Celtfather Monthly December 2024 (Patreon)

Greetings

I finished another great weekend at Georgia Renaissance Festival. I seem to making a big impact at the faire. I had great audiences. I talk about all of it in the audio part. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

BROBDINGNAGIAN BARDS

The Kickstarter for Another Faire to Remember was a huge success. We raised over $1000 more than our last Kickstarter.

The next big challenge is to record the album. I was thinking about trying to track record it. But it takes too long. So I'm going to record how I've done nearly all of the bards albums. It will be recorded live.

The goal is to order CDs by early January so that they will arrive in February. Then Andrew and I can autograph and mail them.

IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST

IrishFest Atlanta was great. I felt a little bit more like I was part the local Irish community. I found a sustainable way of promote the event every week for a couple months. I completed several interviews which also got my interviewing skills working better.

I plan to have at least one interview every month in 2025. This is in part to shake up the podcast. It's also because I want to make the podcast even more sustainable in the long run.

2025 is the 20th anniversary of the podcast. But several of the biggest podcatchers won't share the podcast because it is a music only show. This will make it possible to be on some of those other podcatchers.

The podcast is officially turning into a monthly subscription show on Patreon. I've been thinking about doing this for years. Patreon and Apple made the decision for me. Hopefully it doesn't affect my monthly income.

I'm getting ready to compile the most-popular Celtic bands of the year list.

I'm also getting ready to compile the votes for the Celtic Top 20.

I have two interviews that I plan to post to the podcast in the next couple weeks.

Follow the podcast.

CELTIC CHRISTMAS MUSIC

The 2024 season of the Celtic Christmas Music podcast is in full swing. I am planning to release six episodes for the year.

However, due to Patreon changes, I hope to have three or four episodes that will be released during the off season of the year. Maybe even an interview or two.

So far the show is doing great and I'm thrilled by the incredible support of my patrons.

Follow the podcast.

PUB SONGS & STORIES

I'm feeling really good about Pub Songs & Stories right now. I took a big break in the summer. But I released a couple episodes over the past month to promote the Brobdingnagian Bards Kickstarter. They were simple, focused episodes. I have a couple more coming.

In the spring, I plan to re-release Cat Lovers Podcast episodes as part of the 20th anniversary of the Irish drinking songs for Cat lovers CD. I've edited over half of the episodes so far, but they will still be timely and used to promote more upcoming shows.

Follow the podcast.

CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS AND GALICIA

I started posting photos from my Celtic Invasion Vacations every Tuesday on Patreon, Instagram, and Facebook. So far it's been going great. Not that I've seen any response. But then that's not my actually goal.

The only thing I haven't done is to promote my trip to Galicia with those pictures.

The Celtic Invasion of Galicia is still open for applications. If you want to join me exploring the Celtic nation of Galicia in Spain, sign up soon. The trip is scheduled for June 21-28, 2025.

I don't have an itinerary yet. I'm researching the cool things to see and do. So stay tuned.

Find out about my Celtic Invasion Vacations.

COME ADVENTURE WITH ME

The album is still selling well. I'm about to run out of my first two printings of Album Pins. I met a guy at Multiverse who does laser engraving on a variety of items. I commissioned a short run of Come Adventure With Me dragons album pins. Sadly, they won't be here until January.

I ordered these to see if I can find a more eco-friendly Album Pin made of fancy wood instead of making them in enamel. I'm excited to see the result.

You can listen to the album here.

NEW BAND WITH INARA

Inara and I are brainstorming band names. It is starting to feel awkward saying Marc Gunn and Inara. Especially since she is taking the lead on our shows together.

I recorded our show at IrishFest. It was good. Her voice was extremely strong. I was really proud of her.

So the next step is to come up with a band name. She came up with a bunch after Conjuration. But they are very Scifi con focused. The music she's singing is more Celtic. But the music she's writing is more pop. So I'm trying to come up with a good plan.

