 3-4 weeks, at least until I found Patreon in 2014. That changed everything, including the podcast. It became a weekly show featuring the best independent Celtic music online. It's won three podcasting awards and has become a hallmark of my music career. I've publish a lot of different podcasts over the years. Go to MageNetwork.com. You'll find many of those that are still around. But my latest podcast is this one, Celtfather Music & Travel. I try to offer a bigger look at my music and travels through it. I also have two different podcasts exclusively available through the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon, which give a behind-the-scenes look at my music as well as stories from the road. Of course, I have a blog. You'll find me regularly posting on Facebook, and occasionally posting on InstaStories on Instagram. I'm attempting to write non-fiction books designed to help my fellow musicians and others. If all that wasn't enough to keep me busy, I am also the father of two beautiful girls and husband to a wonderful wife. You'll see them included in several of the videos I share. Maybe it's my Dungeons & Dragons upbringing, but I feel like an adventurer at heart. You'll see that in my travel videos on YouTube. I wanted a fun way to share my songs. So I started adding video on top of them from my Celtic Invasion Vacations. Every year, I take a small group of people to Europe, and other places. But primarily we go to the Celtic nations: Ireland and Scotland. We've also been to Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, and Italy. I don't know if you've ever done a European tour, but this is nothing like those. This a more personal and more flexible trip. Instead of doing 20 cities in 10 days, we stay in one place for seven days. We get to know the region and the people. It's a relaxing adventure that's more about the community than the place. That's why it's called Celtic Invasion... Vacations. You should feel rested at the end of your trip. There's one more thing that I want to share about my music. That's my instrument. I play the autoharp. Most people have a vague idea of what the autoharp is. You probably remember it from second grade music class, if at all. But I am one of the handful of people who play the instrument, as my primary instrument, professionally. Yes. It's very simple to start playing. Just press a button and strum. But you can do so much more with it with a little work. Just listen to my music. I think you'll hear that. In fact, I think now is a good time to let you go and listen to my music. If you're not yet following me on Spotify or subscribed to my newsletter, go ahead and do that right now. But I will also include a link to listen to my Celtic Geek album for free. Stream it from wherever you are right now.  Then let me know what you think. I love your thoughts and feedback. Now that I've introduced myself to you. I'd like to hear from you. Who are you? Where do you live? What do you do? Do you play music or sing? If so, what instrument? How did you find my music? What other music to listen to? Tell me about yourself and email me at marc@marcgunn.com Thank you so much for joining me on this Celtic Geek journey. I hope my music brings you lots of fun and happiness. Slainte! --- If you enjoyed this podcast and want to hear more, subscribe at celtfather.com.

Scotland is an incredible country. In 2010, I led my third Celtic Invasion Vacations to Scotland. I learned a lot from this trip which helped form future invasions. I'm gonna share the comments from some of those invaders in #249 of Celtfather Music & Travel. Greetings my name is Marc Gunn. This show is about the many amazing experiences I have as a musician and an adventurer. In 2010, I hooked with John Wilmott of Celtic Ways, who now runs the Carrowcrory Cottage and Labyrinth Gardens in County Sligo. John used to live in Oban. So he offered to organize my third Celtic Invasion Vacations to Scotland. Unfortunately, he had health issues a few months before the trip. So I was forced to make this trip come to life. It's now eight years since that trip happened. But I was looking for Bootleg Concerts to share for my Heroic Gunn Runners on Patreon when I found the comments of invaders from that trip. Every year, I ask my invaders to share their thoughts of what was cool and what wasn't. This invasion had some of amazing pieces of synchronicity and challenges and fun. It might've helped or hurt that this was the year a volcano erupted in Iceland which grounded a lot of airplanes. So a few invaders arrived late. I wish I kept a more details journal of the invasion. But alas... Interestingly, my wife did keep a little journal. However, this was also the trip where she was pregnant and got sick the first day we arrived. So I think journal was cut short. Now since I don't have a detailed list of what we did. I thought instead, I would share the itinerary, some of my memories of the invasion and then you could hear the feedback from invaders. And then I will comment respond to some of their comments. The Celtic Invasion of Oban, Scotland began in Glasgow. We met up with all the invaders and then drove three cars to Oban. The accommodations were really nice, but sadly, we had such a big group that we were separated into two houses, and separated also by about a 1/2 mile. I actually never saw the second house. The second day was in Oban was scheduled to walk around and see the town. It was a fairly open day, which was good because we were waiting for invaders to arrive, since a couple at least were stopped by the volcano. Day 3, we took a boat to Iona. I honestly don't remember much except for the photo that Gwen I took in front of some church on the island. I used for the release of my single "Christmas in Scotland" which was inspired by this invasion. Day 4, lists oban area chill out, time out, everyone do their thing, shopping, fishing, maybe go walking on nearby islands. That's hilarious because I couldn't tell you what was involved in that. However, I do remember that some folks decided to take a trip to see a castle from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. So I'm assuming that that was this day. Day 5 mentions Kilmartin. Again, no clue. But this might've been the day when we got a private tour of a cemetery from Liam Griffin, as well as lunch. Day 6 took us to Edinburgh. I think we might've stopped in Stirling to climb the William Wallace memorial. But