Going for Brogue: Irish Pub Songs and Sea Shanties with an Accent

Several years ago, I started the Irish Songs & Lyrics website to help musicians like learn new songs by ear. The site features Irish song lyrics, chords, and streaming audio files so you can listen to the songs you want to learn.

Unfortunately, the website stopped growing because we stopped recording. I decided to expand the website in 2006 by recording a bunch of Irish pub songs under a different name--4 Irish Whiskey. To make it more "authentic", I recorded the songs with an Irish accent.

Then a year later, a fan sent me a book of sea shanties. I thought some of those songs would make nice additions to the website, so this time I took on a pirate persona and added new songs to the website.

Now I decided it is time to release the music officially under my own name. I remixed the songs and compiled the two CDs into one. It's called Going for Brogue: Irish Pub Songs and Sea Shanties with an Accent. The CD features 19 Irish pub songs and sea shanties performed by yours truly with a variety of bizarre Irish accents. There's over 68 minutes of music on one environmentally conscience CD. Going for Brogue is raucous fun that shines like the heart of Irish folk music.

Track Listing:

1. A Drop of Nelson's Blood
2. The Holy Ground
3. The Night that Paddy Murphy Died
4. Isn't It Grand, Boys?
5. Botany Bay
6. Old Fenian Gun
7. The Mermaid Song
8. Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye
9. Irish Rover
10. The Humours of Whiskey
11. Whisky in the Jar
12. Fiddler's Green
13. Haul Away Joe
14. All For Me Grog
15. Bonnie Ship the Diamond
16. The Foggy Dew
17. Rattlin' Bog
18. Whiskey, Johnny!
19. Mingulay Boat Song

The CD is now mixed and off to the printers as of today. It should arrive back in Austin in about a month.

PLUS, when you order the CD you'll get a link to download a digital pack of graphics for your computer, website and profile, and a 37-page ebook of song lyrics, chords and information about the album.

Pre-Order Going for Brogue: Irish Pub Songs and Sea Shanties with an Accent, $15 + shipping

or better yet...

Buy 3, Get 3 FREE! This is the ultimate Friends Reward. Share the music with your friends. You'll both be happy you did.

Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers

Introducing Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers! If you love cats and Celtic music, you will love this latest offering from Marc Gunn & The Dubliners' Tabby Cats.

It all began with a phone call. I started meowing in the middle of "Wild Rover". Then I wrote my first cat song. Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers was born. The CD was wildly popular. Before I knew it I had people asking when I would release my next Cat CD. Sure, I had a few songs already written, but not enough for a second CD. I spent the next two years writing some songs and asking fans of the first album to submit some lyrics. The results are now here!

The album features twelve songs and two sets of Irish tunes. The songs are a mix of Irish and Scottish songs rewritten about cats. You'll hear songs about cats eating catnip, waking you up in the middle of the night, staring off into nothingness. You'll laugh as cats take over a dairy farm, splashing milk all over the place or a nice feline friendly twist to the Sylvester and Tweety Bird cartoon. Cats fight off canine pack recruitment and Harry Potter makes an appearance as does cat cloning. No really! It's twisted, but amazing fun.

The CD was produced by Celtic music lover, Rich Brotherton, and it shows. Whiskers in the Jar is an album of purrlicious fun for cat lovers everywhere.

1. What Shall We Do With a Catnipped Kitty
2. Molly Malone, the Cat's Perspective/Planxty Hewlett
3. Kitty at the Door
4. Danny Boy
5. To Catch a Cat
6. Big Strong Cat (My Puddy Tat, Sylvester)
7. Cuddles McGish
8. When the Dairy Farm Caught Fire
9. Kitty's Rambles/Dowd's 9 Lives/Jenny's Chickens
10. The Old Woman and Her Cat (Dundee Cat)
11. Kitty Martin
    
12. Harry Potter and the Rising of the Moon
13. Orange Kitten's Mew
14. Whiskers in the Jar
    

The graphics were designed by Celtic artist, Ingrid Houwers. The final album is coming soon.


Buy MP3 Album!
$9.99. Instant access. Download the nicely formatted MP3s to your computer.

Buy the CD!
$15. The take-it-with-you version.

Listen to it free online
Absolutely free. The complete CD. All 14 tracks. Completely free to listen to online.

Now playing: marcgunn's station - Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers

Non-Profit Donations

Mage Records considers it important to donate a portion of CD sales to non-profit organizations. Typically, these donations come from compilation CDs like .

