PUB SONGS & STORIES

Did I go drinking with hobbits this year? You bet I did. Hear all my stories escapades from Dragon Con 2023. Learn what new musical pin is in my store and how I’m keeping them organized through upcycling. This is Pub Songs & Stories #274. 0:20 - Marc Gunn “Arthur McBride” from St Patrick’s Day 3:02 - WELCOME TO PUB SONGS & STORIES I am Marc Gunn. I’m a rhythm and folk musician and podcaster. I perform at Ironshield Brewing in Lawrenceville, Georgia this Saturday. If you’re new to the show, please follow us on your favorite podcatcher. You can do that PubSong.com or even better or you can subscribe and download all of my songs in this show and the last one. Just send me an email. pubsong@celtfather. You will get an auto responder to download the month’s songs. You will also get that subscribe link. It’s quick and easy. While you’re emailing me to get your free EP, let me know what you’re doing while listening to this episode. 3:44 - WHAT’S NEW - UPCYCLING MUSICAL PIN CASES 8:48 - UPCOMING SHOWS Ironshield BrewingIronshield BrewingMultiverse ConThe Lost Druid BreweryNerdy Noel 12:29 - Dan the Bard “Drink Drink Drink” from Unicorns & Dragons 14:44 - JOIN THE CLUB The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast or my music, please join the Club. Every week, you get bonus podcasts, downloadable songs, printed sheet music, blogs, or stories from the road. Plus, you get weekly access to my Coffee with The Celtfather video concerts. Sign up for as little as $5 per month and save 15% with an annual membership. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: DWS, Melissa Randall, A. Lynch, Traci Girard-Turner, Michelle Hahn, Lisa, David Willer, Jo Navarre, Tracy O'Shea, Antoinette Brenion, John Dowling, Kate Smith, Gina Colaianni, Ruth Acoya, Gordy Euler, Iain Benson, Kerry Komai, Dannan Tavona, Tom DiGenno, Mazer If you can’t support us financially, you can leave a review for free. 15:49 - DRAGON CON THURSDAY - SATURDAY 24:56 - Marc Gunn “Those Characters Died” from Sci Fi Drinking Songs 29:56 - DRAGON CON 2023 - SATURDAY - MONDAY 37:09 - CLOSING 37:45 - OUTRO Thanks for listening to Pub Songs & Stories. The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. Sign up for new podcasts, videos, and songs every month. The show was edited by Mitchell Petersen with graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. You can follow and listen to the show wherever you find podcasts. Sign up to my mailing list to read the show notes for this episode and find out where I’m performing. And of course, please tell one friend about this podcast. Word of mouth is the absolute best way to support any creative endeavor. Have fun and sing along at www.pubsong.com! Remember. Reduce, reuse, recycle, and think about how you can make a positive impact on your environment. #pubstories #danthebard

Dragon Con weekend is back. There’s Firefly, hobbits, Brobdingnagian Bards, musical pins and madness. Music from Marc Gunn, Wakefire, Brobdingnagian Bards, Mikey Mason. This is Pub Songs & Stories #273. 0:21 - Marc Gunn “Raise a Glass to Flyin’” from As Long As I’m Flyin’ 1:57 - WELCOME TO PUB SONGS & STORIES I am Marc Gunn. I’m a rhythm and folk musician and podcaster living in Atlanta, Georgia. Where I’ll be performing at Dragon Con this coming weekend. If you’re new to the show, please follow us on your favorite podcatcher. You can do that PubSong.com or even better or you can subscribe and download all of my songs in this show and the last one. Just send me an email. pubsong@celtfather. You will get an auto responder to download the month’s songs. You will also get that subscribe link. It’s quick and easy. While you’re emailing me to get your free EP, let me know what you’re doing while listening to this episode. 3:44 - UPCOMING SHOWS AUG 31-SEP 4: Dragon Con Friday: Firefly Drinking Songs Sat: Bards Concourse show and evening concert Sun: Hobbit Drinking Songs Mon: Live Pub Songs & Stories SEP 14: Bandcamp Internet Concert @ 7:30 PM SEP 16: Pontoon Brewing Company, Sandy Springs, GA @ 2-5 PM SEP 23: Ironshield Brewing, Lawrenceville, GA @ 5:30-8:30 PM 7:36 - As featured on the latest Irish & Celtic Music Podcast: Wakefire “Storm Warning” from Meaning of Life Thurs: Centennial Friday: Concourse Saturday: Concourse 11:03 - JOIN THE CLUB The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast or my music, please join the Club. Every week, you get bonus podcasts, downloadable songs, printed sheet music, blogs, or stories from the road. Plus, you get weekly access to my Coffee with The Celtfather video concerts. Sign up for as little as $5 per month and save 15% with an annual membership. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Alice M, Karla A, Triskele, Ayden If you can’t support us financially, you can leave a review for free. 11:57 - BARDS AT DRAGON CON 2023 14:59 - Brobdingnagian Bards “I Will Not Sing Along” from I Will Not Sing Along 20:02 - THE STORY - MUSICAL PINS 25:27 - Mikey Mason “Shades of Gray” from Shades of Gray Friday: Concourse Friday: Hyatt Hanover Saturday: Concourse Sunday: Hyatt Hanover 32:17 - OUTRO OUTRO MUSIC: Marc Gunn & Sam Gillogly “Hobbit Polka” from Dancing With Hobbits Thanks for listening to Pub Songs & Stories. The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. Sign up for new podcasts, videos, and songs every month. The show was edited by Mitchell Petersen with graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. You can follow and listen to the show wherever you find podcasts. Sign up to my mailing list to read the show notes for this episode and find out where I’m performing. And of course, please tell one friend about this podcast. Word of mouth is the absolute best way to support any creative endeavor. Have fun and sing along at www.pubsong.com! Remember. Reduce, reuse, recycle, and think about how you can make a positive impact on your environment. #pubstories #dragoncon2023 #dragonCon

This pub is not a real Irish pub, but it’s the most-authentic Irish pub that is not in Ireland. Enjoy music from Kinnfolk and Fire in the Glen. Learn when Coffee with The Celtfather returns and what the future holds for this fall. This is Pub Songs & Stories #272. 0:19 - Kinnfolk “Siúil a Rún” from Kinnfolk 3:34 - WELCOME TO PUB SONGS & STORIES I am Marc Gunn. I’m a rhythm and folk Celtic musician and podcaster living in Atlanta, Georgia. This episode kicks off the fall season of Pub Songs & Stories. I’m gonna talk about what I have in store for the fall. I’m also gonna share with you a live concert from the Maggie McGuinness Pub. The most-Irish of Irish pubs that are NOT in Ireland. The first band was Kinnfolk. They are a wife and husband duo out of Virginia. They hosted show #609 of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Where they talked about Irish sessions they performed at during their recent honeymoon in Ireland. That song is from the CD… If you’re new to the show, please subscribe. You can do that PubSong.com or even better or you can subscribe and download all of my songs in this show. Just send me an email. pubsong@celtfather . You will get an auto responder to download the month’s songs. You will also get that subscribe link. It’s quick and easy. While you’re emailing me to get your free EP, well album, let me know what you’re doing while listening to this episode. 5:10 - UPCOMING SHOWS Fiddler's Green Coffeehouse Concert seriesPepper Place Farmer’s MarketDragon ConBrobdingnagian Bards 6:36 - WHAT’S COMING THIS FALL I tried a lot of new things out in the spring. I tried 2 or 3 different show names. I bounced the format around. I did an interview. I shared tips for visiting County Mayo, Ireland. I linked the podcast more tightly to my newsletter. I even shared a Countdown of Celtic music favorites from 2022. It felt to me like I didn’t have a direction. And to a large degree, I didn’t. As always, I love having this podcast and opportunity to talk about what’s new and promote what’s coming up. I love sharing stories about sustainability and how to protect our planet. I love sharing stories from my travels. I enjoyed interviewing people. I also know that I don’t have a ton of time for this podcast, especially because I have the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. That’s my main show. It’s the one I promote. It’s tough promoting multiple shows. But this podcast serves a very special audience, you, the Gunn Runners who enjoy my music. So the show will continue in a very similar fashion… without the constant show name changes. Whether Pub Songs & Stories is a misnomer or a reflection of my love and appreciation of public house music… folk music for people, it’s gonna continue in a similar fashion. I have a list of about 40 things I’d love to talk about. They include shows about sustainability and climate change, stories from my recent trip to Ireland, making better choices for your community, staying healthy with exercise, looking to the future to make things better, and of course, I’ll share the stories behind each of the songs I write or have written. Plus, I still want to highlight my fellow musicians, Celtic or otherwise. Because that’s just what I do. So we’re gonna do that right now with a funny track from the band Fire in the Glen. Rod hosted show #611 of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast and shared a story for Star of the County Down in this podcast. 10:52 - Fire in the Glen “From Amish to Irish” from Cutting Backen 14:23 - JOIN THE GUNN RUNNERS CLUB The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast or my music, please join the Club. You will access scores of podcasts, download dozens of songs and sheet music. Plus, you get weekly access to my Coffee with The Celtfather video concerts. Those shows return on Wednesday August 23 at 11 AM Eastern. Sign up for as little as $5 per month and save 15% with an annual membership. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon:...

