Psst! Wanna hear a CAT SONG SAMPLE?
What can I say, I'm terrible at keeping secrets. This is not the final version, but I udpated "Furagone's Wake" on SoundClick so you can now listen to the MP3.
"Furagone's Wake"
Listen LoFi
Listen HiFi
I can't wait for you to hear "Wild Kitty" and "When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling"... But I don't have MP3s I can share at present. So maybe next week...
posted by Marc Gunn of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers Gift CD @ 2:02 PM
Single Named & Cat News
Well, I decided to name the new single, When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling. I noticed there was a wee smirk in the my Dancing Celtic Cat so it works.
Yesterday, I listened to a bunch of new mixes for the When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling CD. They sound so dang good! I'm just blown away.
Note to self: Use a producer on future projects. Ari Koinuma is definitely a good pick.
In other news, I was also scanning over the Cat News website, which is a great site for well... cat news. Though they seemed to miss out on this humorous bit o'Cat News.
posted by Marc Gunn of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers Gift CD @ 9:43 AM
Help Me Name My Cat Comedy CD Single
At lunch, I played the latest mixes of my cat single for my friend Nancy. Her jaw was dropped for the next ten minutes. She was blown away with the sound quality and performance. This is by far the most-professional sounding project I've ever done.
A big thanks to Queen's Gambit. While I kinda knew I wanted to try recording with a producer, it was listening to the quality of their latest CD Pawn to King Four that sold me on it... well, that and hearing what Ari Koinuma has done with my recordings. Wow!
That said, I need to name the cat single. I'm having a wee bit o'trouble coming up with a good name to reflect the music and whatnot. I could go with a basic "Wild Kitty", and that's a possibility. But no decision is yet made.
Here are the songs on the single:
 Wild Kitty
When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling
Furagone's Wake
Oh! And this CD cover will use the Dancing Celtic Cat Knotwork that Ingrid Houwers made for me.
Have any ideas?
posted by Marc Gunn of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers Gift CD @ 11:25 AM
Please Vote in Cat CD Poll
The Cat CD single will be done next week. I started talking to Ari about producing the rest of the album. We plan to finish it by August and release it in September. The official release date will be in October.
Now I need to finish picking songs for the CD. You can help. Please go vote for your favorite cat drinking songs here. I have my own idea. Now I'd like to hear yours.
posted by Marc Gunn of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers Gift CD @ 9:29 PM
Beautiful Flute Music Added to Cat CD
My sister rocks!
This evening my sister came into record flute on "When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling". Hannah plays the flute. She's still in high school and is first chair in her band. She's one of the best flautists in her band. It certainly showed tonight.
She was a little nervous about recording. I don't blame her since she only had one day to practice. But the result was beautiful!
I think that is the last of it too. I should get some rough mixes in the next couple days. If all sounds good, then we'll start the final mix. Then The Dubliners' Tabby Cats will release their debut Cat CD Single.
posted by Marc Gunn of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers Gift CD @ 7:52 PM
What's Folk Music without a Wee Bit O'BASS
What a great recording session last night! Cedric the fiddler came in early to get the evening started. I really should've given him something to listen to before we recorded. Fortunately, Cedric's talented enough that he picked up on non-normal folk key and played "Wild Kitty" with precision like the pro he is.
Course, my producer, Ari Koinuma, knew exactly what he wanted. He had Cedric lay down a bold fiddle part with some a few points of tasty improv, plucking the fiddle strings. Then on "Furagone's Wake", we were all delighted by the addition of the mandola to mix.
Speaking of mixes, I forgot to mention what Ari was doing while I was at Excalibur Fantasy Faire this week... BASS!
That was amazing. I'm just not used to hearing my autoharp recordings with low end, but wow! Ari added some standup bass and other instrumentation to give the songs movement. It's really starting to sound like The Dubliners music now. It has a LOT of body.
It also helped to add Ben Hamley to the mix. Ben is a professional voice-over actor and also an actor at the Texas Renaissance Festival and Excalibur Fantasy Faire. At TRF, he is Italian, but he the man of thousand voices does a great Irishman. In "Wild Kitty", he puts on an award-winning performance as an Irishman who gets drunker and drunker through the song.
Blake McCaig had icing on the cake. I'd never heard actually sing, but wow, what a beautiful voice she has! Blake sings with a local cover band and has a five-octave range. She's not used to singing like Ben's drunk Irishman, but with a little coaxing from Ari, she sang the most beautiful and cute harmonies. That little giggle she does in the last chorus is adorable!!!
When all the main vocals were done, the three of us added some cat meows and claps for "Furagone's Wake", and then everyone departed. As for me, I fell asleep with a joyful smile on my face.
posted by Marc Gunn of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers Gift CD @ 5:24 AM
Wanted: True Comedic Cat Stories
I decided I want to put together a small book of comedic cat stories. I want true stories about funny things your cat has done.
I am looking for a minimum of 20 true stories with a minimum of 750 words. Anyone who submits a story that is published will get a free copy of the my Cat Single featuring three fun cat songs from the Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers CD. The single includes "When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling", "Wild Kitty", and "Furagone's Wake".
To submit your story, email me. Please make sure to edit your story well.
posted by Marc Gunn of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers Gift CD @ 8:55 AM
Excalibur and the Cats of the Round Table
Had a great weekend at Excalibur Fantasy Faire this weekend. I also was able to secure two CD performers: Ben, and Cedric of the Bedlam Bards. They're both coming in Tuesday evening for recording. Ben has a voice that puts mine to shame. He's singing backup on "Wild Kitty". He also performs out at Excalibur Faire.
Cedric is an awesome fiddler. We did a wee bit o'jamming on the song Sunday morning, much to the winces of Andrew. ("I leave you alone for a minute...";) The song went fairly well and was enjoyed by other cast members as well. Even had Queen's Gambit singing and playing along.
After tomorrow, I'll have one more part to do to finish the single. So we're almost there! Now if I can only sell more cat t-shirts or other gifts, I may be able to afford to finish the ablum.
posted by Marc Gunn of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers Gift CD @ 8:36 AM
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