Travel Ireland, Scotland and Beyond with Celtic Invasion Vacations

One of the most poorly used features on Patreon are milestones. It’s probably the name—milestone. What exactly is that?

To most creators, it’s a big goal that they reach. “When I hit $2200, I’ll make a living as a musician.”

That’s a good goal. But it’s a missed opportunity too.

My Patreon for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast helped me figure out Patreon Milestones. It’s not just about me. It’s about you and me working together to reach a goal.

For the podcast, I setup simple milestones. “When we hit $550, I will create a two-hour episode of Celtic Flute and Whistle Music”.

If this is something you want to happen, you might make a pledge. You might get excited enough to support something you already love.

Easy-peasy. Right?

As an artist, I find it a lot more difficult. How do I create a goal that will get YOU and other Gunn Runners excited but that is also something that I'm not already giving away.

You might cheer when I become a “full-time musician”, but there’s nothing in it for you to support my music. That’s what Patreon Milestones are all about, or should be. What’s in it for you?

And so we stumble. We make bad Patreon goals. Our pages don’t grow.

A couple years ago, I set a pretty exciting Patreon goal. I said I would make an EP of Firefly music if I hit a certain goal. Of course, that EP turned into a full-length album that's freely available to everyone in my Gunn Runners Club.

That goal was one that you and I both could get behind.

I think that's what I need to do then. I need to create milestones for you. I pick a song that I want to record and that you might want as well. When I reach those milestones, I record a new single and share it with the Gunn Runners Club.

I like this idea because it gets you more involved. Your generosity is the impetus to make new music happen.

You see, one of my other big internal challenges is that it's difficult to sit down and record. The recording process itself isn't difficult. But there are a LOT of steps.

Lets take for instance the two songs I've been planning: "Mingulay Cat Song" and "Why Do You Torture Me?".

I first started recording "Mingulay Cat Song" in 2015. I don't think I snagged a recording I liked until February, a couple months ago.

Meanwhile, I've been talking about releasing "Why Do You Torture Me?" since at least November last year. That's six months ago!

Obviously, it's not a fast process. Recording music takes time. And if I want to do collaborations... it's gonna take even more.

I'm okay with that. But it does mean these milestones can be a lot more productive. So that's my goal.

The two new singles I mentioned earlier are scheduled to be released this month and next. The next milestone is for a traditional Irish song, "Molly Malone". I have a video coming out for it in a couple weeks. It has an innovative marketing idea behind it. So I hope it'll get some traction. I'll tell you more about that later.

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Thank you so much for listening. Now I want to ask you to head on over to Spotify and Follow My Music.

You'll find a link in the shownotes at Celtfather.com where you can also subscribe to this podcast and download 21 songs for free.

It all started with my cat Jenga and a sippy cup left on the table when my daughter went off to daycare. I came home to find juice all over the floor.

Why do cats have this insatiable need to knock liquid over? Are they thirsty? Or is there a scientific reason that explains these crazy cats?

I break the down the inspiration behind my newest cat song. Then I talk about the Kickstarter for my newest album of cat songs--Sea Shanties for Cat Lovers. You'll hear the new recording, plus the original song that I parodied, "Mingulay Boat Song".

Gunn Runners can own a copy of my new single in the Gunn Runners Club. Read the "Mingulay Cat Song" lyrics here.

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Thank you so much for listening. Now I want to ask you to head on over to Spotify and Follow My Music.

You'll find a link in the shownotes at Celtfather.com where you can also subscribe to this podcast and download 21 songs for free.

Yes. It’s okay. You may listen to my music on Spotify. In fact, please listen. Add my songs to your library. Create Spotify playlists with my songs. I encourage you to listen and share my music.

• Follow me on Spotify
• Watch this Video: What do you think of Spotify?
• Follow some of my playlists
• Get Behind the Scenes to Support my Music

I asked my friend Gary if he listens to Spotify. He said no. He heard they did not pay artists well. He prefers to buy CDs to support the bands he loves.

Gary is in his 50s and he’s not alone. His demographic of people age 45-65 are more likely to buy a cd. At least for now. But that’s changing.

Even those ages 35-45 are split. More and more are moving to streaming music.

