How Lord of the Pounce Became a Hit (Patreon)

First, if you didn't download the free compilation I sent out yesterday, you can do so right here. Click this link and "save as". Want three albums for ten bucks? Read to the end.

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After I finished writing "Wild Kitty", I shared the lyrics online. My fans LOVED the concept. So I went back into my computer desk to start writing the next song.

My tabby cat Tiziano loved being with me while I worked at my desk. It always started work with him rubbing against my leg as I wrote. Then he'd look for an opening to jump in my lap. That doesn't work for me. You see, my instrument of choice is the Autoharp. It's great for cat lovers. It has a thin body which gives my cats more room to sit in my lap. However, when I'm writing, I can't lean over to write on the desk with a cat in my lap.

I looked down at Tizi, said, "I'm sorry" and put him back on the floor. Cats are determined creatures. They know what they want. Since the lap was unavailable, Tizi jumped on my desk, walked right in front of me and collapsed on my writing paper.

After that "When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling" was a breeze to write. Well, aside from the physical writing part, you know, with a cat lying on top of my writing paper. I just recounted my daily life as a Celtic musician.

The third song I wrote for Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers was the game changer. It all started a few years earlier when I was promoting my old band, the Brobdingnagian Bards, on MP3.com. I heard some awesome Celtic covers of the song "Lord of the Dance". The song was written Sydney Carter and based on an old Shaker melody called "Simple Gifts".

I loved the varied recordings. Following Carter's format with Jesus as "Lord of the Dance", I had no trouble composing lyrics for "Lord of the Pounce" with cats taking the heavenly role.

By the time I finished these three songs, I knew I had a concept album I wanted to record. But would anyone really get excited and buy it?

I had an idea on how to find out.

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I decided to record the songs to see if people would enjoy the concept. I posted an ad to find a cat-loving producer. I interviewed several. But only one met my "cat lover" criteria. His name was Ari Koinuma.

Ari was 100% independent, a brilliant musician, a multi-instrumentalist, and yes, he loved cats. He told me stories about them as we sat at Kirby Lane, eating dinner and talking music.

We started recording immediately. Ari came over to my apartment, and setup his gear. We recorded my vocals and Autoharp live.

Over the next couple weeks, I enlisted the aid of some local Irish musicians for the recording. We recorded, mixed, and mastered the first three songs of the CD.

Now was the ultimate test. Would anyone get excited?

I decided to find out. I setup a new website at catdrinkingsongs.com. I shared it on my blog. A couple weeks later, I was looking at the stats on my website. I had 20,000 hits from Fark.com. I clicked over and read the comments. Most were naysayers, "WTF!", "Was this guy drunk?", "My dog will eat his cats!"

But buried among the comments were my soon-to-be fans. The ones who you could hear purring on the other side of the net. They LOVED this concept. So I started my first crowdfunding campaign. I raised $7000 to finish the album.

That's why I started my newsletter Cat Drinking Tails. To get you involved with my music. And to give Torre, the lead meower of The Dubliners Tabby Cats, a voice to be heard across the globe.

Happily, the cat lovers keep coming back!

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No sooner had I released Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers when my fans and friends began asking, "When's the next album coming out?"

I'll be honest. I hadn't planned on doing more than one album. It was a pet project (pun intended;). But the Celtic Cats were insistent.

I turned the whole thing around. "Will you help me write more cat songs?", I asked. I told fans to submit lyrics. I got a bunch, but I only picked the best to go on my second CD, "Whiskers in the Jar."

The first of these was "Molly Malone". I'll be honest. When I look for, or write, parodies, I don't like to use many of the original lyrics. It's usually not a good parody. But my friend Emillee Rush sent me one based on this old Irish ghost story.

In the original song, Molly sells fresh fish in the streets, but dies from some sort of disease. Her ghost continues long after her death.

Emilee simply had Molly feeding stray cats too. It was simple and delightful. So it was one of the first songs I recorded with my second amazing producer, Rich Brotherton.

I loved the album that Ari Koinuma made me, but he was unavailable in 2007. Plus, I wanted the album to sound more like a contemporary, traditional music album. I wanted someone to listen, and do a double take when they realized the songs they loved were now rewritten about cats.

Rich Brotherton is a popular producer of Irish music in Austin. When I learned he had cats, I hired him to produce another three songs to promote the next album.

I was blown away with the result too. Listen to the instrumental tune at the end of "Molly Malone". That's all Rich. The octave mandolin work is incredible. Back in his 20s, he spent time in Doolin and Lisdoonvarna playing Irish music sessions. He knew his stuff. As a producer, he was also able to coerce a brilliant flute part from my sister when I asked her to play on the song.

This was a beautiful start to the second CD. But where's the meowing?

It's coming. But fur-st, I had to parody the most-famous Irish song ever!

Mreow!
Marc Gunn, The Catfather

Get the Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Loves albums here.