Greetings Gunn Runners, The Fall 2023 season of Pub Songs & Stories will be back on Mon Aug 14 at 6 PM Eastern. So mark your calendar and of course subscribe if you haven't done so already. You can do that at PubSong.net You will enjoy a live concert, some stories from my Celtic Invasion of County Mayo, Ireland. I will continue my series talking about sustainability in the music industry and what you can do to fight climate change. You'll hear music from musicians I find on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast and beyond. We will look to the future to make things better. And of course, I will tell you the stories behind the songs I write and perform. It's all on Pub Songs & Stories starting August 14. Oh! And if you want to support the new Kickstarter for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. You'll find a link to that and more at pubsong.net. MUSIC IN THE PUB THIS WEEK "Bright Side of Everything" by Marc Gunn from Selcouth "Hero of Canton" by Marc Gunn from As Long As I'm Flyin'

The first Friday of May is no pants day. Learn about the origins of this hilarious holiday, and if it was actually invented by a Scotsman in Glasgow in the early 1800s. I talk about a man who wears a kilt every day. You will also learn about some sustainable green bath products. Listen to music by Marc Gunn, Vicki Swan and Johnny Dyer, Niamh Dunne, and Brobdingnagian Bards This is Pub Songs & Stories #270. 0:25 - Brobdingnagian Bards “Seven Drunken Nights in Hobbiton” from I Will Not Sing Along 4:49 - WELCOME TO PUB SONGS & STORIES This is the audio edition of my newsletter. I am Marc Gunn. I’m a rhythm and folk Celtic musician and podcaster living in Atlanta, Georgia. If you’re new to the show, please subscribe. You can do that PubSong.com/free or even better or you can subscribe and download all of my songs in this show. Just send me an email. You will get an auto responder with a link to download this month’s songs. You will also get that subscribe link. It’s quick and easy. While you’re emailing me to get your free EP, let me know what you’re doing while listening to this episode. 6:04 - WHAT’S NEW STORY 7:40 - UPCOMING SHOWS The Celtfather on YouTube@ 10:30 AM Eastern 8:50 - GUEST SONG: Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer "1924" Hear the story behind the song in show #603 Celtic Tides of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. 14:44 - STORY OF NO PANTS DAY In 2000, the Knighthood of Buh, a student organization at the University of Texas at Austin, held their first annual No Pants Day celebration on the first Friday of May. Andrew and I were practicing daily on the South Mall of the university as the Brobdingnagian Bards. So we were there as a bunch of students ran through the school shouting and waving signs about the oppression of pants. The event resonated with me because, well, we wore kilts at all of our shows. We were “pantless” too. The event spread to other locations around the nation and eventually the world. But it took me four years before I wrote “A Man Who Wears A Kilt Every Day”, a parody of the traditional Scottish song “Jock Stuart”. Instead of “a man you don’t meet every day”, my song was about a man who loved wearing kilts, like I did. I didn’t stop there. Again, I felt like No Pants Day was a Scottish holiday. So I decided to create a backstory for my song. I wanted people to think that the origins of No Pants Day was actually a Scottish holiday called No Troosers Day. I researched Scottish history and learned about the Proscription Act of 1746. This act banned the Scots from wearing “highland clothing”. The goal of course was to assimilate the Scots into Great Britain, just like the Disarming Act banned the Scottish from wearing weapons. From that base, I wrote a fictional history of an uprising in Glasgow where the Scots removed their trousers and donned their kilts and rewrote “Jock Stuart” to celebrate their love of the kilt and their culture. The best thing about this fictional history was that a few years later, a newspaper in Canada quoted the blog where I shared this fake history saying that this was ACTUALLY the origins of No Pants Day. This should serve as a reminder to all of us. Check your sources! I finally recorded this song in 2009 for my CD, Kilted For Her Pleasure. “Jock Stuart (A Man Who Wears A Kilt Every Day)” lyrics by Marc Gunn, May 6, 2004, music traditional Oh my name is Jock Stuart, I´m a trooser-less man And my roving young fellows move freely * So be easy and free in nae boxers or briefs I´m a man who wears a kilt every day. I’m Highlander made and a piper to trade And the tartan is me flag that I wear. I go out with my gun and my dog for to hunt Try to make me wear troosers, and you'll pay. I’ve got acres of land, I’ve got ships to command So burn your pants on No Troosers Day So come fill up my glass with whiskey or rum Then send o'er your lass and you'll see. It's better easy and free in nae boxers or briefs I’m a man who wears a kilt every...

My goal is to get someone to share what I make. Highlight a new theme each week. Your mom is calling! Or is it? It might be a scammer. But I can help you protect yourself. Can we make the music business more sustainable? I have an interview with Kyle Carey. This is Sci Fi Pub Songs & Stories #269. 0:16 - Marc Gunn “Romulan Ale” from Sci Fi Drinking Songs 3:23 - WELCOME TO SCI FI PUB SONGS & STORIES This is the audio edition of my newsletter. I am Marc Gunn. I’m a Rhythm & Folk Celtic musician in Atlanta. I play traditional Irish and Scottish drinking songs, but I am also a songwriter. I write songs Celtic culture and fuse them pop culture, things like Lord of the Rings, Firefly, Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who and more. If you’re new to the show, please subscribe. You can do that at PubSong.com. Or even better send me an email to pubsong@ celtfather. You can not only subscribe, but you can also download all of my songs in this show. You will get an email with a link to download this month’s songs. It’s quick and easy. Oh! And let me know what you’re doing while listening to this episode. And as you hopefully heard in the last episode when I say I have CDs. Your job is to shout, “You have CDs!” 5:01 - UPCOMING SHOWS Sherwood Forest FaireCat Drinking Songs on BandcampJordan ConThe Lost DruidCeltic Invasion Vacations 5:43 - Marc Gunn “A Well-Dressed Hobbit” from Don’t Go Drinking With Hobbits 8:02 - KYLE CAREY IS MAKING MUSIC MORE SUSTAINABLE Kyle Carey plays Gaelic Americana music. She’s originally from New Hampshire and sings songs in Irish and Scots Gaelic. Her songwriting is inspired by American and Celtic folklore. She has a brand new Kickstarter currently running for her album, The Last Bough. 23:59 - Kyle Carey “June Day” from North Star 27:50 - SUPPORT THE THINGS YOU LOVE If you enjoy this show and want to keep it going, join over 150 other Gunn Runners on Patreon. Every week, you get bonus podcasts, downloadable songs, printed sheet music, blogs, or stories from the road. Plus, you get weekly access to my Coffee with The Celtfather video concerts and discounts on merch. Sign up for as little as $5 per month. You can also save 15% with an annual membership. I make music and podcasts because of your generosity so please join the Club today! Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Alice M, Karla A, Triskele, Ayden B 28:49 - DEFENDING YOURSELF FROM AI DEEP FAKES One of my favorite podcasts to listen to is called Akimbo. It’s by Seth Godin, a brilliant marketer and thought leader. He constantly challenges his listeners to “make things better by making better things.” That resonates with me. One of my early Irish & Celtic Music Podcast slogans was “changing the way you hear Celtic music.” That was about improving the culture, embracing change, recognizing that our past is important but so is our future. That’s what podcasting is all about. Or it can be. This week, Seth didn’t something intriguing. He asked ChatGPT to evaluate the functions, the future, and the problems of artificial intelligence like ChatGPT. He recorded the responses… Well, sort of. It turned out the entire recording, except the intro, was an AI voice manipulator that sounded almost exactly like Seth Godin. There was one moment in the recording that I thought, this is kind of dry sounding. I chalked it up to ChatGPT. Little did I know, it wasn’t Seth speaking. My mom just shared an AI scam that’s happening. I have an idea on how to fix. Thank you Harry Potter! The scam is that an AI simulator will call you on the phone and have the same voice as someone you know. They say that they are in financial trouble. They ask for your help. What do you do? At some point, the simulator will be good enough to fool you. Just like Seth Godin’s podcast fooled me. We’re already there. But I immediately came up with a defense. It’s from the final books of Harry Potter. I’ll let ChatGPT explain: “In the final books of the Harry Potter...