I host the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, the largest of its kind. I no longer accept CDs.

At the end of 2017, I started to embrace Spotify and streaming music. I just hope I’m not too late.

Right now, streaming music is loved most by younger folks. Hip hop reigns supreme. Pop music is right behind that. Metal is even doing well. Oddly, rock and country are lagging behind.

Knowing that, you can imagine how Celtic Music is doing. Folk musicians are not known to live at the front of new technology.

Course that doesn’t mean music fans aren’t already listening. They are.

Gaelic Storm has 200,000 listeners. Irish Rovers have 270,000. The Chieftains have 300,000. Celtic Woman has 400,000. Flogging Molly have over a million. Dropkick Murphys have 2.1 million!

People are listening whether we musicians like it or not.

As with all technology, this offers a great opportunity for Celtic musicians. We can be at the forefront of streaming music if we are brave enough to try. I need you to stream my music even tho the revenue is not yet in my favor.

The Dropkick Murphy revenue equates to about $10,000 per month. Even Gaelic Storm’s $1000 per month is nothing to sniff at, at least for me. Just imagine if Celtic musicians actually promoted their music on Spotify. We could easily triple or quadruple those numbers.

Now comes the hard reality. I get about 2000 listens. That’s just about $10 per month. You can’t make a living off that.

BUT Spotify is just one way to make money as an the indie musician.

The true opportunity of Spotify is as a music discovery platform. Now it is virtually free to listen to music and to share it too. I don’t even have to worry about piracy. In fact, I will make money when you “pirate” my music thru Spotify.

Spotify is a great way to get your music heard by existing fans and to find new fans.

How then will I make actual money?

As a marketer, I know that if if I give away all of my music, people will find it and if they love it, then they will find a way support me.

There are many ways, fans can continue to buy Merch: CDs, Tshirts, USB Drives, posters, jewelry, stickers, or whatever I sell. I’m trying out lots of different products.

You get something cool AND you support the music you love.

But as an artist, I am scared, I’m terrified of giving away my intellectual property.

It turns out There is another way that will make the virtually free Spotify streaming even more worthwhile—become a patron of the arts.

Patronage is as old as the music profession. In the past, musicians relied on one rich patron. But now we can achieve similar results with donations by lots of patrons each paying just a little each month.

You can join my Gunn Runners Club on Patreon for as little as a buck a month. You’ll get the inside scoop of what’s new. You can get behind the scenes podcasts and videos for just five bucks a month. You can enjoy streaming concerts for $10 per month.

This is a game changer for musicians. There’s no overhead costs. All of the money you donate (minus fees) goes straight to my music business. And you get a more inclusive musical experience.

Patreon is not for everyone. It’s for the most-dedicated fans. You might not be ready for this incredible opportunity to support my music firsthand.

If you’re not, Spotify is the perfect way to decide if my music is right for you.

So again. Yes. Please listen to my music on Spotify. Add my songs to your library and playlists. Share it with a friend.

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Thank you so much for listening. Now I want to ask you to head on over to Spotify and Follow My Music.

You'll find a link in the shownotes at Celtfather.com where you can also subscribe to this podcast and download 21 songs for free.

St Patrick's Day is coming soon. I'm gonna share with you TEN fun facts about St Patrick's Day in show #238 of Celtfather Music & Travel. As a Celtic musician and host of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, I thought I'd also pick songs you can listen to to go with each fact. celtfather.com

CELTFATHER NEWS

If you missed the latest CeltfatherLive Internet Concert of Shiny St Patrick's Day CD Release Party, you can watch a free replay through March 17 at Celtfather.com/watch. The show celebrates the release of my new album of Browncoats Drinking songs, called As Long As I'm Flyin. Plus some fun St Patrick's Day Songs.

You can sing along to many of those songs through the Irish song lyrics website.

I have two extra-Long episodes of St Patrick's Day Music on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. The first came out last week and features the Best Celtic songs in the podcast in 2017.

The second is out this Thursday. It will feature 17 for St Patrick's Day. As a special bonus you will be able to download all 17 songs as mp3 singles. I'll include a link to that article in the shownotes. I have published my 17 Free Celtic MP3s for St Patrick's Day article since 2003.

