First Weekend of Sherwood 2024 (Patreon)

I had a surprisingly fantastic time at Sherwood Forest Faire this weekend.

I say surprising because last Sunday, St Patrick's Day, I had a four hour show. By the end of three hours, my voice was getting rough. But I finished the fourth hour and regretted because I didn't realize at the time that allergy season in Atlanta finally hit. I struggled to talk the rest of the week. I was very worried about singing.

I flew into Texas on Friday. Had a lovely walk with my dad. Then I jacked myself up on every know antihistamine and home remedy in existence.

Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But Saturday morning I went to Sherwood Forest Faire and my voice wasn't too bad. Yeah. It was still rough and scratchy... but I could sing. That was a huge improvement.

I jammed with the other musicians at morning gate (no singing required). Then I went to my 11:30 show at the Lionheart Tavern.

I avoided the big belty songs like "Mingulay Boat Song" and just played some of my most-popular songs (thanks to everyone who voted in my album polls). The show went exceedingly well. I had great tips and a bunch of CD and Album Pin sales. But more importantly, everyone was so warm and kind and patient with my weakened voice. The response was just amazing.

The second show as Hobbit Drinking Songs at Lionheart. This is the first time I've done that show at Sherwood. It was Amazing to see all of the LOTR fans show up. Not just my fans. It did exactly what I hoped, It attracted new fans.

Even shortened (no pun intended ROFL), it was really good show. There was a really good sized audience singing along to "Heart of Fangorn", "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits" and more. It was fantastic. And my voice felt a little stronger.

The third show was with Jamie Haeuser. It was at the Horseman Stage. So there was a very small audience. But it was a really good time for Jamie and I to play songs from How America Saved Irish Music. Those are some of our favorite songs to sing together. And we sound SO good together. Our voices blend amazingly.

The final show with Brobdingnagian Bards at Lionheart Tavern ended fun. But I felt like it was not our best weekend of playing. We were plagued with technical difficulties. The sound system was not working with Andrew's mic.

As always, I finished up the day at the pub sing, smiling from ear-to-ear because I LOVE that scene. Everyone is there... together. Singing songs that everyone knows, with passion and joy. It is absolutely magical, an almost religious moment.

I was tired driving back to my parent's house. But I felt good.

Sunday was similar except with smaller audiences. Which can be interesting. My first show as probably a fifth of the Saturday's attendance. But smaller crowds serve me well. I think I made three new fans who loved my music.

The Hobbit show didn't seem to hold the audience as well. It definitely helps to have people. But it was still a really good show.

The show with Jamie was Awesome. We worked out all of the kinks from the day before. It was a fun, chill show with people smiling wholeheartedly and us filled with joy to be singing together. While there weren't many people in the audience, it was definitely full of folks who loved the music.

Oh! And we're planning for Jamie to sing "Bridget's Prayer" next week. I can't wait to do share that live for, perhaps, the first time ever...?

The Bards show was once again plagued with sound issues. Such that we are now scheduled to meet up with the sound engineer next Saturday morning to iron those out. I'm really looking forward to that because it's a shame. That said, our show kind of sparked other thoughts.

Once upon a time, I called us a cover band of ourselves. We were creating anything new. We were just playing the old hits.

This weekend, we introduced our newest song "Love Song to Alcohol" which I feel like will be our next hit. It's so much fun and interactive. Everything a good Bards song should be. It's also gonna be on our next album, "Another Faire to Remember".

That got me thinking, what a great Brobdingnagian Bards show should be. I haven't answered the question yet. But I realized that we need a better set than we were doing this past weekend. So that's one of my goals for the coming week.

There was also a big Gunn Runner outcry because there was no Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers show this weekend. I played a couple songs. But next weekend, I'm gonna do at least one cat show. Possibly two. But I'll have to figure out the show times first.

Any case, I finished off the day with another wonderful Pub Sing followed by green chile stew with Jamie and her husband.

All in all, it was a great weekend. My voice is on the road to recovery. Hopefully, with lots of allergy medicine this week and a bunch of vocal rest, I'll be stronger than ever for this weekend's shows.

I hope to see you out there.

PS. If you have any pictures that I can share, please email them to me marc.gunn@gmail.com

Pictures include pub sing, Vince Conaway busking (I like to "steal" his sign design, rather he lets me do that. We swap ideas a lot), and Gary who works with the Birds of Prey at the festival