...And Into The 2008 Season!

Greetings, and welcome!

Our 2008 faire season got off to a shivering start with temperatures in the 20 degree range for the Scarborough Academy of Performing Arts (SAPA) Renaissance Character Camp in Mexia, TX in January. It was cold, but we camped out and played until late in the evenings for our Scarby friends, and got some good professional development done. As always, we love interacting with and performing for SAPA, and the friendships we've developed there will last a lifetime.

The following weekend, the last weekend of January, Scarlet's Mid-Winter Renaissance faire got our attendance, and at full strength! We spent a happy weekend singing and playing, and visiting with the folks that we only get to see in Oklahoma City, and had a great time, as always, with Robert and Angela.

After Scarlet's, we had a bit of breathing room, allowing us to help set up the Joplin and White Hart Renaissance Festival academies. Rowan managed to get drafted as entertainment director of Joplin, and of course that means almost weekly trips up the Will Rogers turnpike to keep up with her duties there. Meanwhile, rehearsals were happening at Becky's in Parsons, which happens to be midway between where Nikki, our new whistler, lives in Olathe, and the place where we live in Tulsa.

Then came Norman. We were in pretty good musical shape for the faire, and our physical conditioning was challenged by a very-early-morning TV promo that the director of Norman Medieval Faire asked us to do. So after getting settled in to the hotel late Thursday night, we arose at 4:30 on Friday morning and drove up to Bricktown to do an interview and play some music for the News 9 viewers. It was very much worth it, as we had at least a couple dozen folke come up to us during the weekend and mention that they'd seen us on the news. The eaerly morning made for a long day on Friday, but Saturday went quite well. Sunday we all remembered what it's like doing a 3-day-weekend of Faire when you're outta shape....still, we held together and had a successful run!

This coming weekend Rowan and Bruce are going to visit Scarborough Faire, and visit with our friends there.

The weekend after that, 26 and 27 April, is the debut of Joplin Renaissance Festival, which is promising to be a very big deal. They've got nearly 60 vendors (for a first-year faire!) and have hired the Limey Birds, the Bedlam Bards, The Musical Blades, and Queen's Gambit, among other acts. It promises to be quite the faire debut. We've helped hold the performer academies for the cast, and this faire seems to be well on its way.

After that comes the Four Weekends of OKRF at the Castle of Muskogee!

More on that later!

After Somewhat of a Hiatus....

Seems our blogging has taken a longer pause than I'd hoped! 2007 has been a very busy season for us, with some amazing musical successes, and Yet Another CD!

So let me get the newest news out first: We've finally got "Fianchetto" up on CDBaby.com!! We only had a few left. Julia worked her magick late of nights and long of days and we managed to get it out the last weekend of OKRF, and sold them at our shows through White Hart and KCRF, without even having had time to get them shrink-wrapped! Which is about how busy it's been!

Ok, so what else... ah, there was OKRF, then there was White Hart, then there was Conestoga, which was a very pleasant Sci-Fi Con debut for QG. That turned out to be pretty much a final performance for Amber and Julia as members of Queen's Gambit, both of them having stayed on clear through White Hart! We were very grateful, and sad to see them go, as they both added so much Beauty and Music to the group, and that's really what it's all about for this Bruce.

New members....Lady Niniane (Becky) had been with us off and on for several months since OKRF last year, playing Viola, and Nikki, who we've known for some years from KC and Sedalia, have joined the group full-time! Becky moved from St. Charles, MO a bit closer to Tulsa, and it turns out that her home is now midway between Kansas City, where Nikki lives, and Tulsa, where Rowan and I are, so that may be our new rehearsal headquarters! Anyway, Becky and Nikki did it all for the run of KCRF, and the Boare's Head Feaste, and are continuing to spin up on the repertoire for the group. They're doing a wonderful job, and have even added a thing or three to what we were doing before! Becky's picked up a 5-string violin and has been playing the fiddle parts to just about all the tunes, and Nikki has learned just about all the whistle parts we're gonna need. Nikki's voice, believe it or not, is a step or two *higher* than Amber's, so that's an interesting addition of range to work with, and Becky's adding a low alto and some good lead vocals as well. Come hear the new lineup and see if you agree!