10 Fun Facts about St Patrick's Day

Millions of people around the world celebrate St. Patrick's Day. You could say everyone is Irish on St Patrick's Day. But I prefer to see this as a holiday for everyone of Celtic ancestry. I don't know how many kilts I've seen worn on the holiday, but it's a lot.

I think that's a good place to start these fun facts.

1. Ireland is one of seven Celtic nations.

These are the places that the Celts settled after invading their way from central Europe before finally being conquered by the Romans and driven to the fringes of continent.

The nations include: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, Cornwall in Southwest England, Brittany in France, and Galicia in Northwest Spain.

While the Celts settled in those locations, they were eventually pushed out of those homelands to places around the world.

New Orleans was one of the top 3 immigration points for the Irish during the potato blight of the 1800s.

So I'm gonna kick off my musical recommendation with "Men of New Basin Canal" that honors the 30K Irishmen who died digging that canal.

2. St Patrick was not Irish.

He was born in Scotland or Wales in the 4th century. Originally, he was enslaved and taken to Ireland. He escaped, became a Christian and went back to convert the Celts. He died in Ireland on March 17, 461.

I was born on St Patrick's Day. I have a song for all those born on March 17th or of Irish heritage. It's called "Happy Birthday from Ireland."

3. March 17th is the holy day of St. Patrick in the Catholic church.

Because of this, it was not celebrated like you find it today. In fact, March 17 was a dry holiday in Ireland until the 70s. All the pubs were closed. In 1995 they began celebrating it like in America.

It's quite a ironic that as a sainted holiday, St Patrick's Day is celebrated with drinking. Thus my next song recommendation, "St Patrick Never Drank".

4. The first St Patrick's day parade was celebrated in New York in 1762.

The Irish were trying to hold on to their heritage.

Parades sprang up around the world since then, most notably in Chicago where the river is dyed green. Dublin too now has a big St. Patrick's Day parade.

I want to recommend song "McNamara's Band" song by Bing Crosby.

5. Green is most-often associated with St Patrick's Day. But St Patrick's color was actually blue. And as a wild twist, I was told that the Scots wore orange. It wasn't until much later I realized that green was the color of Catholics and orange was the color of Protestants. And of course the Republic of Ireland is largely Catholic.

From Brobdingnagian Bards, try the song "The Orange and the Green".

6. St Paddy's day is the shortened version of St Patrick's Day.

However, that shortened name is often misspelled. It should be spelled Paddy. Not Patty.

Patty is a girls name. Paddy is short for the Irish name Padraig.

Check out the song "Paddy Worked on the Railway" by The Muckers

7. The most famous Irish song is Danny Boy. But it's not actually Irish.

Okay the melody is an Irish tune called "Derry Aire". But the lyrics were written by an English lawyer and songwriter named Frederic Weatherly.

I get the song requested so much that I play two versions of "Danny Boy", the original and a parody about cats.

8. The leprechaun is a fascinating and mischievous creature from Irish lore.

The modern representation was actually started as a means to belittle the Irish immigrants in the early 1900s. It seems Irish Americans embraced and rebirthed the myth.

Oh and apparently, there are no female leprechauns in the lore.

I wrote a song that celebrates America's contribution to the leprechaun myth and to Irish music. It's called "The Leprechaun".

9. Slainte Mhaith is an Irish toast.

It means "here's to your good health". In lovely Gaelic fashion, it's spelled nothing like it sounds in English. So if you're out drinking, be it Guinness or tea, raise a glass and repeat the Phrase.

I wrote a song about it. It's called "Slainte Mhaith".

10. More than 13 million pints of Guinness are consumed on St Patrick's Day.

I hope you will raise a glass also to Charlie Mopps, the fictious inventor of beer.

You can learn him in the song "Beer, Beer, Beer".

One final bonus fact. The music of the Celts is called Celtic music.

This is not to be confused the Boston Celtics. Celtic is spoken with a hard-K sound.

I host the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. You will find over 400 hours of free Celtic music to listen to on St Patrick's Day.

Thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed these fun facts. If you want to listen to the songs, you can search for them on Apple Music or you can check out my Geek Pub Songs playlist over on Spotify.