I'm not sure. That evening, we enjoyed bagpipes from Jimi McRae and Sam Ooko. Day 7 was the final exploration of Edinburgh and of course music from me. Okay. Let's see if this recording will jog my memory and I share a few more thoughts about the invasion. INVADER COMMENTS Alright, a few things stuck for me. First, second ferry ride? What the heck? I don't think I remember that ride at all. I maybe remember some musicians on a ferry. But I don't remember if it was to Scotland. I think this was the trip that I realized I have to better plan. After this, I started creating a sort of cookie cutter plan for each trip. A loose one, but a plan nonetheless. I also mention a bus tour. I have no recollection of that. Someone mentioned the late starting times. That was remedied on future trips. I think we were leaving around 10 am, which was just way too late. I think future trips vary between and 8 and 9 am. What was incredible for me was the number of folks who commented on the time with Liam Griffin. So what happened was we had dinner a couple nights at a place called the Barn. I asked them if I could play music. They said that was fine. So we ate dinner. I pulled out the autoharp and sang for an hour or two. I don't really remember. What I do remember is one of the locals, Liam, got really into the show. He called all of his friends to come out. He sang us a song. And he invited all thirteen of us to his place for lunch the following day. Then he gave us a tour of his private historical cemetery. It was an amazing experience and it helped me fine tune my trips. You see, I realized that all of the stuff I planned was not very memorable. What was memorable was our personal experiences with the people and the culture of the region. That's why I say in my ads on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, "we get to know the region through its culture, history and legends." It's from trip. I don't remember a whole lot about the stuff we had planned. But I remember the invaders and the people we met. I remember my time with my wife walking around Oban. I remember the joyful, adventure-filled feelings of this incredible vacation. I hope you joined this episode, and I'm gonna leave you with a couple songs from the Bootleg concert I did that final night. If you want to hear the entire concert, join my Heroic Gunn Runners on Patreon. Thanks so much for listening. And if you're new to the podcast, rate the show and subscribe at celtfather.com.

This weekend, I'm heading to join the Kilted Kings at the Mid-South Renaissance Faire. I want to share with some thoughts about the show and what you can expect from our performances. Greetings. My name is Marc Gunn. This show is about the many amazing experiences I have as a musician and a traveler. It's funny how one show leads to another. The Brobdingnagian Bards began our career at Excalibur Fantasy Faire in March 1999. As the faire ended, a whole bunch of entertainers and patrons said, you should go to the Castle Muskgee Renaissance faire. When that one ended, they said, you should check out this faire. Those recommendations got us all the way to, our then dream faire, the Texas Renaissance Festival. That's sort of what happened with the Mid-South Renaissance Faire. I met the entertainment director 3-4 years ago at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival. Everyone was talking about this new faire. I couldn't make it at that time. It wasn't until I got invited to ShadowCon that it became a possibility. You see, I had a booth at ShadowCon right next door to the faire's booth. Beth and I had great conversations all weekend. She invited me to contact her. But again, there wasn't much likelihood. At least until I found out that my wife was gonna be in Memphis this fall. So I emailed the faire and started a dialogue. They wanted more than just a soloist. They wanted a full band to fill their pub, a three-piece in fact. So I decided to reunite Kilted Kings PLUS one. Randy Wothke will once again join me on stage. Randy is the leader and percussionist of The Rogues, a bagpipe and drum quartet from Houston, Texas. He's an incredible musician. It was a great honor to record our album Name On My Soul with him. And incidentally, we have a new Christmas single that will be available online very soon. I also invited String, aka Matthew Trautwein, to play fiddle. String plays with the Renaissance rock band, The Lost Boys. I first met him at the Georgia Renaissance Festival over a decade. Last year, he came to the Louisiana Ren Faire to fill for Randy when he was already booked. String is fantastic and one of the nicest people you'll meet to boot. Oh! And I should point out that The Lost Boys have a brand new album that should be available soon if it's not already. Since it's a Kilted Kings show, a lot of the music that we will play is from our debut album. You'll hear "Slainte Mhaith", "Prettiest Hobbit", "Wild Mountain Thyme", "Flower of Scotland", and of course, "Name On My Soul". You'll also hear songs like "Ride On" and "Mingulay Boat Song". With a fiddler, I'm really looking forward to playing my instrumental tunes without singing them as well. So listen for a new arrangement of "Marionette Jig" and "Clogden More". There are a lot of things to see at the Mid-South Renaissance Faire aside from us. There's music from Wind, Wood & Wire, Frieman the Minstrel, Silver Penny, and bagpipes from my friends of Haggis Rampant. Plus, story telling from Melandra of the Woods. There's jousting, a Mad Hatter, and knighting ceremony. The Lords of Adventure are there. They are brilliant comedy and sword fighting duo. There's also something called Armchair Wizards, which is listed as on-stage role-playing game show. Connor O'Carriag is doing magic and mystery. I'm happy to see my friends Arr & Tarr the Trolls will be there with kids comedy and fun. Lord Larry Longfellow does magic & comedy and Alima Tribe offers belly dancing. You'll also find fighting demonstrations and historical reenactments with the SCA and Amtgard. Look for Kilted Kings out there for two weekends, the 13th and 14th, and the 20th and 21st. If you want to get a Behind-the-Scenes, post-look at how the show goes, join my Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. Thanks you so much for listening. You'll find links to many of the things mentioned in the shownotes. If you haven't yet subscribed or rated the show on Apple Podcast, head on over to Celtfather.com.