What happens when a traditional Irish song is rewritten about zombies? And I have CDs!!!! If you didn’t say, “You have Cds…”, you’ll find out why it’s important. It’s kind of funny. This is Sci Fi Pub Songs & Stories #268. 0:16 - “Isn’t It Grand Boys” from Happy Songs of Death 4:09 - WELCOME TO SCI FI PUB SONGS & STORIES This is the audio edition of my newsletter. I am Marc Gunn. I’m a rhythm and folk Celtic musician living in Atlanta, Georgia. I play traditional Irish and Scottish drinking songs. I’m also a songwriter. I write songs inspired by Celtic culture as well as pop culture, things like Lord of the Rings, Firefly, Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who and more. If you’re new to the show, please subscribe. You can do that PubSong.com/free or even better or you can subscribe and download all of my songs in this show. Just send me an email. pubsong@ celtfather You will get an auto responder with a link to download this month’s songs. You will also get that subscribe link. It’s quick and easy. While you’re emailing me to get your free EP, let me know what you’re doing while listening to this episode. We kicked off the show… 5:04 - WHAT’S NEW STORY I really should talk more about the stuff I sell in my store. But it feels uncomfortable to do so. That’s one of the reasons if you go to any of my live shows, and I say, “I have Cds”. Audience members will shout “you have Cdddsss?!” It’s a little gimmick I use to draw attention to my merch. And it’s really catchy. I was listening to the last episode of the podcast about writing drinking songs. While I talked about my song “The Cat Came Back… the Cat’s Perspective,”. It’s from my C-D… And then I paused, just like I do at live shows. When I listened to the episode, I responded, “You have CDs…” It got me thinking. Could we do that same thing through a podcast? I don’t know. But we’re gonna try. We’re gonna make this podcast into a sort of an interactive drinking game. Each time I mention CDs, your job is to audibly respond, “you have CDs…” 6:25 - UPCOMING SHOWS Sherwood Forest FaireJordan ConThe Lost DruidCeltic Invasion Vacations 9:24 - The Celtic Kitchen Party “Covid-19 Shanty” from Last Call 11:11 - COMMENTS I don’t get a ton of feedback for this show. But if you send an email to pubsong@celtfather with a short comment about the show… or just mentioning CDs that you love, that’s a great way for us to interact and have more of a conversation. In fact, if you need a starter, I’d love it if you would grab your phone. Go to your voice recorder app. Say, “You have Cds”. Then email it to me. Marisa Halvorson emailed: "Hello Marc! I have been listening to your songs practically nonstop this St. Paddy's season (I'm in NOLA and work on Magazine street so season it is) I had to work on the day the Irish Channel parade rolled and definitely enjoyed it more with your songs keeping me company while locked in my building by parade goers. Thank you for always keeping me company and my spirits up with your music." Kennedy Johnson emailed: "Happy St Patricks Day to you Marc. I hope you and your family are well on this day of Green & Orange 🇮🇪 I love your podcasts!! I have today’s show cued up and ready to play. Always a tradition foe me to list to your music podcast on this day!!" 13:50 - JOIN THE CLUB As always, this show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast or my music, please join the Club. You get something new every week. It might be a podcast, a song, sheet music, a blog, or a photo. And of course you will get videos, including my weekly Coffee with The Celtfather video concert series. Sign up for as little as $5 per month and save 15% with an annual membership. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Alice M, Karla A, Triskele, Ayden B 14:34 - Marc Gunn “The Maid Went to the Mill” from Kilted For Her Pleasure 16:49 - THE STORY ISN’T IT GRAND, BOYS, TO BE WALKING UNDEAD What happens when a traditional Irish song is...

St Patrick’s Day isn’t just about drinking. But I will tell you the story of how I learned to write drinking songs so you can write your own… just sing along a little more easily. I share 17 amazing Celtic Bands you should check out for St Patrick’s Day. Learn a green idea for investing in our climate. This is Sci Fi Pub Songs & Stories #267. 0:22 - Kilted Kings “Ride On” from Flower of Scotland 4:42 - WELCOME TO SCI FI PUB SONGS & STORIES Happy St Patrick’s Day! I am Marc Gunn. I’m a rhythm and folk Celtic musician living in Atlanta, Georgia. This is the audio edition of my weekly newsletter. I play traditional Irish and Scottish drinking songs. I also write songs inspired by pop culture, things like Lord of the Rings, Firefly, and Doctor Who. That’s why this is Sci Fi Pub Songs & Stories. But this week, I’m mostly focusing on St Patrick’s Day fun. 5:17 - UPCOMING SHOWS Little Shop of StoriesPontoon BrewingIronshield BrewingThe Lost DruidCeltic Invasion Vacations 8:15 - WHAT’S NEW STORY NPR Tiny Desk Concert performance of “Blink” 15:53 - Marc Gunn & Jamie Haeuser “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye” from How America Saved Irish Music 19:47 - FEEDBACK Mitchell Petersen responded to my last newsletter about “Saying No Even If It’s Included”. I said “When I choose fruit and vegetables, I pick the ones that aren’t in plastic bags. I get a little grossed out by putting them on the scanner. But then I wash them when I get home.” He responded: “FYI, we have these bags for fruits and veggies at the grocery store and they are awesome and you don't need to use the plastic bags OR have to put your stuff straight in the basket” 21:08 - One of the best things about Dragon Con… 21:55 - DOWNLOAD MY FREE EP You can download all of my songs in this show. Just send me an email. pubsong@ celtfather You will get an auto responder with a link to download this month’s album. You can also subscribe to the podcast if you’re not already subscribed. It’s quick and easy. While you’re emailing me to get your free EP, let me know what you’re doing while listening to this episode. 24:08 - Jiggy “King of the Faeries” from Translate New video: “Fiery Arrow” 27:21 - STORY OF THE CAT CAME BACK… THE CAT’S PERSPECTIVE I learned how to write a drinking song thanks to “The Cat Came Back… The Cat’s POV”. First, let me point out, a drinking song isn’t about alcohol. It’s a song with a fun, easy-to-sing chorus. Sometimes it’s interactive. “Wild Rover” has claps in the chorus. “Rattlin’ Bog” and “The Unicorn Song” have a whole bunch of motions that act out the lyrics. “Seven Drunken Nights” and “Big Strong Man” have phrases that the audience shouts back at the singer. These were the songs I was thinking of when I wrote the cat’s perspective of a famous folk song. I never liked “The Cat Came Back.” It was cruel and I love cats. So I decided to rewrite the song using the melody of “The Moonshiner”. But I wanted to make it a call-and-response song. So I added “Ka-Boom”, “Gurgle” and more to the end of the verses. But when I finally decided to play it live, I had NO idea how to get the audience to interact with the song. Eventually, I taught the audience the 5 different responses (five, really? What was I thinking?). I introduce each exclamation before the verse. But it’s still difficult to get them involved. If you want to write a drinking song, keep it simple. One call and response throughout is best. Teach it at the beginning of the song. “Slainte Mhaith” is a great drinking song. It has an easy-to-sing chorus. But it also has a super easy call-and-response. “When I sing slainte mhaith, you shout it back to me. Slainte mhaith! [Slainte mhaith]”. Sometimes you learn to do something the easy way. With this song, I learned what not to do. Ah well. Live and learn. Here’s the lyrics to “The Cat Came Back… The Cat’s Perspective”: I was a crazy cat for many a year, My years are advancing. Now I sleep in my chair. But old Mr. Johnson still wants me...