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You can also support this podcast for as little as $1 per month when you join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. You'll get hours of great content for one low fee and help me create new music for you.

You can also subscribe to the podcast and download free music at celtfather.com.

Firefly is one of the most beloved projects from the mind of Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It came out in 2002 and was canceled after only 14 episodes. It developed such an incredible cult following that in 2005, a movie was released based on the TV series. http://celtfather.com

The show inspired me so much that I released a CD with Bedlam Bards called Firefly Drinking Songs. Now I have a new album out for Browncoats called As Long As I’m Flyin. You can buy it at FireflyDrinkingSongs.com.

How did Firefly go from a cancelled TV show to a new album 16 years after it was released? I’ll tell you all about it right now.

I was first introduced to Firefly just a few short months before the movie was released. I remember binge watching DVDs. I absolutely loved show. It had a realness to it that appealed to me, despite being a Sci Fi Western.

Firefly became my all-time favorite show ever. It hasn’t budged from that standing. I still watch it regularly.

I don’t consider myself an ambitious songwriter. I don’t write a lot of songs. I write slowly and I am usually “inspired” by something. I never planned to start a genre of Firefly drinking songs. It just sort of happened.

In 2007, I was on the first Brobdingnagian Bards tour of Ireland. I got an email from fan telling me there is a songwriting contest called Sing A Song for Saffron.

Saffron was a nefarious woman who was featured twice in the series. She first appears in "Our Mrs Reynolds" where she sneakily marries the captain of the Firefly ship, Serenity. She then attempts to seduce him. When that fails, her true purpose is revealed, leading the crew to their deaths to steal their ship.

Saffron appears again later in the episode "Trash." She works with the crew to steal a famous laser gun. She attempts to double cross the crew only to find they are ready for her.

Beautiful and seductive, Saffron is a favorite side character.

So there I was in Ireland when I get an email from a fan that read, “you should write a song for this contest.”

I was immediately struck with a parody idea using the traditional Irish melody “May Morning Dew”.

I submitted my song “She Said Her Name Was Saffron” to the contest a week after returning from Ireland. The song won the Best Parody award.

A few months later, I sang that song for The Signal Firefly Podcast for a live event at DragonCon.

I had no further plans to write more Firefly songs. But a year later, I was driving Back to DragonCon when I was struck with an idea.

I had just finished watching the episode "Jaynestown." The crew lands on Higgins Moon, a town that sells mud. The crew is hired to transport contraband off planet. One of the crew, Jayne Cobb, warns about how he had trouble with the local magistrate a few years back. We soon learn that Jayne has become a folk hero of the town with a statue and his own protest song “Hero of Canton”.

That song is a favorite among Browncoats. Everyone of us longs to have a mug of mudders milk and sing along. But as I was driving back to DragonCon, I wondered what other songs might’ve been heard in that little pub in Canton. So I wrote one.

The song was called "Monahan's Mudder's Milk". I wrote it as a sort of Woody Guthrie-style protest against the challenges faced by the mudders of Higgins' Moon.

This song was super important to me. First, because it sort of solidified what would eventually become my most-popular musical niche, Sci Fi Drinking Songs. But it was also the launching point for Firefly Drinking Songs and my newest album, As Long As I'm Flyin'.

It was around this time that the idea of recording a CD of Firefly Drinking Songs began. I set up concerts at Gen Con and Dragon Con dedicated to this theme. Each show was packed. The conventions were turning people away at the door.

The atmosphere at these shows was amazing. I really wanted to capture that feel. So I decided on recording a live CD. I wanted it to feel like you were in that little pub in Canton.

My biggest challenge was I didn't have enough songs to create an album. So I turned to someone who did.

The Bedlam Bards were the first to release a full CD of Firefly music. It was called On The Drift: Music Inspired by Firefly and Serenity. The album captured everything that people love about Firefly and the fandom. It's fantastic.

Cedric is the primary songwriter for the group. When I called him up to ask if he'd like to make an album with me, he was psyched.