Browncoats and Geek musicians Marc Gunn and Mikey Mason rewatch episodes of Firefly to find themes and inspiration for crafting songs inspired by Joss Whedon's cult classic TV series.    Find details and subscribe at FireflyDrinkingSongs.com/intheverse/.

I originally started playing music because I wanted to write songs that people loved. But finding inspiration or creating perspiration is tough! Welcome to Celtfather Music & Travel.  In the last podcast, I talked with Mikey Mason about our shared love of Firefly. I had a sort of secret agenda in talking with him. I thought it would be brilliant to create a Firefly podcast with Mikey as a means to promote our Blue Sun Holiday Spectacular Tour. Mikey is pretty practical though. I know I like to jump into projects pretty easy. But he needed a convincing reason. Mikey’s reason was, instead of just reviewing episodes like other podcasts have done, he came up with the idea of writing one new song for each episode of the series. I love this idea! It makes me think of my favorite song on my new Firefly CD, As Long As I’m Flyin’. That song is “She’s Shiny!” When I sing the song live, it has a great intro. It’s not just about Firefly. It’s a universal theme. It’s about men who have trouble talking to women. In this case, it’s about Malcolm Reynolds who has a crush on Inara but can’t or won't tell her. So much so that at the end of the song, Mal is saying the whole song is actually about his ship Serenity. What a great story idea! Yes. I throw in lots of references from the show. But when the average person listens, they hear a great rhythm and fun, easy-to-sing chorus. Yeah. They may miss the punchline at the end. But at live shows it has fairly universal appeal. I love it. This is what gets me excited about doing a Firefly podcast with Mikey. I want to write more songs like “She’s Shiny!” You see, the toughest thing about writing music is coming up with the song idea. That’s why I have long loved the nonsensical songs. They’re easy to write. But they're also not as an engaging. It’s fairly easy writing songs that have a story that actually happened to me. But to write an original song when you don’t have a thematic idea, it’s tough. Firefly is a great story. It has a great story arc. Each episode has its own story arc. Sometimes they have multiple themes. Just watching the first episode recently, I saw many, many different themes. The trick is to verbalize them. What about each episode or character or scene is so great. That’s why I want to chat with Mikey Mason about this. I want us to pinpoint those themes and write. And not just about Firefly either. Rather, I want the ideas. And I want to make them my own. I want to write powerful songs with universal themes, just like “She’s Shiny!”.  I think this experience will add to that. Someone recently recommended the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. I listened and loved it. It wasn’t just about Harry Potter. It was giving Harry Potter the religious text treatment. The idea is to look at Harry Potter and see how it could improve your life, looking at different themes. What a creative way to approach a book, or a tv show, or whatever! I think Firefly has a lot to offer today’s people. It’s about the average Joe struggling to make end’s meat. It’s not always smart. But it’s often right. As Shepherd Book used to say, “If you can’t do something’ smart, do something right.” The rich get richer. The rest of us are just trying to survive. To feed our families. To make it to the next paycheck so we can start all over. Maybe we’ll even move ahead. Now it’s possible I could do all of this on my own. I could sit down and start writing my own album without Mikey. But I admit what I love about this is having a songwriting workout partner like Mikey Mason. When Jayne is working out, he has Shepherd Book holding the weights for him, to push him to do more weights. It’s the same with me. Mikey is an inspiring partner. He’s writing a lot. He got an English degree in college. He’s the guy who looks for those underlying messages in shows. And admittedly, we brainstorm well together. That’s why I committed to the idea of doing this podcast and songwriting goal. But it’s not happening yet. We set another goal to get you involved...as patrons. I’m looking for 6 new people, who love my music, who want to see this succeed, and who won’t break their pocket books by pledging $10+ per month as my patron. You will get behind the scenes podcasts and videos. You’ll be the first to hear new music. You’ll enjoy live concert recordings and get digital downloads of several albums. Plus, I will include your name in the thank yous of each of these Firefly podcasts and with the digital downloads of any Firefly music that comes out of this project for as long as you are a patron. -- Follow me on Spotify to listen to this song or just look for a link in the shownotes. You'll also find a great Firefly playlist of music and all of my Firefly tours at FireflyDrinkingSongs.com. If you enjoyed the episode of Celtfather Music & Travel, please subscribe to the podcast at Celtfather.com. While you're there, you can sign up to Celtfather News, that's my newsletter that will keep you informed of all of the new projects I'm working including: new music, new shows, new podcasts, videos, and more. It's totally free to subscribe, and I hope to bring another smile to your face with each email.