The departure of the Irish from Ireland in the 1800s had some tragic consequences. Jamie Haeuser’s songs “Men of New Basin Canal” and “Bridget’s Prayer” dig into that. So we’re gonna dig into the songs and the album How America Saved Irish Music. Great news about my next album, Come Adventure With Me. Bandcamp now playlists. And learning to say no. This is Sci Fi Pub Songs & Stories #266. 0:30 - Marc Gunn “Old Dun Cow” from St Patrick’s Day 4:35 - WELCOME TO SCI FI PUB SONGS & STORIES This is the audio edition of my newsletter as well as the liner notes for the songs I record so that you can enjoy my music even more! And who am I? I am Marc Gunn. I’m a rhythm and folk Celtic musician living in Atlanta, Georgia. I play traditional Irish and Scottish drinking songs. But I’m also a songwriter. I write songs inspired by Celtic culture as well as songs inspired by pop culture, things like Lord of the Rings, Firefly, Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who and more. That’s the reason one brewery I play called my music Sci F’Irish music. It’s also why this is Sci Fi Pub Songs & Stories. WHAT’S NEW St Patrick’s Day musicIrish & Celtic Music Podcast 6:08 - UPCOMING SHOWS Tucker Brewing CompanyPontoon BrewingPontoon BrewingIronshield BrewingCeltic Invasion Vacations 9:34 - Lauren Oxford “What Rings True” from Lauren Oxford 14:40 - IF YOU’RE WAITING TO COME ADVENTURE WITH ME… Then you don’t have too much longer to wait. Well, assuming you were part of the Kickstarter. My engineer, Mitchell, sent me three songs last week. I listened to each of them while I was getting my car emissions tested. We spent the rest of the morning emailing and forth with mixes and edits. I love the result, and those are the final tracks for the album. I should have a track listing soon. I want to make sure we nail down the last of those songs. But I greenlighted Mitchell to start creating a song order so I could start listening. The other thing I finally did was come up with a couple Album Pin designs thanks to Miranda. I ran a poll on Patreon between two different designs: one a dragon and one a compass. It was a tight poll. They both are pretty fantastic. But as they say in Highlander: there can be only one! That’s actually not at all true. I can do more. But for the Kickstarter, I went with the Compass design that reads: “Never Stop Adventuring”. I’ll send that to the printers as soon as I have a track listing. Finally, I’m still on target for sending out the digital album to everyone on Kickstarter on March 17. Here’s hoping! 21:10 - Marc Gunn “Whiskey in the Jar feat. Andrew McKee, The Irish Bard” from St Patrick’s Day 24:26 - DOWNLOAD MY FREE EP You can download all of my songs in this show. Just send me an email. pubsong@celtfather You will get an auto responder with a link to download this month’s album. You can also subscribe to the podcast if you’re not already subscribed. It’s quick and easy. While you’re emailing me to get your free EP, let me know what you’re doing while listening to this episode. 25:00 - STORY OF MEN OF NEW BASIN CANAL I was living in New Orleans in 2009 when I got a phone call from Jamie Haeuser. She was driving back from an Irish session in NOLA to her home in Robert, Louisiana across the causeway. She told me she had written lyrics for two songs. She asked if I’d set them to music. Of course, without hesitation, I said, “Yes! What are they about?” She then told me how the Causeway she was driving across had once been the New Basin Canal. It was a shipping canal from Lake Pontchartrain through swamp to booming uptown part of New Orleans. Work on the canal began in 1832. Almost immediately, they ran to problems. Yellow fever ravaged the workers. It was deemed too costly to use slaves to build the canal. So instead, the Irish immigrants were hired to build it. Many people don’t realize that New Orleans was one of the top immigration points for the Irish behind New York and Boston. As a result, it’s...

Happy Valentine’s Day! I have a love song story to share with you from my newest CD, Selcouth. Find how my next album, Come Adventure With Me, is progressing. I added another February gig to my calendar. I share things no one ever told me about running. And is Arbor Day in February? This is Sci Fi Pub Songs & Stories #265 0:24 - “Galway Shawl (live)” by Marc Gunn from Camping Trip 2022 6:13 - WELCOME TO SCI FI PUB SONGS & STORIES I am Marc Gunn. This is the audio edition of my newsletter as well as the liner notes for the songs I record. You can follow this show at PubSong.net or send an email to pubsong@celtfather to sign up and get the MP3s for my songs featured in this episode. 7:19 - UPCOMING SHOWS Ironshield BrewingTucker Brewing CompanyPontoon BrewingIronshield BrewingCeltic Invasion Vacations WHAT’S NEW? Thanks to everyone on Patreon who voted for the next Internet Concert theme. Next month’s theme is Irish music for St Patrick’s Day. In April, we’ll sing Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers. Read the Daily Journal from my Celtic Invasion of Loch Lomond. Oh! Make sure you subscribe to Sci Fi Pub Songs & Stories. I’m sharing songs I recorded on a camping trip last fall. They’re kinda romantic too! 8:47 - COME ADVENTURE WITH ME… Is the title of my next album. I did a Kickstarter for it about this time last year. It was a huge success, fully funded a few days into the campaign. I gave myself until July to actually release the album to supporters. But that’s not good enough. I’m gonna try to release the digital music to supporters by my birthday, March 17. Will that happen? We shall see. Right now, I have 8 songs fully completed. I have four more that are being edited. So I’m well on the way to completing it by that date. There are several other tracks. I still haven’t come up with a good album pin idea. But I’m hopeful I can figure that out in the next few weeks. But I am super excited that the project is almost done. Because I have three other albums to work on: Dancing With Hobbits, Another Faire to Remember by Brobdingnagian Bards, and whatever the next album will be… I have an idea or two… 12:07 - “Wherever I May Roam (live)” by Marc Gunn from Selcouth 14:55 - DOWNLOAD MY FREE EP You can download all of my songs in this show. Just send me an email. pubsong@ celtfather You will get an auto responder with a link to download this month’s album. You can also subscribe to the podcast if you’re not already subscribed. It’s quick and easy. While you’re emailing me to get your free EP, let me know what you’re doing while listening to this episode. 15:06 - WHEN SHE HELD ME IN HER ARMS In 2001, the Brobdingnagian Bards were performing at a lot of faires. Kansas City Renaissance Festival was one of the biggest and the coolest gig we had booked to that date. They paid us to fly to KC from Austin, Texas for several weekends. They put us up in a hotel. We hung out with 3 Pints Gone. We made a lot of new fans. We were even hired to perform at a wedding. I don’t remember all of the details surrounding the writing of “When She Held Me In Her Arms”. But that festival stands out in my mind. I remember writing the song in the hotel after a long day at faire. It flowed out of me, filled with so much hope, love, and romance about finding true love and never turning back. Andrew and I recorded it shortly after that. We went into the studio. The Bards recording was decent enough, but the performance was way too fast. So it did not end up on A Faire to Remember or Songs of Ireland. But when I was trying to put together a compilation of music so we could book some wedding gigs, I added that song to A Celtic Renaissance Wedding. But I was never really happy with it as a recording. Nevertheless, I continued to sing the song over the years. When I met Gwen in 2009, I sang it to her at MileHiCon in Denver. She was living in Virginia at the time. But she flew to Colorado to be with me for that con. It took another five...

