Celtfather Monthly: January 2019 (Patreon)

Greetings Gunn Runner

A whole new year. Not only that. It’s the 20th anniversary of the Brobdingnagian Bards. That’s when my music career truly began. My goal to become a songwriter really began. 

Before that I floundered around with bad lyrics and trying to play an instrument I had no passion for.  

How things’ve changed!

I have a big year ahead. It begins on Weds, January 9 at 9 am and 11 am when I launch Coffee with The Celtfather’s third season. 

You can watch it on YouTube every Wednesday at 11 am with bonus shows in January.  

I plan to spend more time on YouTube this year. 

If you’re on Facebook and worried you might miss a show, fear not. I’ll drop in for a little bit on my fan page to share a live streaming reminder. At least in January. 

CDs vs Spotify. I asked a lot of questions and tried new things to encourage streaming music in 2018. I had mixed success. 

I realized many of my listeners still want CDs. So in February look for a relaunch of my latest album, As Long As I’m Flyin’. My new goal is to make a cooler product for those who don’t want to just stream music. 

I’m excited about this new way to view old physical media. 

What new music will you expect in 2019?

My hope is to release a new single of “When She Held Me in Her Arms” in February. In March, I hope to have “Molly Malone” completed and released. 

I hope to have my Heroes CD completed by the end of February. 

This is a patron-only album that was funded by Heroic Gunn Runners on Patreon. There will be a physical CD, but again only Heroic patrons will get it. I wanted to create something special for my generous patrons. 

This is 20th anniversary of the Brobdingnagian Bards. Andrew and I are making lots of plans for this big year.  

We have new singles planned including the official release of “Mickey Jedi”, our third installment of the Jedi drinking song series. 

We’re tentatively planning a kickstarter for the late spring to fund a physical cd...assuming we can finish an album. But that’s the plan. 

Meantime, Mikey Mason and I are still writing new Firefly songs as part of our In the ‘Verse podcast. We talked about doing our own Kickstarter to get to conventions.  

I hope to figure out more later in January. 

One of the many reasons I moved the Coffee show to YouTube is because I want to keep adding regular video content on YouTube. 

Last year, I tried posting video singles. Only one got over a thousand views. 

It’s also time for me to expand my video production skills. It’s time I make official music videos. 

Ok. That scares the crap out of me. But I’m gonna try.

I also hope to use some money from the Gunn Runners Club to fund videos as well.  

I have lots of music plans. We shall see how it goes. 

Shows planned for 2019

Here’s what’s booked so far. I have monthly shows at Interstellar Ginger Beer & Exploration co and Brennan’s Irish Pub through April. 

My birthday, St. Patrick’s Day, I’m performing with a three piece Kilted Kings at the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. 

Weekends of March 23 and 30, I’m back at Sherwood Forest Faire. Look for a Bards reunion show as well. 

In May, I head to the California Autoharp Gathering as one of the guests. I’ll teach autoharp and play a couple shows. 

In June, I take a larger than usual group to Dingle, Ireland for the Celtic Invasion of Star Wars. 

Tho not confirmed, I should be back at Gen Con in Indianapolis in August and Dragon Con in Atlanta in September with the Brobdingnagian Bards. 

Oh! And keep an eye open for monthly Celtfather Live evening concerts. Some will be public. Others patron-only.

As for podcasts...

I declare 2019 the Year of the Irish and Celtic woman as part of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. I plan to highlight more female artists this year. 

I’m excited about the relaunch of the Pub Songs Podcast. More talk and music. It’s gonna be better than ever. And piss off more people who want Irish pub songs. And I’m fine with that. 

My blog is up and running. I’m writing again. In fact, im turning every podcast, picture and video as another opportunity to blog. It’s a fun way to look at the net. Takes up more time. But it makes me happier. 

Last before the stats, I created some new designs for my Celtic Heartstrings. So look for them and new price points for the designs this year. 

Stats

YouTube Subscribers = 3870 is up 28 from 3842. It’s up from 3598 in May. 

YouTube Watch Time = 46,571 is down from 49,179

YouTube Views = 15,108 is up from 14,798

Nothing exciting happened on YouTube this month. But in January, I'm gonna start a weekly Coffee with The Celtfather show. 

Facebook Likes = 3573 is up 21 from 3552

Facebook Followers = 3469 is up from 3442

FB Page Views = 418 is up from 366

FB Reach = 13,724 is up from 9719

FB Video Views = 11,946 is up from 7378

Spotify Latest Single Stats: "Loch Lomond": 295 streams

Spotify Latest Single Stats: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen": 3342 streams

Spotify followers: 1146 is up from 1124 last month

# Number of listens on Spotify: 11596 is up from 3508

Most-popular songs on Spotify: Frosty the Irish Snowman (5.5k), Jingle bells (4.8k), Celtic Christmas Elf (3.1k)

Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families: 1595 is up from 971

Top Irish & Celtic Music has 247 up from 230

Thus ends the January 2019 edition of Celtfather Monthly. 

Thank you as always for so generously supporting my music, listening, watching videos, sharing. 

Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, and live concerts. 

#CFMonthly