I'd say my Ren-faire experience was a mixed bag. I performed at Ren-Faires in Texas and South Louisiana from 1981-1994; served as music director at one for a while; and through that time used the experience to not starve, while working on my undergraduate and graduate degrees. While there was an overload of 19th C. Celtic Music at all of the locations, there was also a real presence of period music to be had in my area during that time. There were many opportunities to perform in bands of Shawms and Recorders, Gemshorns, Krumhorns, and Cornetti, Vocal Groups, Early Dance (mostly Arbeau, Caroso & Negri), and Natural Trumpets, etc., performing with HIP methods (as understood at the time). Good memories of Shawm bands playing "Ohne Fels" at daybreak; dew on the grass; and the smell of a forge being coked as the day begins still haunt me.
In Texas and South Louisiana in the 1980's, finding another Lutenist or Cittern player was not very easy. Ren-Faires made that much easier, and some of my best memories involve jamming with other lute players late into the night, after finding another semi-lost kindred spirit. When Early Music was present it was great experience, but more often than not, the work atmosphere was more like an episode of "All's Faire," than it should have been. Of all the experiences, jamming on Lutes Terry Brown in Dallas; with Jean Crepeau and David Brown in New Orleans; leading the Bendinelli Sonata #336 regularly at dusk with 6 Natural Trumpets, 4 Tympani, 2 Side Drums and Canon; and coaching all 212 cast members of an event to perform Monteverdi's "Domine ad Adjuvandum" at closing gate remain among my favorite memories of the experience. That being said, I stopped performing at Ren-Faires in 1994, and I've not visited a Ren-faire since 2010...so I'd likely be a poor judge of the current situation. I hope that at least somewhere, another person has found good memories in Early Music though that type of venue. Ron Banks Fort Worth, TX To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