The itinerary for my Celtic Invasion of Westport, Ireland is now online. Find out what my Firefly song, “Blue Sun”, has to do with Monopoly and Walmart. Get an Atlanta Food Recommendation. Then go out to eat with your own Celtery. This is Sci Fi Pub Songs & Stories #264. 0:20 - Kilted Kings “Blue Sun” from Flower of Scotland WELCOME TO SCI FI PUB SONGS & STORIES I am Marc Gunn. This is the audio edition of my newsletter as well as the liner notes for the songs I record. You can follow this show at PubSong.net or send an email to pubsong@celtfather to sign up and get the MP3s for my songs featured in this episode. 3:10 - WHAT’S NEW: A NEW SHOW NAME One of my weaknesses is sometimes I have to try something before I can see how effective it is. The past two episodes were called Atlanta Pub Songs & Stories because I wanted and still want to highlight things around Atlanta, where I currently live. The problem is I wasn’t sure what to do. Yes. I have a food recommendation coming up. But when I put myself in the shoes of potential listeners, like you, I just don’t see the Atlanta part as being useful for reaching an audience. More than likely, you’re interested in Sci Fi, fantasy, Celtic music and culture, or pop culture because that is what I do. Atlanta is not as essential to the music story even though most of my shows are located in this city. And so, I’m pleased to introduce Sci Fi Pub Songs & Stories. 5:15 - UPCOMING SHOWS Pontoon BrewingCeltic Invasion Vacations 6:25 - CELTIC INVASION OF WESTPORT, IRELAND This June, I’m bringing a small group of people to Westport, Ireland. I’d like you to join me. Westport is part of the Wild Atlantic Way. That’s a spectacular, scenic route from Irishowen in County Donegal all the way down the west coast of Ireland to Kinsale in County Cork. It’s broken up into 14 stages, two of which are in the area we are staying, Achill Island and Clew Bay, and Westport to Clifden. 5 Things You Should Do in County Mayo, Ireland Croagh PatrickClare Island I completed the itinerary for the trip and already I think I scheduled way too much. There are so many fine castles, cliffs, and amazing things to see, not to mention the time I hope to spend in Matt Malloy’s listening to music. It’s gonna be an incredible trip. I still have space for just two more people. If you’d like to join me in Ireland, hear me perform live in your living room, you won’t be sorry. It’s gonna be spectacular. Check out the itinerary for the Celtic Invasion Vacations of Ireland 2023 and drop me an email to let me know that you want to go! 10:35 - Marc Gunn & Jamie Haeuser “Gypsy Rover” from How America Saved Irish Music 13:50 - DOWNLOAD MY FREE EP You can download all of my songs in this show. Just send me an email to pubsong@ celtfather. You will get an auto responder with a link to download this month’s album. You can also subscribe to the podcast if you’re not already subscribed. It’s quick and easy. While you’re emailing me to get your free EP, let me know what you’re doing while listening to this episode. 14:35 - STAND AGAINST BLUE SUN CORPORATION AND GET LOCAL I loved Monopoly as a kid. I taught Kenzie it. After just two games, I was kinda done. The game drags on just way too long. Unfortunately, Kenzie is not done with it. She loves it and makes us play as often as we will let her. So I finally figured out how to endure the game. It’s a quick win or lose strategy. If you’re lucky enough to buy all the property as soon as possible, then demolish and win. If you’re not, do your best to lose and get out of the game as soon as possible. Kind of sad. But that’s what a monopoly is. If you learned about early 20th century monopolies, it wasn’t much better. In fact, the woman who created the game was trying to teach people the evils of monopolies. Yet, we haven’t learned. The government allowed Live Nation to create a monopoly of concert venues. Ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s summer tour busted their online...

Was Robert Burns a Vulcan? Learn more about one of the most-famous songs by the great Scottish poet, Robert Burns. Get ready for the pub that’s not really a pub. Catch a bus at a Buzz Stop. It might help beautify your neighborhood and fight climate change. 0:20 - “Ride On” from Flower of Scotland by Kilted Kings 4:40 - WELCOME TO ATLANTA PUB SONGS & STORIES I am Marc Gunn. This is the audio liner notes for the songs I record and play and for the stories I gather and the people I meet in the city of Atlanta. It’s also the audio edition of my newsletter. You can subscribe at pubsong.net, you’ll get the written version of this podcast, along with quick access links to many of the stories listed I’m telling you about. 5:10 - WHAT’S NEW? Heather DaleGaFilkFolk on Foot podcast Kilts, Celts and Rock’n’Roll2022 Year in ReviewAtlanta Irish & Celtic MusicFree Irish Music 7:40 - “She’s Shiny” from As Long As I’m Flyin’ 11:56 - MAGGIE MCGUINNESS PUB Maggie McGuinness Pub is not your typical Irish pub. Not unless your typical Irish pub is located in the basement of an Irish American home in the suburbs of Hunstville, Alabama. “To The Irish!” That’s their slogan. And you best be ready to shout when the time comes. Aside from that, the Pub is just a fun place to play. For over a decade, I have packed that basement, decorated to look the most-traditional of Irish pubs. I am excited to return there once again in January. 12:50 - UPCOMING SHOWS Here are some more shows happening this month: Maggie McGuinness PubCoffee with The Celtfather on YouTubeThe Lost DruidPontoon BrewingCeltic Invasion Vacations Is there a venue that you think I should perform at? Please let me know about it. I’m looking for new places to play this year. Maybe there’s a spot near you. And if you live in the Atlanta area, then it’s even more possible. Let’s make it happen! 13:35 - “Loch Lomond” from Selcouth 16:27 - GREEN GROW THE RASHES I got a t-shirt at a Highland Games as a kid. It read, “Spock is a Scot.” I never understood that until I heard Scottish singer, Ed Miller, introduce “Green Grow the Rashes”. He joked, “I know a Scotsman who loved a woman so much. He almost told her.” The joke is that Scots are not very emotional. And yet, this song by Scotland’s National Poet, Robert Burns, is one of the most beautiful, touching, and emotional songs ever written. There's naught but care on every hand, In every hour that passes, O! What signifies the life o' man, And 'twere not for the lasses O? * Green grow the rashes O! Green grow the rashes O! The sweetest hour that e'er I spent Were spent among the lasses O! The war'ly race may riches chase, And riches may soon fly them, O! And tho at last they catch them fast, Their hearts can ne'er enjoy them, O! But gie me a cannie hour at e'en My arms about my dearie, O! And war'ly cares and worldly men, May all gae tapsalteerie, O! For you sae douce wha sneer at this, Ye're not but senseless asses, O! The wisest man the world e'er saw, He dearly loved the lasses, O! Auld Nature swears the lovely dears, Her noblest work she classes, O! Her apprentice hand she tried on man, And then she made the lasses, O! I don’t remember who I learned this song from. But I’ve always been a hopeful romantic. I loved it. Brobdingnagian Bards performed it regularly even before we recorded it for our album, Real Men Wear Kilts. However, I do remember Royce Perry was an inspiration for recording that CD. Royce was the head of Clan Gunn in Texas. He was excited to have a Gunn singing Scottish songs for our clan. He was So very encouraging. I remember his gentle smile the most. It was very kind as he listened. It was us performing this song that really made him happiest. So when I finally re-recorded it for Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion. He was in my thoughts. Just read those lyrics and you’ll understand. Well, if you understand basic Scots. Robert Burns was apparently quite a ladies’ man. He...