As of April, 2008, Mage Records has donated over $7,000 cash to non-profits, including the following:

• Arkansas Celtic Music Society = $708.81
• Austin Browncoats = $771.08
  
• Austin Celtic Association = $1877.50
  
• Celtic Cultural Center of Texas = $622.69
• Celtic Heritage Festival = $1000
• Chapple Hill Cat Sanctuary = $213.63
  
• KOOP Radio = $100
• KUT Radio = $500
• Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina Relief = $1566.99

Renaissance Festival Podcast Compilation CD

The Renaissance Festival Podcast is a free, bi-monthly, downloadable radio show of Renaissance festival entertainment. It is hosted by Marc Gunn and Kristen Roger, and produced Joe Haydu and Marc Gunn, the show features music and entertainment from around the world.

Now we are proud to announce our latest compilation CD. This album benefits the podcast though a portion of the profits benefit a non-profit organization that will help the faire community as well and as needed.

This compilation is a lot like an episode of the Renaissance Festival Podcast with a fantastic mix of music and comedic faire commercials with our unique podcast touch.

Here's the complete track listing. Please visit the artists and find out more about the groups who support the Renaissance Festival Podcast.

Track Listing:
1. Fugli, "Crazy Leo's Indulgences", www.povera.com
2. Bedlam Bards, "Bedlam Boys / Bear Dance", www.bedlambards.com
3. Bramblebush, "Mary Mac", www.bramblebush-music.com
4. Bocca Musica, "Nancy", www.boccamusica.com
5. Bounding Main, "High Barbaree", www.boundingmain.com
6. Fugli, "Never Marry a Mermaid", www.povera.com
7. Tenpenny Travelers, "Dapper Dan", www.tenpennytravelers.com
8. Minstrel Woode, "Jolly Beggarman", www.minstrelwoode.com
9. Brobdingnagian Bards, "Hobbit's Dance", www.thebards.net
10. NeidFyre, "Old Maui", www.neidfyre.com
11. "Captain Black Jack" Murphy, "The Humours of Whiskey", www.irishsong.net
12. Queen's Gambit, "Rocky Road to Dublin / Foxhunter's Jig", www.queens-gambit.com
13. Pirate Comedy Show, "Tourists Promo", www.piratecomedyshow.com
14. Vince Conaway, "Cantiga", www.vinceconaway.com
15. Marc Gunn, "Finnegan's Wake", www.marcgunn.com
16. Jesse Linder, "The Leaving of Liverpool", www.jesselinderbard.com
17. Marooned, "Spanish Ladies", www.marooned-lv.com
18. Marc Gunn & Lorella Loftus, "PlagueAway: The Pestilence Potion", www.marcgunn.com
19. Terry Griffith, "For My Grandfathers", www.pittsburghirish.org/griffith
20. Blackjacks 'n Blarney, "Old Black Rum", www.renwidow.com
21. Thyme Awaye, "Highland Harry", www.myspace.com/thymeawaye
22. Seymoure, "The Pudding Song", www.seymoure.net
23. Marc Gunn & Lorella Loftus, "The Faire Is Over", www.marcgunn.com/

It album features photography by Chip Talbert, Kimberly Stockton as Elizabeth I and graphic design by the amazing, hard-working and generous, James McDaniel II.

Celtic Christmas Music

Just three more days until your own Celtic Christmas is begins. But there's no time like the present to start celebrating. Here you can find some:

• Irish Christmas traditions
  
• Scottish Christmas traditions
  

But the best way for any Celt to celebrate a Celtic Christmas is with music. Unfortunately, it's not easy finding Celtic Christmas music. Outside of Wales, there's not really any traditional Celtic Christmas music. However, there is a lot of new music written and adapted by Celtic music groups who have recorded their own Celtic Christmas CDs. These make great holiday gifts. So check out a few such popular Celtic Christmas CDs:

Celtic Christmas Music CDs

See more Celtic Christmas Music CDs.

4 Drunk's Sake: Live Songs from an Irish Pub

Imagine you're in a pub in Lisdoonvarna, Ireland. A bunch of Irish music lovers are packed in one small room. You get the pleasure of leading them in song.

That's what happened to 4 Irish Whiskey in the summer of 2007. A bunch of my fans joined me on a trip to Ireland and we had a good old fashion sing-a-long with a mix of traditional Irish songs and geeky favorites.

It was a rollicking good time that got wilder and wilder as the night progressed and we drank more Guinness and Bulmers. Yes, it devolved into drunken bliss for drunk's sake. It's not fine art, it's intoxicated sing-a-longable bliss!

So come join us!

