Items, items, and more items....

I

Item the First
My new lute CD, The Prince's Masque: Royal Music for Romance and Revelry, has finally returned from the duplicators and is now available for purchase.  I'm really excited about this disc because it's my first lute release in three years (and my third lute CD so far...) and it's loaded with some of my personal favorites and some rare and underplayed gems that I've culled up from the back pages of various and sundry lute manuscripts.  I hope to be performing a fair amount in support of this new CD, and you can check the "Recent and Upcoming Performances" listing at the bottom of this page for info on all of that, including the Big Danged CD Release Party scheduled for July 17th.  As with all of my previous releases, this disc will be available from CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon.com and so on once all those duckies have been put in their proper order, so stay tuned for that info if you're looking to download the album as an mp3 or make a purchase from the IntraWeb.  If you're not local to the Twin Cities and/or don't expect to be in the vicinity of any of my live shows, and you're really hot to get your copy of the disc, send me an email at griffmakesmusic@earthlink.net and we'll work out the details for an olde-fashioned mail order purchase.  

Item the Second
Mrs. Griffmakesmusic and I spent last weekend (June 12th &13th) performing and hob-nobbing at the annual Olde World Renaissance Faire in lovely Twig, MN and had a truly excellent time playing lute, singing a song or two (OK, Ann did the singing) reconnecting with friends, making new friends and marveling at the squadrons of Blackhawk-sized dragonflies keeping the grounds more or less clear of evil, blood-sucking skeeties.  We had some genuinely memorable little moments performing for intimate groups of people, and caught some really amazing performances by several of the other acts at the Faire, and the sometimes dreary weather did nothing to dampen our spirits (though I did have to dodge a few drops here and there to keep the lute dry).  Love OWRF.  Love the people.  Can't wait to do it again next year.  Big thanks to Mark, Dale Ann and the rest of the crew for putting on another really fine weekend of Festing!

Item the Third
Though most of my attention is currently directed at luting in support of the new CD (and that's a good thing, gang--performing on the lute can be mighty therapeutic, and arriving at a gig with just the one instrument is way less stressful than schlepping in a PA system, amps, electronic gear and whatnot), I've recently returned to the Secret Underground Laboratory to commence work on at least two (and quite probably three) new albums all involving significant use of electronic instrumentation.  At the top of the list is a new Tool Factory Project disc, tentatively titled "Surfing on the Moon" which will include a bunch of more or less new songs (some of which I've been singing here and there for the past year or so) and instrumentals all accompanied by an electronic rhythm section (ala Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, et al) with bits of twangy, surfy guitar and the usual quirky absurdist vocalizing that's pretty much the modus operandi of my songwriting.  I'm also working on a bunch of new pieces for the Subterranean Philharmonic Orchestra which will probably be released as two separate discs: one of which will be primarily experimental, atonal and/or improvisational music, the other of which will be more on the ambient side (ala The Orb, Brian Eno, etc.).  I'm having great fun working on all of this stuff and it's a really nice reset button for my brain to have some more abstract music to work on in addition to the sweet, tasty melodic music of the lute.  Stay tuned for updates...

Item the Fourth
Yes, and speaking of abstract music, keep your eyes peeled for an announcement of an upcoming gig or two featuring a new project I've recently become involved in.  Keywords: Robot Gas.  More on this later...

Item the Fifth
Finally, for those of you who have been asking: Yes, Mrs. Griffmakesmusic and I are planning on putting together another program of songs, lute, guitar and whatnot, but we need to get past some other commitments (including a musical production of "Little Women" for which Ann is currently in rehearsal) in order to practice.  Patience, grasshopper.  It's gonna happen.

Well, that's plenty for now, innit?  It's going to be a busy summer and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll drop the dime on more stuff as soon as I know about it, and share some pics here and there of previous shows (including a couple choice snaps from OWRF).  Until next time, be nice to everyone, don't get too much sun, and eat your veggies.

Be excellent to yourselves!!!

Rick