There are demons beneath your bed that are gonna eat you up this year. I am unofficially performing at GaFilk this weekend in Atlanta. And I count down the Best Celtic Bands of 2022. This is Atlanta Pub Songs & Stories #262. 0:16 - “The Prettiest Hobbit” by Kilted Kings from Flower of Scotland 2:08 - WELCOME TO ATLANTA PUB SONGS & STORIES I am Marc Gunn. I’m a Celtic and folk musician living in Atlanta, Georgia. This is the audio liner notes for the songs I record and play and for the stories I gather and the people I meet in the city of Atlanta and beyond. This is the first episode as an Atlanta-centric podcast. Hopefully, I can do it justice. 4:26 - WHAT IS GAFILK? Filk is the music of fandom. The name started as a misspelling of folk music that was happening at science fiction conventions back in the 60s. GaFilk, or Georgia Filk, is a convention that happens every year here in Atlanta, Georgia. I was first introduced to it when Brobdingnagian Bards was invited as a Super Secret Guest. We were still performing together in Austin. It’s a different kind of convention. There aren’t a whole bunch of panels on your favorite fandoms. It’s all about the music… and the people. Folks from all over the nation gather together to sing songs inspired by science fiction, fantasy, parodies, and just geek out together. And it’s a RelaxaCon. It’s super laid back. I’ve been a guest about three times, including with the Bards. This year, I’m just going for fun. But I’ll have CDs and album pins and will do my best to entertain you when it’s my turn in the filk circle. 6:50 - UPCOMING SHOWS Here are some more shows happening this month: GaFilkInternet ConcertMaggie McGuinness PubThe Lost DruidCeltic Invasion Vacations 10:06 - Altan "Dúlamán" from Island Angel 13:45 - JOIN THE CLUB The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast and my music, please join the Club. You get 4-10 new things every month. That includes bonus podcasts, downloadable songs, printed sheet music, blogs, stories from the road, and access to Coffee with The Celtfather video concerts. Sign up for as little as $5 per month. And you can save 15% with an annual membership. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Rich C, Janice G, Emil V, Bob H, Marguerite K 14:42 - COUNTDOWN OF TOP 10 CELTIC BANDS OF 2022? I was listening to a podcast called Hit Parade. They talk about the hits. The host is a Charts Nerd. Like me, he listened to Casey Kasem’s Top 40 Hits back in the 80s. I wasn’t quite as obsessed as he was. But I did love the show. My interest in charts really took off in the early 2000s when the Brobdingnagian Bards were topping the charts. I was able to figure out the system and how to maximize our success there. So now I have Two Charts that I keep track of each year. One is the Celtic Top 20. This is the last episode of the year of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. I highlight fan votes for the top 20 songs and tunes of all of the episodes of the year. The second is my organic pick of the Top 10 Celtic Bands. Meaning, these are the bands I played the most. I didn’t plan to play any band more than any other. But I did. You can read the blog, Top 10 Celtic Bands of 2022, on my website. You can also check out my 5 Celtic Bands to Watch in 2023. 24:37 - DOWNLOAD MY FREE EP You can download all of my songs in this show. Just send me an email. pubsong@celtfather You can let me know what you’re doing while listening to this episode. I’d love to hear from you. You will get an auto responder with a link to download this month’s album. Please subscribe to the podcast if you’re not already subscribed. It’s quick and easy. And just like this Free EP, it is FREE! 25:38 - “Biddy Mulligan” by Banshee in the Kitchen from Last Pint - NOT 31:38 - STORY OF CLOSE YOUR EYES & REAVERS LULLABY One of my most-popular songs since 2009 is a song called "Close Your Eyes". It's commonly known as "The Demon Lulllaby". The...

Little Lego Loki, Wizard Rock and more stories from The Blibbering Humdingers and Hawthorn and Holly. This is Pub Songs & Stories show #261. 0:13 - “A Man's A Man For A' That” from Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion 2:56 - WELCOME TO PUB SONGS & STORIES I am Marc Gunn. This is the audio liner notes for the songs I record and play. The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast and my music, please join the Club. You’ll get new stuff every week. You’ll get bonus podcasts, be able to download songs featured in this show, print sheet music, and access to Coffee with The Celtfather video concerts. You get a lot for as little as $5 per month. And you can save 15% with an annual membership. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Rich C, Janice G 3:45 - UPCOMING SHOWS Pontoon BrewingThree Taverns Craft BreweryCeltic Invasion Vacations 4:27 - WHAT’S NEW? Once again, I am changing the podcast name. But not much. Look for the name: Atlanta Pub Songs & Stories with Marc Gunn You’ll see the name change in the next episode, which will come out in 2023. The content won’t change. This is still the audio liner notes for my music. But I want to add a little bit more content where I talk about and promote things I love in Atlanta. That will include talk about the breweries, conventions, and festivals that I perform at. I’ll also talk about things I find and love in Atlanta. So I hope you’ll stick around. Second, you can download all of my songs in this show each month. Just send me an email. You’ll get an autoresponder where you can subscribe to the podcast, and you’ll get a special link to download all of the songs in the show. Email me. pubsong@celtfather MASTODON I signed up to a new social media account on Mastodon. While I’m still not a fan of social media, signing up here reminded me about why I first signed up and even enjoyed social media way back when. 7:50 - STORIES FROM CONJURATION I returned to CONjuration this year. Once again, I recorded a live episode of this podcast with stories not just by me, but also by two friends, The Blibbering Humdingers and Hawthorn and Holly. 9:56 - “Blink” by Marc Gunn 15:23 - “Little Lego Loki” by The Blibbering Humdingers 23:03 - “Love Will Get Us There” by Hawthorn and Holly 29:47 - “I Lose Myself” by The Blibbering Humdingers 34:59 - “At the End of the Night” by Hawthorn and Holly 44:34 - “Doctor of Gallifrey” by Marc Gunn I hope you enjoyed the show. This is the last episode of 2022. Thanks for listening to Pub Songs & Stories. The show was produced by Marc Gunn, edited by Mitchell Petersen with graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. You can subscribe and listen to the regular show wherever you find podcasts. You can also subscribe to my mailing list. You will get regular updates of new music, podcasts, special offers, and you'll get more stories behind several of my most-popular songs. And of course, please tell one friend about this podcast. Word of mouth is the absolute best way to support any creative endeavor. Have fun and sing along at www.pubsong.com! #pubstories

Why do cats knock stuff off tables? I think I figured out the answer. I share it with my story and song about the Mingulay Cat Song. It’s Pub Songs & Stories #260. Marc Gunn "There Are No Pubs in Kirkintilloch" from Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion WELCOME TO PUB SONGS & STORIES I am Marc Gunn. This is the audio liner notes for the songs I record and play. The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast and my music, please join the Gunn Runners Club. You’ll get something new every week: sheet music, access to Coffee with The Celtfather video concerts, bootleg concerts, behind the scenes photos and videos, and even download songs featured in this show. You get a lot for as little as $5 per month. And you can save 15% with an annual membership. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Zak H, Kain T 0:56 - UPCOMING SHOWS Three Taverns BreweryIronshield BrewingThe Lost DruidCeltic Invasion of County Mayo and Pirate Queen 1:34 - CLOSING UP SHOP I’m doing something different this year. I’m not doing any Black Friday discounts or sales, like all of the marketers encourage musicians to do. I know I’ve done them in the past. But I’ve never been comfortable doing that as you might’ve heard in a past podcast I did about the Ethics of Black Friday. What it boils down to is that I prefer celebrating the day after Thanksgiving as Buy Nothing Day. A day to fight back against consumerism. So for that reason, I’m closing down all physical sales on Friday, November 18. If you go to my store on Bandcamp. You will not be able to buy any CDs, shirts, album pins, songbooks or whatever else I have there. You can still buy digital downloads, but everything else will be gone. I will reopen the story on December 1. But only for a few days. I’ve been considering my environmental impact. Someone suggested that if you only ship products in a shorter time span, it’s better for the environment, which makes sense to me. 2:46 - “Nancy Whiskey” from St Patrick’s Day 4:47 - FAVORITE BEERS FROM THE LOST DRUID Come join me on Friday, Dec 2 at The Lost Druid Brewery. 10:30 - "There's a Bug in Cabin Six" from As Long as I'm Flyin' 12:43 - WHAT’S NEW? It’s been eleven since I last posted an episode of the Cat Lovers Podcast. Seems like only yesterday. That’s not true at all. It feels like 11 years. I thought about rebooting it. But I decided instead to do this special feature on Cats and Celtic music. That’s because I released a new album this year. It’s called Selcouth. Which means when everything is strange and different yet you find it marvelous anyway. It’s also the reason I released a new song on the album which I’ll talk about in a bit. But first, I want to thank a few of my Celtic Cat Fans on Patreon. I sent out a call and these amazing folks responded. Don Rice is from Moorhead, MN. He writes: “Definitely a cat lover, as we have owned many. Two currently- Chessie and Napoleon, both Grey striped tabbies. I'm a member of Poitin Band and a sci-fi lover as well.” You can find them on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Kelly Melville said: "My 11 year old daughter Lorraine Melville (from Hampton, GA) is the biggest cat and cat song fan in our family. We all are, but she’s the one who has a bunch of your cat songs memorized and sings them to our cat. It would be a super fun surprise to hear her name in the podcast. She recently lost her first cat that she named White Tickle Ninja when she was 4 because as a kitten he would hide around corners and jump out to attack our toes with his tickly little paws. He loved people, and would run meowing up to everyone he saw, even complete strangers, in the hopes of food or pets. I think he thought he was a dog. He would wag his little stub of a tail when we played with him, pant, and even play fetch with balled socks. Ninja was the boss of the house, but our other cat Sherlock is the sneaky one who figured out how to open doors and one day set off our...