We spent next few months performing Firefly Drinking Songs at various venues and conventions trying to capture an amazing live recording. It finally happened at church in Round Rock, Texas that my friend Jan Czenkusch booked for us. It had the energy, the sound. It was fantastic.

We released the CD. It quickly became one of my most-popular albums.

Once again, I had no plans for a follow up. I was trying to get out of doing themed CDs. Most of my 20+ albums are themed. Some are Irish. Some are about cats. Some are sci fi. While themed CDs are easier to sell, they are much more difficult and costly to produce.

So when I wrote "Bring Me Home, Boys", a song based on the episode "The Message" where a body is mailed to the crew with a message to bring his body home to his family, I didn't put on a Firefly CD. Nor did I put the song "Browncoats Keep Flyin'" one one. That's a song I co-wrote with Rie Sheridan Rose. Though I did put it on Sci Fi Drinking Songs. Again, I had no real plans to record another Firefly album, despite its success.

But one year at Gen Con, I was singing "Close Your Eyes". This is a song by Daniel Glasser. Many call it the "Demon Lullaby". I have a whole podcast episode about that song. Follow the link in the shownotes.

In the middle of the song, I changed the lyrics to the "reavers beneath your bed are gonna eat your face". The crowd erupted in laughter and for the next few years Browncoats asked when I would put that song on a CD.

In 2016, I set a milestone on Patreon. If I reached that goal, I would record a 4-song EP of Firefly songs, exclusively for my Patrons. I quickly hit that goal. But as I started recording the EP, more songs came out. So I asked Rie Sheridan Rose, a long-time songwriting collaborator to send me some more lyrics. She did.

Next thing I knew, I had a full album of Browncoat drinking songs. I launched a Kickstarter and the rest is history.

Now one of the things I sort of glossed over earlier is the Firefly Drinking Songs show. This show took on a life of its own. When I started, I was just singing songs about Firefly. But I wanted something bigger. I wanted something more inclusive.

You see, I have long been a part of the reenacting shows. Mostly notably are Renaissance festivals. At faires, you're encouraged to not just play music, they want you to be a part of the atmosphere, to recreate the Renaissance.

Early on, I absolutely LOVED faires for that very reason. I could pretend I was in the Renaissance.

But the simple fact is I'm not an actor. So keeping that going ALL DAY LONG was a bit exhausting and tedious. So I took on a new character, that is basically me.

I think that's why I love the Firefly Drinking Songs show so much.

I don't usually write music ABOUT things I love, like Firefly. I prefer to write as if I'm a PART of the world. Firefly is the epitome of this. The music I wrote was as if I was living in the Firefly 'Verse. The show was created as if I was a touring musician singing songs for Browncoats.

The show is about an hour long. With any luck, the one at Gen Con this year will be about an hour and a half. But for that period of time, it's easy to get and stay in character. So that's why I do.

My family is all from East Texas. So I put on my Texas accent and step into a world where people are on the fringe of civilized society. They're looking for an escape. They want to hear music that celebrates the independents who lost the Unification War. They want to escape the hard life of working in the mud pits.

For an hour, they are a part of that. We sing songs about the "Hero of Canton," "Blue Sun," reavers and the Browncoats. It's absolutely incredible.

It's been 16 years since Firefly was started and canceled. Yet new Browncoats are made every day as they discover this incredible show.

One of my dreams is to take the Firefly Drinking Songs show on the road. I want to unite Browncoats once again for a Shindig among Shindigs and an inspired passion to keep building the 'Verse. Because to quote Mal, "we have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."

If you're interested in my new album, As Long As I'm Flyin' or the Firefly Drinking Songs show, please visit FireflyDrinkingSongs.com. You can buy the album, listen on Spotify, find cool merch, and learn more about the show. I'd love to hear about your favorite episode or character. You can post that in the shownotes.

I should point out that the physical CD will only be available in March. So if you like CDs, then you should order it as soon as possible.

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Thank you for listening. Celtfather Music & Travel was produced by Marc Gunn. If you enjoyed this episode, please join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. For as little as a buck a month, you will help release more music, podcasts, videos and more.

Would you like 21 songs for Free? Plus get regular updates of what's new. Subscribe to the podcast and newsletter at www.pubsong.net.

