Hello A
on this subject , let me put my 2 cents worth.A The fact of the matter is that most people who go to these fairs, have no clue as to what the Renaissance, or medieval periods are all about. I have beenA performing at various venues for most of my adult life, and by far, the worse ones are Renaissance or medieval fairs, to the point that I categorically refuse any gig that have to do with reconstruction of that period, whether it by a wedding in period costumes or an actual fair or banquet.A my experience is mostly medieval, where I find that all people are interested in, is recreating the barbarian aspect or fantasy aspect ( dragons , merlin andA King Arthur, A etc..) of the medieval period, while putting celtic music performed by Loreena McKennitt ( incidentally I love what Loreena does..) and ensuring they have no underwear under their scottish kilts, with war paint on their face...A and then of course, you also get the oddball disguised as a musketeer in a medieval banquet...A A all they want is wild entertainement with jugglers, etc, nothing to do with the Cantigas de Santa Maria, or music by Thibault de Champagne, or any of the notable troubadours or trouveres of the period... A I have given up long ago on trying to make people understand this period. I play for the sake of the music, hoping that some people will understand that the period is more than just wild barbaric times and will never make any decent income in that fashion, but I refuse to pimp myself in silly costumes for a lousy 100$.A A regards A Bruno Cognyl-fournier [1]www.estavel.org A 2013/8/9 Nancy Carlin <[2][email protected]> I agree, Nancy Excellent points, all. Eugene -----Original Message----- From: [3][email protected] [mailto:[4][email protected]] On Behalf Of [5][email protected] Sent: Friday, August 09, 2013 2:43 PM To: Braig, Eugene; [6][email protected]; Christopher Wilke Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness A A Yes - unfortunately, "Renaissance Faires" have been rife with guys in running shoes and a smock playing Stan Rogers songs on Guild guitars. A A But this does not mean that things can't change. A A My son worked Ren Faires for awhile, and there was quite a lot of interest amongst the participants in Paul Odette's CDs. A I think the Ren Faire folks would actually love to have some real lute players, but Ren Faires don't pay anything. A Most entertainers who work them make their income selling CDs and DVDs. A A Back to the part about interest: the interest is there. A I'm not suggesting that anybody on this list would want to try playing at a Ren Faire. A I AM suggesting that there are potential audience members and recorded music consumers in this crowd. A A Personally, it doesn't matter to me if my audience members like to hurl large weapons at each other in their spare time, as long as they aren't hurling them at me. A I would rather have a large audience full of prople who simply think that what I do is cool, than to have a miniscule audience of highly opinionated academics waiting to pounce on my first mistake and tear me apart in a bad review. A A "Riverdance" brought attention to Celtic music. A And many celtic bands capitalized on riding that wave of success. A A "O Brother Where Art Thou" brought attention to Appalachian Traditional music, and ultimately resulted in success for musicians like Alison Krauss, who, even though they are great musicians, might be unheard of today if not for that movie. A A Similarly, those who love movies like Robin Hood and Lord of the Rings, or Sting's Dowland project, I think, are potential audience for lute recordings and concerts. A How to get the word out to them that these recordings and concerts exist is an issue. A Also, how to make an Early Music concert an occasion that's not dry, pedantic and stuffy might be another issue. A A One VERY good way of increasing awareness is school outreach. A Any time you are performing in a community see if the presenters can partner with the school system. A Kids will be impressed by the instruments, and it will leave a good lasting impression. A I was able to get Jacques Ogg and members of Lyra Baroque into our elementary school. A How cool is that! A A Tom A A A A I must extend my sincerest thanks to ye olde SCA. I once went to a A A Renaissance "Faire" with a fellow modern musician (it was his A A suggestion). He said, "I'll bet you're happy. This is one place A A you'll see plenty of lutes in action." I wagered him a very hefty A A sum that we would not see or hear any lutes there. It was a most A A profitable day for me. Thanks again, SCA! Chris A A Dr. Christopher Wilke D.M.A. A A Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer A A [7]www.christopherwilke.com A A A ____________________________________________________________ _____ A A A _ A A From: "Braig, Eugene" <[8][email protected]> A A To: "[9][email protected]" <[10][email protected]> A A Sent: Thursday, August 8, 2013 6:12 PM A A Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness A A . . . Many (certainly not all) somehow believing that assuming a A A bad cockney accent; whacking each other with wooden weapons while A A feigning the inability to use struck limbs; and listening to modern A A Irish, Scottish, or English folk songs strummed by steel-strung A A acoustic instruments somehow relates to A A late-medieval/early-renaissance life. If that's your thing, go for A A it. A Myself, I kinda prefer music. -----Original Message----- From: A A [1][11][email protected] [mailto:[2][12][email protected]] A A On Behalf Of [3][13][email protected] Sent: Thursday, August 08, A A 2013 5:37 PM To: Stephen Fryer Cc: [4][14][email protected]; A A Nancy Carlin; [5][15][email protected]; R. Mattes; A A [6][16][email protected] Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute A A awareness For those who don't speak American, and don't know A A American mores: SCA is the Society for Creative Anachronism, and it A A has nothing to do with NYSCA, which is the New York State Council A A on the Arts. The latter is a venerable institution that funds arts A A here, and the former is group of uncultured boors in silly costumes A A who managed to completely destroy the NY Medieval Festival at A A Cloisters. RT On 8/8/2013 5:25 PM, [7][17][email protected] wrote: > A A No, it's just the stench that is insufferable. > RT > > > On A A 8/8/2013 5:23 PM, Stephen Fryer wrote: >> Well if you're afraid to A A get that close, you must be pretty scared of >> them. >> Stephen A A Fryer >> >> On 08/08/2013 2:00 PM, [8][18][email protected] wrote: A A >>> It doesn't, >>> but I don't have any poles over 10' here. >>> A A RT >>> >>> On 8/8/2013 4:55 PM, Stephen Fryer wrote: >>>> Why does A A it frighten you? >>>> Stephen Fryer >>>> >>>> On 07/08/2013 11:15 A A PM, [9][19][email protected] wrote: >>>>> That's one scary thought. A A >>>>> RT >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On 8/7/2013 10:28 PM, A A [10][20][email protected] wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Why not lutes? A Get A A the SCA involved! >>>>> >> >> > > > > To get on or off this list A A see list information at > A A [11][21]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html A A -- References A A 1. mailto:[22][email protected] A A 2. mailto:[23][email protected] A A 3. mailto:[24][email protected] A A 4. mailto:[25][email protected] A A 5. mailto:[26][email protected] A A 6. mailto:[27][email protected] A A 7. mailto:[28][email protected] A A 8. mailto:[29][email protected] A A 9. mailto:[30][email protected] A A 10. mailto:[31][email protected] A A 11. [32]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html Tom Draughon Heartistry Music [33]http://www.heartistrymusic.com/artists/tom.html 714 A 9th Avenue West Ashland, WI A 54806 [34]715-682-9362 To get on or off this list see list information at [35]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- Nancy Carlin Administrator THE LUTE SOCIETY OF AMERICA [36]http://LuteSocietyofAmerica.org PO Box 6499 Concord, CA 94524 USA [37]925 / 686-5800 [38]www.groundsanddivisions.info [39]www.nancycarlinassociates.com -- A Bruno Cognyl-Fournier A [40]www.estavel.org A -- References 1. http://www.estavel.org/ 2. mailto:[email protected] 3. mailto:[email protected] 4. mailto:[email protected] 5. mailto:[email protected] 6. mailto:[email protected] 7. http://www.christopherwilke.com/ 8. mailto:[email protected] 9. mailto:[email protected] 10. mailto:[email protected] 11. mailto:[email protected] 12. mailto:[email protected] 13. mailto:[email protected] 14. mailto:[email protected] 15. mailto:[email protected] 16. mailto:[email protected] 17. mailto:[email protected] 18. mailto:[email protected] 19. mailto:[email protected] 20. mailto:[email protected] 21. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 22. mailto:[email protected] 23. mailto:[email protected] 24. mailto:[email protected] 25. mailto:[email protected] 26. mailto:[email protected] 27. mailto:[email protected] 28. mailto:[email protected] 29. mailto:[email protected] 30. mailto:[email protected] 31. mailto:[email protected] 32. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 33. http://www.heartistrymusic.com/artists/tom.html 34. tel:715-682-9362 35. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 36. http://lutesocietyofamerica.org/ 37. tel:925%20%2F%20686-5800 38. http://www.groundsanddivisions.info/ 39. http://www.nancycarlinassociates.com/ 40. http://www.estavel.org/