A Celtic Halloween ghost story. Can Death stop Johnny from grabbing a drink after a hard day at work? It’s Pub Songs & Stories #259. WELCOME TO PUB SONGS & STORIES 0:10 - “Black Velvet Band lyrics” by Marc Gunn from The Bridge I am Marc Gunn. This is the audio liner notes for the songs I play. The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast and my music, please join the Club. You’ll get 2-3 podcasts per month. You’ll be able to download a song featured in this show, get sheet music, and access to Coffee with The Celtfather video concerts. That is all for as little as $5 per month. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Lisa and Troy 4:02 - WHAT’S NEW? Music? You may ask. But where’s the story? I’m trying another change to the podcast. So I’m gonna share a few tracks in this episode, along with a story about my original song “I’ll Drink from Dusk Til Dawn”, a ghost story, no less, just in time for Halloween. I’m revving for the end of the year. I launched the Celtic Christmas Podcast last week. And yes, I know we haven’t gotten through Halloween yet. But when you’re a DJ, you have to plan way early. Speaking of Halloween, if you haven’t listened to “Lament for a Halloween Rabbit”, go check it out. I released that episode last year. You can hear my Bugs Bunny Halloween song in that episode. And make sure you pick up my Celtic Halloween EP. It’s one of the bonuses you get when you are a member of my Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. 6:36 - “High Jeannie High” by Marc Gunn from Happy Songs of Death 8:41 - RECYCLING TIP I learned something interesting about recycling recently. I wanted to share. I think most of us know we should recycle. But there are a LOT of hiccups in learning how. In Birmingham, AL, we could only recycle glass by taking it to a glass recycle dumpster. But in Atlanta, we have a lot more options. So I’m gonna share two quick and easy tips. First, don’t put plastic bags into the recycle bin. Plastic bags are too thin and they will tangle up in the machinery. That means, they have to shut down the equipment to get the plastic bag out. You can take all types of thin plastic to the recycle bins at grocery stores. It says plastic bags. And we think about grocery bags. But it includes all thin plastic. Second, it also includes trash bags. Those should not be dumped into the recycle bin. I used to bag all of my recycle material into a plastic trash bag and dumb that into the recycle bin. Turns out when you do that, the collectors frequently throw those bags into the regular trash because the trash bag also will get caught in the machinery. So instead, dump the recycle loosely into your blue bins. It seems weird. But it’s more likely to get recycled. I hope this helps you as much as it has helped me. 10:51 - UPCOMING SHOWS ConjurationThree Taverns BreweryIronshield Brewing 11:56 - “La La La Geek” by Marc Gunn from Sci Fi Drinking Songs 14:08 - STORY OF I’LL DRINK FROM DUSK TIL DAWN I wrote “I’ll Drink From Dusk Til Dawn” around 2001, I think. I don’t exactly remember when. But I do remember quite a bit about this Irish ghost story. The original title of the song was “Johnny at the Door”. I first recorded it with the Brobdingnagian Bards for our album Songs of Ireland. It was one of the few original songs. [insert snippet of bards version] This is one of those songs I was super proud of. I wanted to write a traditional-style ghost story and I succeeded tremendously. I had so many people ask us back then where I “found” the song because they thought it was a traditional Irish song. That was a big part of my goal in writing it. I wanted a song that was indistinguishable from traditional Irish songs. So on that front I succeeded. I also succeeded because of the name–”Johnny at the Door”. It’s a good ghost story name. It evoked wonderful imagery. It’s the story of a man who goes to work just longing for the end of the day and a good pint of beer with his...

Where are we going on the next Celtic Invasion Vacation? Listen and also enjoy some music related to the invasion. Plus, you’ll learn what you can expect to experience when you join an invasion. It’s Pub Songs & Stories #258 WELCOME TO PUB SONGS & STORIES I am Marc Gunn. This is the audio liner notes for the songs I record and play. The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast and my music, please join the Club. You’ll get 2-3 podcasts per month. You’ll be able to download songs featured in this show, get sheet music, and access to Coffee with The Celtfather video concerts. You get a lot for as little as $5 per month. And you can save 15% with an annual membership. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Cecilia F 1:01 - WHAT’S NEW? This is a bonus episode. I finally settled on where to go for the next Celtic Invasion Vacation in 2023. I looked at Galicia in Spain, the Wicklow Mountains, south of Dublin, Ireland, and Westport in County Mayo, Ireland. And the winner is… Westport in County Mayo. I don’t yet have details about the trip. Nor have I opened it up to the public. I’m gonna spend the next month working those out. But there are few things I want to explore while we are there. First, County Mayo was the home of Grace O’Malley. She was known as the Pirate Queen of Ireland. A quick search revealed that there are not many records of her. However, there are some letters that were exchanged with Queen Elizabeth I, which show a mutual admiration of each other, two strong women in a time of men. I’m gonna research a bit about the Pirate Queen and see what we can find. And to give you a small taste, The Gothard Sisters have a song inspired by Grainne, as she is often called. 2:15 - “Grace O’Malley” by The Gothard Sisters from Mountain Rose 5:49 - MORE ON TRAVEL One of my regular invaders, Jim, once said that what he enjoyed about our trips is that there are frequently different types of travel that we do. Meaning we might take a boat or train, instead of a car. So I’m always looking out for something cool like that for at least one day. Happily, Clare Island is nearby. I honestly know very little about Clare Island. Although, it sounds like Gracy O’Malley spent some time there as well. What I do know about it is that The Saw Doctors have a fantastic song called “Clare Island”. It makes me excited to see it. That’s what I have so far. 6:31 - UPCOMING SHOWS ALEPBrobdingnagian BardsMultiVerseConjuration I’m gonna share a replay from the Celtfather Unkilted podcast. I noticed after publishing that episode last month that there is one thing that is a bit off at present. That is the requirement of a vaccination card. I am not requiring that at present though the sentiment is still valid. These trips are small and your fellow invaders should be treated like family. Meaning I do expect that you will get vaccinated as needed to protect your family. 7:54 - WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT ON A CELTIC INVASION VACATION? If you go to the website you won’t find much information. I usually list the itinerary when it becomes available but that can be January or March before the trip. You will find podcasts and links to pictures and videos. I don't know that any of it really paints a good picture. So I thought I would try to break down how these trips work to help you decide if you want to join me in the future. Celtic Invasion Vacations are not your typical travel tour experience. Most tourists travel on big buses. They go place to place. You stay up late. You get up early. There’s 30, 60 or even 90 people packed on one to three tour buses. If you’re like me, that sounds pretty miserable. My first two trips were on tour buses. Everyone was a fan of my music. So that was pretty awesome. The bus drivers were awesome too. But that's a lot of people for an introvert like me. I don’t know how much of the fatigue was from so many people or the staying up late/getting-up-early business. But...