Learn about one of my Hobbit music partners. Samantha Gillogly is a violinist, fiddler, and geek from Massachusetts who has played three hobbit gatherings with me at ALEP in Kentucky. We there last year, and I had a delightful conversation with her. Subscribe to Celtfather Music & Travel for more episodes at celtfather.com.

I am performing this Thursday, February 8 at 8 PM central on Concert Window. The show is pay-what-you-want. And tips will be graciously accepted. Follow me at concertwindow.com/marcgunnmusic

I added several new items to my Bandcamp store. You'll find a Celtic Love sticker, a new Irish & Celtic Music Podcast sticker and two new cat albums listed. This is the best place to my music and merch directly from me. Find a link in the shownotes.

If you haven't done so yet, please follow me on Spotify. I making the scary and bold switch to streaming music. So I need followers, and I need folks telling others. This is a great way to get to know my music. Oh! And if you have a playlist there, why not add one of my songs.

• How Samantha found Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
• Favorite Character
• Favorite thing about ALEP
• Sessions in the Dancing Pony
• How Samantha and Marc Met
• Places that Inspire You
• Musical recommendation: Fiddler, Martin Hayes
• Find out more about Samantha Gillogly at samanthagillogly.com

I hope you enjoyed this interview, if you did, then please support Samantha Gillogly. Subscribe to her mailing list. Listen to her music. Share it with your friends. Buy a CD. She's an awesome lady and deserves your kind support.

You can support my music and travels for as little as $1 per month when you join the Gunn Runners Club and become a patron of my music. If you enjoy this show, subscribe to the podcast and my mailing list at celtfather.com.

The Demon Lullaby gets people laughing so much, I had to filk it for my second CD of Browncoats drinking songs. Listen to both versions of this hilarious song, originally written by Daniel Glasser. Listen and subscribe at celtfather.com.

0:08 CELTFATHER NEWS

First, you can catch my Facebook Live shows, Coffee with The Celtfather on Tuesdays at 9am on Facebook.com/marcgunnmusic

Second, I have some new products in my Bandcamp store.

You can now get the Firefly Drinking Songs songbook, which features all of the lyrics from Firefly Drinking Songs, my new album, As Long As I'm Flyin, and the Bedlam Bards' Firefly album On the Drift, plus a few lyrics that have not been recorded yet by Cedric and Rie Sheridan Rose, who co-wrote my Firefly album. This will make it easy for you to sing-along with us.

On Saturday, I released the Celtic Music 6-Pack. This is a compilation of six Celtic CDs, including: Kilted For Her Pleasure, Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion, Not Every Day Is St Patrick's Day, Happy Songs of Death, The Bridge, and How America Saved Irish Music. If you're looking for a great intro to Celtic songs or my music, this is it. And it's at one low price!

I had a great interview on the Sending a Wave UK Firefly Podcast that just came out. In it, I had some exciting realizations about how I write songs, especially in regards to Firefly and Lord of the Rings.

Finally, I created a fun Firefly Drinking Songs Playlist on Spotify. It's packed full of songs inspired by Firefly. I hope you will follow, listen, and share it.

2:07 ABOUT CLOSE YOUR EYES

One of my most-popular songs since 2009 is a song called "Close Your Eyes". It's commonly known as "The Demon Lulllaby".

The song was written in 2003 by filker, Daniel Glasser. It won Best Comedy Song in the 2008 Pegasus Awards. That's also the year, I first heard the song.

It was a I-Con Science Fiction Convention in Stony Brook, New York. I remember those filk circles fairly well.

Now if you're not familiar with the word filk, that is the music of fandom. It's the music you hear at science fiction conventions. The word was first used as a misprint of folk music that was happening at conventions back in the '50s. I guess con goers liked the term, because next thing you know, filk circles exploded.

The filk circles at I-Con were my first. My old band, Brobdingnagian Bards, were invited to be guests at I-Con back in 2002, I believe. I saw Emerald Rose was performing there and thought, "why on earth is a Celtic band like us playing at science fiction convention". So I booked us and realize con goers love Celtic music, and that we were also playing filk, with songs like "Do Virgins Taste Better" and "If I Had A Million Ducats".