In the meantime, I shared a video from our festival performance over on Patreon.

Watch the video.

JOIN ME FOR COFFEE

Coffee with The Celtfather is back on Dec 4. The show is at 11:30 AM Eastern.

UPCOMING SHOWS

DEC 8: Nerdy Wonderland at The Lost Druid Brewery, Avondale Estates, GA

JAN 11: Maggie McGuinness Pub, Huntsville, AL

MAR 1: The Lost Druid Brewery, Avondale Estates, GA

MAR 21-23: Sherwood Forest Faire, Paige, TX

MAR 29-30: Sherwood Forest Faire, Paige, TX 

If you want to see the latest places I'm performing at, make sure you check my homepage.

This past month was packed with shows. I have a few scheduled for next year, but not nearly as many breweries. That's because I'm having trouble booking some venues. It's a lot of work to hound venues each and every month to try to get gigs. Even The Lost Druid, which I love, seems to be only booking every three months.

Here's a complete list of What I'm Doing Now.

STATS

Mailing list subscribers = 1162 is down 5

Celtic Music Magazine = 3998 is down 16

YouTube Subscribers = 6251 is up 17

Facebook Likes = 4272 is up 2

Instagram = 2151 is up 14

Spotify followers: 2647 is down 28

# Number of streams on Spotify: 6611

LATEST SPOTIFY ALBUM STATS

Most-popular songs on Spotify, Last 28 Days:

The Widow and the Devil (6912)

Hero of Canton (3701)

A-Working in the Garden (1749)

Hobbit Hornpipe (1737)

Doctor of Gallifrey (1286)

Nancy Whiskey (800)

Slainte Mhaith (577)

Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (408)

Reavers, Malcolm, Reavers (399)

Christmas in the Shire (399)

Slainte Mhaith Christmas (221)

Top albums on Amazon, Last 28 Days:

Sci Fi Drinking Songs (2023)

Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits (529)

Firefly Drinking Songs (193)

As Long As I'm Flyin (129)

Kilted For Her Pleasure (126)

Most-popular songs on Amazon Music, Last 28 Days:

Doctor of Gallifrey (1110)

Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (428)

Christmas in Scotland (413)

Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits (136)

Isn't It Grand Boys to Be Walking Undead ( 134)

Prancing Pony (112)

Hero of Canton (95)

The Widow and the Devil (88)

Spotify playlists:

Irish & Celtic Music: Best of 2024:  126

Irish & Celtic Music: Best of 2023: 165

Irish & Celtic Music: Best of 2022: 231

Top Irish & Celtic Music: 786

Firefly Drinking Songs: 165

Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 113

Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 158

Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families: 1994

GUNN RUNNERS CLUB ON PATREON

Thank you to all of my Patrons in the Gunn Runners Club who support my music for as little as a buck a month. Even with the low posts on Patreon, I feel like the club still offers a ton of value. I hope you're enjoying the podcasts, albums, exclusive songs andy my blog.

If you haven't done so, please Subscribe now!

Patreon Subscribers: 147 paid, 311 total members

Here's some posts in the past month (not including Coffee Shows):

Regifting Album Pins and CDs

Celtic Invasion Photos: Burns o'Vat

Poll: What's your favorite song on Celtic Christmas Greetings?

Pub Songs & Stories #291: What are Album Pins?

Celtic Invasion Photos: Royal Lochnagar Distillery

Interview: Marc Gunn on Be Awesome Together

Photos: Georgia Renaissance Festival 2024, 1st Weekend

Celtic Invasion Photos: Cragganmore

17 Things to Do on the Isle of Man #290

Celtic Invasion Photos: The Glenlivet

Poll: What's Your Favorite Track on Dancing With Hobbits?

Celtic Invasion Photos: Inverness & Rait Castle

BREAKING DOWN THE SUPPORT

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, CD sales, and album pins allow me to tour.

Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts, pin and other merch.

And Patreon funds my livelihood as a musician!

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!

#CFMonthly