Buy MP3 Album!
$9.99. Instant access. Download the nicely formatted MP3s to your computer.

Buy the CD!
$12. The take-it-with-you version.

Listen to it free online
Absolutely free. The complete CD. All 13 tracks. Completely free to listen to online.



Listen to the album for free right now:

Now playing: marcgunn's station - 4 Drunk's Sake: Live Songs from an Irish Pub

New Website - A Tribute to Love

I setup a new website dedicated to "A Tribute to Love", the upcoming CD by Marc Gunn.

Celtic Wedding Music Updates

The Celtic Music CD Store made a few updates to our various websites, including our own homepage and also:

• Celtic Christmas Music - Updated list of Celtic Christmas music
  
• Irish & Celtic Music Podcast - Link updates

The following websites had updated ads added to the websites:

• Celtic Wedding Music
• Celtic Weddings
• Celtic MP3s Music Magazine
• Bilbo Baggins Birthday
  

Also, the Celtic wedding CD had some webpage updates.

"Digital Traditions" by Celtic Stone

Legendary Celtic music from the Renaissance Festival circuit in the 1980s. High-energy combination of traditional Celtic and American music with rock and jazz influences.

CELTIC STONE was a band popluar at many southern & mid-western Rennaisance Festivals during the 1980's (though they played a number of folk clubs, Irish Pubs, & folk festivals, as well). The band (and its recordings) featured an eclectic mix of folk and rock influences. The early recordings tended more towards traditional Celtic fused with '60's British rock (and was renown for accoustic versions of rock classics, like "Thick as a Brick"). After 1985 the band moved more towards new grass/gypsy jazz/jam band influences. The band featured a variety of line-ups, with David Clauss on hammered dulcimer the common thread. The instrumentation also featured guitar, fiddle, flute, and vocals. Robyn Hilliard and Todd Menton were the featured vocalists on the earlier recordings, with David Roe featured on the later recordings. Other notable members were Simon Spaulding (fiddle), Malcom Smith (fiddle), Bob Bielefeld (flute), and Mitch Lawer (guitar & mandolin).

The CD is a retropective look at the band's career, with an emphasis on songs & tunes popular at Rennaissance festivals. It features tracks from the bands five main recordings, as well as two tunes not on previous recordings and two new versions of old favorites. A nice way to experience the band's changing line-up over the years. Tends to feature the band's accoustic side, though there are a couple of rockers. There are 16 tracks (about 60 min) with 1/3 instrumentals.

"Captain Black Jack" Murphy, Pirate Extraordinaire - Pogue Mahone Means Kiss My Arse

Wha'? Biography. Feckin' bastards!

No wait. That's me? Haha!

I'm "Captain Black Jack" Murphy, Pirate Extraordinaire, of the pirate ship IRISH STOUT. I've plundered the seven seas for twelve years now and I'm tired. The Royal Navy is getting awfully bitchy. So instead of pirating ships, I decided to record an album of sea shanties and drinking songs and pirate music. It's a much more respectable living considering the Major Record Labels are stealing more from musicians than we pirates have EVER done!

Yes! I am a firm believer in Piracy! Listen to my PSA and support the fine art of piracy starting with my music. But buy the Feckin' album first. It is imperative that you help us musicians who put our blood, sweat, and tears in each album.

Okay, the blood was from my shipmates. All I did was sing and play a little drum. That's one of the luxuries of being a CAPTAIN after all. You direct the idiot sailors beneath you. Ah tis a fine life. Treat 'em right and don't call 'em idiots too much to their face and you won't face a mutiny... again... Okay, it happened once... twice, okay four times, but it wasn't my fault. I WAS DRUNK! I thought those wenches WERE mermaids... How was I to know they wouldn't lead me to the treasure...

But I Learned my Lesson. That's the point I want to make.

The IRISH STOUT has treated me well. And I've treated her like the Queen she is! I make sure the men swab the decks keep the head in top shape. It's important. With all those waves Up and Down and Up and Down, when you're aiming, you're likely to miss. That's why I encourage me lads to just piss over the side of the ship. And NOT down the head. Save that for the real work.

But that's not the point I was getting at. The important thing of pirating is pirate as much as you can. Booty is grand but sometimes ye have to do That much more.

That's one of many reasons why I recorded an album of music. And soon I will start on my lecture tour of universities to educate students on the Fine Art of Piracy... and maybe learn a few tricks from those students. Damn! Those kids are ahead of the game!

Oh! And the CD is great! Buy the Feckin' thing and ten for your mates. Arrrrgh!