Any case, we were invited to the I-Con Filk Circle. We sang our songs and began building an audience. 2008 was our last year at the convention before we broke up. I don't remember who sang "Close Your Eyes". But I loved it.

After we parted ways, I did an internet search to find the song. Lo and behold, I found it on the Pegasus Awards website. I contacted Daniel Glasser and asked if I could record the song. He was extremely generous to say yes.

I had never played the song live when I recorded it in January 2009 for my CD Kilted For Her Pleasure on the North Shore in Louisiana at my friend Jamie Haeuser's house. Jamie recorded percussion on a couple of tracks for that album.

As a lullaby, I kept the song pretty barebones, just me and the autoharp. And it worked.

As I played it at shows, it was an immediate favorite. "The demons in your bed, are gonna eat you up".

One of my most-memorable moments was performing it a giant ballroom at Dragon Con in 2009. The stage was simple with me dressed in my black kilt, long hair flowing, the enormous sideburns, and an autoharp as I sang the song, pausing for comedic effect. (YouTube video)The audience was in tears by the end. It was a brilliant start to my solo career. The song was an obvious hit.

I'm gonna play the song for you right now. And then I'll share the filk of the song in a moment.

5:13 SONG: "Close Your Eyes" by Marc Gunn from Kilted For Her Pleasure

8:53 ABOUT REAVER'S LULLABY

In 2010, my first daughter was born--Kenzie. Having a daughter made this song even better. Not only do I like singing it to her. But there's no better way of finishing the song and stating, "If you enjoy this song, then your CD purchases help to pay for my daughter's therapy when she grows up."

And it's true. Your purchases do help to pay for her therapy. So please....

Well, if she wasn't disturbed, then she has been when I filked the filk.

I think it was 2014 when I first filked "Close Your Eyes". The song was already popular at my many shows. I started performing it at my Firefly Drinking Songs show at Gen Con the year before. It was well-loved.

Now when I'm up on stage, I'm always looking to use things from the moment to include in the show. Some people complain about hecklers. I don't think I've ever met a heckler I didn't like. They just give me ammo to improve my show.

The year before "Close Your Eyes" was a hit. But could I make it funnier?

Close your eyes and sleep
There are... reavers in your dreams.

Reavers! Hey that works! I remember thinking.

The reavers in your bed...

I can't tell you why I decided to change the next line. But the response was mind-blowing.

The reavers in your bed...
Are gonna eat your face!

The room erupted. Those who knew the original song already thought it was funny. But the visual of the horrifying reavers eating someone's face... well, it worked!

Over the next few years, I tried changing the lyrics more to suit Firefly, but they never really came.

Meanwhile, several Browncoats kept asking, "when are going to record that song?!"

I set a Milestone on Patreon in 2017. If I raised enough money, I would record the song for a short EP. The goal was met. I sat down to record the song and ended up recording a whole bunch of Firefly songs. Lo and behold I had a new album.

The album is called As Long As I'm Flyin'. It will be officially released on March 6, 2018. March is the only month that you will be able to buy a physical copy of the album online for the foreseeable future. So mark your calendar.

If you want a download of the album, along with a bunch of notes about it, become a Patron of music.

JOIN THE GUNN RUNNERS CLUB ON PATREON!

Or mark your calendar for March 6th.

You'll be able to buy it everywhere online. And you can stream it through Spotify.

I would deeply appreciate it if you would help me spread the word. You can share this podcast.

Of course, my previous Firefly album with Bedlam Bards, Firefly Drinking Songs, is on sale. If you ever wanted to experience what it's like going to a pub in Canton on Higgin's Moon, you want to own this album.

13:25 SONG: "Reaver's Lullaby" by Marc Gunn from As Long As I'm Flyin'

Finally, if you're not yet subscribed to Celtfather Music & Travel, I plan to have more shows just like this coming out in the future. Go to Celtfather.com for details.

As a Celtic singer and autoharper, I've never felt super comfortable going to Irish sessions. I had a couple dirty looks when I first got into Irish music. It biased me a lot against them since. But I love Irish music. So I was excited to watch a video by Shannon Heaton where she provides a sort of how to guide to Irish sessions. It was very inspiring.

