Celtfather Monthly March 2025 (Patreon)

Greetings Gunn Runner

It's March! St Patrick's Month. My birthday. And so much more.

Today is my first day back to gigging. I'm performing at The Lost Druid Brewery in Avondale Estates at 6 PM tonight. I've been practicing, and I am excited. I miss playing live. But healing must come first.

Healing up from my hip replacement surgery has gone great. I still have a little pain. But I started going to a physical therapist two days a week. After one week, she knocked me down to just one day a week. It seems my daily exercises are doing the trick.

Any case, I have some great news regarding my next album. So read on.

KICKSTARTER SUCCESS & UPDATES

The Kickstarter for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was a success. We raised over $7100 for the new compilation.

This year, I focused on selling 100 copies of the physical CD. We sold 80 CDs. That's pretty dang good. However, we only sold 28 Album Pins. I confess I was hoping more people would be interested in those. I see I have a LOT of education to do on the topic this year. Glad I did that before St Patrick's Day so I can remember to talk more about Album Pins.

In the meantime, the shirt order was sent to the printers. The Album Pins were ordered. I hope to order the physical CDs later this week.

I also ordered all of the shirts from the Brobdingnagian Bards' Kickstarter for Another Faire to Remember. Those should arrive soon if you haven't gotten them yet. I ordered the album pins as well.

Andrew came to town for a few days the last week of February. We overdubbed nearly all of Andrew's parts and recorded our live parts for songs. We invited fans to sing on the album and are awaiting tracks. Andrew's goal is to have the album mixed and mastered by the end of the week. I can't wait. Maybe we'll have stuff in time for Sherwood???

ALBUM PINS: THE MUSIC BUSINESS FUTURE, GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY

I am firm believer that Album Pins are the future of the music business. If enough bands and fans get on the bandwagon, we can make a massive Good change for our livelihood. But it still requires some more fine tuning.

One of the biggest challenges for me is the wood vs enamel album pin debate.

I started this whole project with enamel album pins. They look sharp. Their colorful. The price is comparable to low run printed CDs.

But there are problems with enamel printers. First, there are no enamel printers in the United States. It is not cost-effective. From what I understand, they all come out of China. That means, shipping across the globe. The Carbon Footprint is pretty big for such a small item. Second, I prefer buying as local as possible. Third, producing enamel pins is another high-carbon product. It requires a LOT of energy to mold the metals. It requires more fossil fuels to make the enamel.

Is it much difference from a CD? Or how about a wooden album pin?

I feel like wooden album pins might be a better solution. Those can be laser-burned by individuals like you or me. Or they can be sourced from a local wood burner at a reasonable rate.

There are still problems with wooden pins that raise a bunch of questions I don't yet have answer for. First, will they look sharp enough to command a $10-$20 price point? Do they look as good as enamel pins? I assume the laser-burning has its own carbon footprint. How does that compare to enamel? Can you design a wood pin in color?

There's a lot to consider. In the meantime, I had some success with a low-cost method of displaying album pins. I use racks cards that also include track listings and more to the album pin jacket. I should have pictures coming soon.

CELTIC INVASION OF WEXFORD, IRELAND

The Celtic Invasion of Wexford, Ireland is still underway. The final day of payment was in mid-February. But I still am looking for 1-2 more people. So I haven't closed it up yet.  So if you're interested, then drop me a line.

I'd love for you to join me on Patreon.

UPCOMING SHOWS

MAR 1: The Lost Druid Brewery, Avondale Estates, GA @ 6-9 PM

MAR 16: The Wings Cafe & Tap House, Marietta, GA @ 3-7 PM

MAR 17: The Wings Cafe & Tap House, Marietta, GA @ 6-9:30 PM

APR 4-6: StellarFest, Duluth, GA

APR 12-13: Sherwood Forest Faire, Paige, TX

APR 19-20: Sherwood Forest Faire, Paige, TX

APR 25-27: Jordan Con, Atlanta, GA

MAY 3: Maggie McGuinness Pub, Huntsville, AL

May 4: The Lost Druid Brewery, Avondales Estates, GA @ 4-7 PM

SEP 24-28: ALEP 6, Harrodsburg, KY

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

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

STATS

Mailing list subscribers = 1152 is up 8

Celtic Music Magazine = 3821 is down 20

YouTube Subscribers = 6272 is up 10

Facebook Likes = 4279 same

Instagram = 2161 is up 10

Spotify followers: 2815 is up 2689 is up 126

# Number of streams on Spotify: 6201

LATEST SPOTIFY ALBUM STATS

Most-popular songs on Spotify, Last 28 Days:

The Widow and the Devil (9053)

Hero of Canton (4418)

Doctor of Gallifrey (2621)

Hobbit Hornpipe (1337)

A-Working in the Garden (1203)

Caltown Weaver (1086)

Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (850)

Slainte Mhaith (411)

As Long As I'm Flyin' (265)

Reavers Malcolm Reavers (231)

Top albums on Amazon, Last 28 Days:

Sci Fi Drinking Songs (2560)

Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits (533)

Firefly Drinking Songs (195)

Pirates vs Dragons (180)

Kilted For Her Pleasure (164)

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

Doctor of Gallifrey (1530)

Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (456)

It's It Grand Boys to Be Walking Undead (203)

Christmas in Scotland (149)

Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits (126)

Spotify playlists:

Irish & Celtic Music: Best of 2024:  152

Irish & Celtic Music: Best of 2023: 168

Irish & Celtic Music: Best of 2022: 230

Top Irish & Celtic Music: 789

Firefly Drinking Songs: 162

Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers: 114

Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 161

Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families: 1989

YouTube playlists:

Irish & Celtic Music: Best of 2025 views: 133

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 and my blog.

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

Patreon Subscribers: 142 paid, 337 total members

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