March 21, 2014
Well, my term as Bardic Champion of An Tir has come to an end. Stepping down was a profound experience, like a graduation. His Majesty the King of An Tir graciously honoured my request to sing a song for the populace just before I stepped down – a “swan song”, if you will, in honour of all the blessings and brilliant experiences this year has brought. I sang a short version of Reis glorios, one of the most beautiful of the troubadour songs. I now have the honour of counting myself among the Lion’s Troubadours, An Tir’s past bardic champions. You can read their names here.
After stepping down I had the immense honour of accepting Master Galeran Chanterel’s offer to join his household as his first apprentice. He’s going to keep me in check and help me to realize my potential in the SCA. Galeran is a true friend and formidable artist, and I am truly blessed to be under his protection. Here is a picture of our apprenticeship contract, scribed on vellum by the incredibly talented Countess Inga the Unfettered.
This is as good a time as any to mention my One Month in the Life experiment – those of you who have been keeping up with these posts will recall that I kept track of all of the hours I worked in January so that I could write an article about all the time and energy that goes into being an independent musician. January ended, I was all stoked to write the article – but when I added up all the numbers, I was shocked at the result. In the month of January, I put 80 hours into “paid” work, which consists of teaching and freelance audio; 80 hours into my own projects (Filk and Cookies and Patience, plus administrative stuff like shipping, accounting, updating the website and so on) and 80 hours into my work as Bardic Champion. Spooky, isn’t it? So in one sense, my experiment failed – there is no way that my January in any way represents a typical month for an indie musician. But it did make me proud of the work and passion that I put into the championship, and, on the other side of the coin, grateful that I can now redirect that passion toward my recording projects.