Shannon Heaton hosts the Irish Music Stories podcast. She hosted an episode of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast last June. And I wanted to find out more about her. We had a great chat a couple months back.

My bandcamp store now offers the Celtfather Classics USB. This album features all my music from 1995 through 2009. You'll get 10 albums, including all of my current cat CDs, plus a bunch of exclusive EPs and podcasts, all for just $50. This is a way-to-generous deal. Follow the link to my Bandcamp store for details.

Coffee with The Celtfather is a new live streaming show I'm hosting on my Facebook fan page. I go live on Monday morning around 9 am. We will chat and have fun while we sing along together with your song requests. Come join me. Oh! And the more you share the show and tip, the longer I will play. The show is off right now, but it will be back in January.

Finally, I want to share some Christmas music with you. You may know I host the Celtic Christmas Podcast. But you might not yet be aware of my Spotify playlists. My two favorites right now are Christmas Drinking Songs and Fun Christmas Songs for Kids and Families.

Oh! Speaking of Spotify, this show will be available on Spotify at the beginning of 2018. Yup! You will be able to listen directly through your Spotify account.

Interview with Shannon Heaton

• How Shannon Heaton found Irish music

• Irish Music Stories

• How do you create your podcast stories

• YouTube Channel

• Irish Session Culture

• Touring as an Irish musician

• Favorite Places in Ireland: Cruise's Pub in Ennis in County Clarre, Crane Bar in Galway City

• Clare.Fm for trad music in Ennis

• Desert Island Discs

• Handful of Earth by Dick Gaughan

• Kitty Lies Over by Mick O'Brien and Caoimhim O' Raghallaigh

Music featured in this show:

"Thady Casey's & Reel of Rio" by Matt & Shannon Heaton from Blue Skies Above

"Mantle of Green" by Matt & Shannon Heaton from Tell You in Earnest

I hope you enjoyed this interview, if you did, then please support Shannon Heaton. Subscribe to her podcast. Listen. Share it with your friends. Buy a CD. She's an awesome lady and deserves your kind support.

You can support my music and travels for as little as $1 per month when you join the Gunn Runners Club and become a patron of my music. If you enjoy this show, subscribe to the podcast and my mailing list at celtfather.com.

This month, I talk with Jennie Breeden about Comics and Kilt Blowing. Jennie is the author of The Devil's Panties web comic and carries a leaf blower at Dragon Con for unsuspecting kilt wearers. I also share my new love of the Virtual Tip Jar and how I hope it will allow me to do more Live Video concerts! SHARE this show at http://celtfather.com/

This week, you can look for me on Facebook Live a bunch. I'm doing Coffee with The Celfather to promote a private internet concert on Thursday, Nov 16 at 8 PM Central Standard Time. Tickets are $15. You can get them on The Celtfather store on Square. This will most-likely be a small group of viewers. Feel free to bring your song requests and come ready to chat with me.

I decided I'm only releasing one episode of the Celtic Christmas Podcast this year. That means, I'm gonna focus on Spotify playlists of Christmas music to promote. Rather, I'm going to be listening to Christmas music on Spotify myself. Whether you listen or not is irrelevant. But I do want to share my playlist with the hope that you might enjoy the songs too. My latest playlist is called Christmas Drinking Songs.

There's a new sale up on the Brobdingnagian Bards Square store. It's an incredible deal. The offer is good until the end of November. If you ever wanted Brobdingnagian Bards CDs, go now!

This month, I have an interview with Jennie Breeden. She's the author of The Devil's Panties comic strip. I interviewed her at GenCon as the convention opened. Unfortunately, we only made it halfway through the interview before the Vendor's Hall opened and the interview came to an abrupt end. So I guess I'll have to seek our in the future to finish the interview.

Here's my interview of Comics and Kilt Blowing with Jennie Breeden. Stick around after the interview as I share thoughts on Facebook Live and my new virtual tip jar.

I'm hoping so. Here's how you can help... and it's not just with your generous donations.

You can support my music and travels for as little as $1 per month when you join the Gunn Runners Club and become a patron of my music. If you enjoy this show, subscribe to the podcast and my mailing list at celtfather.com.