West Side Story meets the TV show Firefly. We’re digging into fake gallantry, a duel with swords, and fighting back against those who feel the need to control others. It’s all on Pub Songs & Stories #257. WELCOME TO PUB SONGS & STORIES I am Marc Gunn. This is the audio liner notes for the songs I record and play. The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast and my music, please join the Club. You’ll get 2-4 podcasts per month. You’ll be able to download songs featured in this show, get occasional sheet music, and access to Coffee with The Celtfather video concerts. You get a lot for just a little, just $5 per month. And you can save 15% with an annual membership. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Rex H, Kathryn H, Timothy H, Bobby C 0:59 - WHAT’S NEW? My pizza stone cracked yesterday. I’m not really surprised. But I’m really sad. This is my first pizza stone. I didn’t know how to cook with it when I started, let alone take care of it. And to be completely honest, I’m also a bit negligent on a lot of things. As I took the broken stone out of the oven, I carefully cleaned off the burnt cornmeal that remains after making pizza. I learned through trial and error that if you have cornmeal on the stone, the pizza slides off it easier. A lot of that cornmeal falls onto the bottom of the oven. What do I usually do with that cornmeal? I leave it there. I don’t finish the job. It’s sort of like the twisty tie that came off the finished loaf of bread. I saw it lying by the back door on the floor. Usually, I leave it where it lies in my home. I don’t clean it up. But I picked it up yesterday. I’m still learning about personal responsibility. It’s been haunting me a lot more as time goes by and our world becomes more partisan. It’s the first stepping stone for communal responsibility. Something just as important, yet just as ignored. I understand better now. Picking up that twisty or cleaning up the stove is essential for the health of our home. It also means I have less time doing things I WANT to do. However, it could mean that the pizza stone that I loved might not crack. I wouldn’t have wasted good money and added waste to our environment. Hm… I just finished re-reading Shepherd’s Tale, the story behind Shepherd Book of Firefly. I feel this whole thought process is relevant. I’ll let you know more when we publish the new episode of In the ‘Verse. In the meantime, I have a new Firefly song to talk about in today’s show. But first, let’s talk about upcoming shows. 2:50 - UPCOMING SHOWS Middle Tennessee Highland Games & Celtic FestivalCoffee with The CeltfatherALEPMultiVerse 3:58 - STORY OF FAVOR OF A DANCE “Favor of a Dance” is a single I released at the end of June. It features the music of Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer, with backing vocals by Jamie Haeuser. I love the instrumentation that Vicki and Jonny added to the song. Jonny’s guitar takes a big lead on it. And Vicki’s flute playing adds a joyful, touch of brilliance. I liked the song before. But I love it so much more with those two playing along. The song is based on the episode Shindig, the 4th episode of Firefly. I originally wrote the song for the 4th episode of In the ‘Verse. That’s a podcast I make with my friend Mikey Mason. I recommend you check out that TV and podcast episodes too, or at least the synopsis, if you want context for the song, but I’ll share a shortened version for those who don’t do that. I love the story of my song. “Favor of a Dance” is based on the episode “Shindig”. It’s a love triangle about respect, rules, and kindness. In the episode, Malcolm Reynolds runs into Inara at a ball. She and her customer, Atherton Wing, are dancing. But despite his fake gallantry, Atherton proves himself to be the kind of man who believes in controlling women. Malcolm picks up on that and picks a fight with Atherton by asking Inara for a dance. This leads to a punch in the face and eventually a duel...

Do you have song lyrics that you wrote that could be set to music? Send them to me. Kelly and Mitchell did. Their song “Lads in the Shire” is on my new CD, Selcouth. We will tell you how it happened and if it’ll work for you. It’s Pub Songs & Stories #256. 0:02 - WHO'S PLAYING IN THE PUB TODAY Welcome to Pub Stories. Hey, if you want to know more about the songs I play? This is the audio liner notes for you to get to know more about my songs and how they might relate to your life. 0:30 - THANK YOU GUNN RUNNERS But first, Pub Songs & Stories is a podcast brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. The public version of his show is released on the first Monday of each month starting in August. There will, however, be a private version. It will come out two weeks after the public one, exclusively on Patreon. If you’re looking for Stories from other Celtic bands, like we had in episodes last year, then be sure to subscribe to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. As a patron of mine, You’ll get this podcast, be able to download songs featured in this show, get sheet music, and access to Coffee with The Celtfather concerts. You get a lot for as little as $5 per month. And you can save 15% with an annual membership. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Ivan MacKillop, Don Rice, Antonya Pickard, Debra Cottrell, Didi Magnin, Nancy DouglasdeBaca, Wayne Finegar 1:40 - WHAT’S NEW? My new Kickstarter goes live in August. The album is called Come Adventure With Me. It features that title track, and some of my newest music. Several songs are already recorded and released as singles. And if I haven’t given them away on Patreon yet, they will be. Why is that? Well, Streaming music gives you a quick and easy way to sample all of my music. Digital sales keep my business running. Tips and CD sales allow me to tour. Patreon funds my songwriting! Kickstarter funds physical products like CDs, shirts, pins and other merch. The plan is to officially release the album next year. But in what format? I have quite a few people who ask that I keep releasing CDs. I also started releasing Album Pins, which are lapel pins associated with each album. That is what this new Kickstarter will fund. Yes. Some of the music will go to pay musicians for their time in helping me create the music. But most of it will go into producing physical merch for this album. Although I’m also raising money for album lapel pins of a couple past albums. If you’re interested in supporting this album, please subscribe to my newsletter and follow the link to my Kickstarter page in August. 3:13 - UPCOMING SHOWS Gen ConIronshield BrewingBest End BrewingThree Taverns BreweryPepper Place Farmer's MarketDragon ConMiddle Tennessee Highland Games & Celtic FestivalALEP A while back, Mitchell Petersen emailed me some lyrics. Mitchell is not only the sound engineer for my podcasts. But he and his wife Kelly are also fans of my Firefly Drinking Songs and Hobbit Drinking Songs shows at Dragon Con. And of course, he’s a fan of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast which is where they found the song that they filked. I will let them start by telling you more about the song “Lads in the Shire”. 3:43 - STORY OF LADS IN THE SHIRE To answer that question about whether Andrew and I had played that song much before our Hobbit Drinking Songs show. The answer is no. It’s funny getting song lyrics from people. What makes me choose one song or another? It really varies. First off, I don’t do nearly as many parodies as I used to. I enjoy parodies. However, one of my big goals these days is to write song lyrics and melodies. It’s rare that I follow up with songs sent to me that are parodies. Especially if I don’t know the original song. Sometimes, I will write my own melody. Mitchell and I have gotten to know one another over the years. So I thought it would at least be worth trying that. Some songs are really tough. They just don’t click. I have some lyrics from Rie Sheridan Rose...

Live podcast from Conjuration 2021. You will learn how I became a podcaster, how I moved from Renaissance festival musician to science fiction conventions. You’ll find out what crazy things I sang in college. It’s Pub Songs & Stories #255. PUB SONGS & STORIES Welcome to Pub Stories. Do you want to know more about the song I play? This is the audio liner notes for you to get to know more about me and my music. But also to find out how the song relates to your life 0:43 - THANK YOU GUNN RUNNERS But first, Pub Songs & Stories is a podcast brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. The public version of his show is released on the first Monday of each month starting in August. There will, however, be a private version. It will come out two weeks after the public one, exclusively on Patreon. If you’re looking for Stories from other Celtic bands, like we had in episodes last year, then be sure to subscribe to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. If you enjoy my music or this podcast, please sign up on Patreon. You’ll get this podcast, podcasts from my travels, be able to download songs featured in this show, get sheet music, and access to Coffee with The Celtfather concerts. You get a lot for as little as $5 per month. And you can save 15% with an annual membership. Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Ivan MacKillop 1:07 - UPCOMING SHOWS Magic City ConInConjunctionHigh Card BreweryIronshield BrewingGen ConDragon ConMiddle Tennessee Highland Games & Celtic FestivalALEP 1:58 - WHAT’S NEW? 02:06 - LIVE STORY AT CONJURATION 03:38 - Star of the County Down 11:49 - Irish Ballad 15:08 - Poisoning Pigeons in the Park 18:40 - O'er the Way 23:10 - Happily Ever After 28:58 - Jedi Drinking Song 34:17 - Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits 40:28 - Blink 44:30 - Name on My Soul 49:51 - I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK You can download a copy of “Happily Ever After” in the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. What are you doing while listening to Pub Stories? I’d love your thoughts and feedback. So take a picture of yourself or where you are or what one of these stories reminds you of. Post it on social media. Use the hashtag #pubstories so I can find it and share your story. Thanks for listening to Pub Stories. The show was produced by Marc Gunn, edited by Mitchell Petersen with graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. You can subscribe and listen wherever you find podcasts. You can also subscribe to my mailing list. You will get regular updates of new music, podcasts, special offers, and you’ll get 21 songs for free. Welcome to the pub at www.pubsong.com! #pubstories #conjuration2022 #harrypotterconvention