And then Bruce and Rowan got married opening weekend of KCRF! Many thanks to all of our fans who came to visit, many from far, far away. Our friends of Tullamore and WhirlyJig and the SAPA (Scarborough) cast...I can't say enough good about our loving friends. Bless you all! We were a-huggin' people for a solid two hours at the end of the Reception, and loving every second of it. Again, bless you, and bless all our dear, sweet friends that put the ceremony and reception logistics together!

Now I'm planning out the QG calendar for the year, and it looks to be a busy 2008. The tentative schedule is up here, and it looks very similar to last year. We haven't been booked for St. Patrick's Day yet, and we're hoping to make another run to the Tipperary Inn in Dallas followed by another Sunday morning at Scarborough, but that's all in the "thinking about it" stage at this point. Twenty weekends on the road....ye gods, we know what Bob Seger was singing about with "Turn the Page".

So enough of my ramblings...
I'm making an early New Years Resolution to keep this blog up a little better. Meanwhile, anybody that wishes to can send pictures of QG performing, and I'll get some newer photos
up on the Gallery. Just use the "contact" link from our homepage!

Love you all and see you soon!

--theBruce

OKRF 2007

This year at the Castle of Muskogee will be an exciting one! Queen's Gambit will be there and playing each day of the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival, on the Burns stage near the Maypole.

We're looking forward to seeing all of our fans and friends, and making some new ones!

This run of faire, all the weekends of May including Memorial Day, will be your last chance to see this configuration of Queen's Gambit, as Julia and Amber will be leaving the band after the end of faire. Julia's following her husband, who's landed quite the nice job on the east coast, and Amber will be moving down to Edmond to pursue her collegiate career.

Come out and see us, and you'll never feel pressured to pay money at our shows, because we don't pass a hat!

Blessings,

--theBruce

And Into the Spring Season....

Norman Medieval Faire was a blast, as always! QG was at full strength for the event on the first weekend of April, and we even had Amber-Bob to hawk CDs for us while we were up on the stage playing. The three-day event suffered from a truncated Friday as strong thunderstorms nearly flooded Reaves Park in Norman, but Saturday and Sunday were business as usual, and a good time was had by all. We shared the Gryphon Stage with the Rogues, Harmless T. Jester, Arabesque, and on Sunday with Oklahoma-based Calliope House, and it was a wonderful atmosphere.

The following weekend found us in Dallas for our gig on April 7th at the Tipperary Inn, just south of SMU. We were really nervous, as this was our first "real" Irish Pub performance, and we wanted to make a good impression. We got there fairly early, set up our own mikes and stands for the existing sound system, then took a break to eat....and realized we'd left the CDs in the hotel room! A flying trip through unfamiliar territory to get them, and then back for sound check! Our friend Shadow, who runs sound for Spriggan, who are some of our Ft. Worth-based friends, balanced us out perfectly, and away we went....4 hours and no repeats! Great crowd there, and we really enjoyed the company and the chance to play in front of people who really know what they're listening to! Hope to be able to do it again someday soon, and thanks to Tim, the owner, for hiring us pretty much sight-unseen, or should that be "sound-unheard"? And of course to Mark Clavey for suggesting the gig to us and recommending us to Tim! And to Montgomery and Theresa, the barkeeps who kept the water flowing for us all night! And to Gypsy, who sat in on Bodhran for a set with us!

Next morning, April 8th, we dragged our tired bodies out of bed to make the drive down to Waxahachie for Scarborough Faire! Even though they didn't hire us this year, I emailed Coy, the Entertainment Director, and got performer's passes for the band and permission to busk the street for the day. We spent the morning and early afternoon renewing acquaintances with our dear, dear friends of SAPA, the cast of Scarborough, and playing the morning jam, and the morning Country Dance, and then busking the Pepper Lady's booth...then went over at noon to help our friends from Stonhenj, who lost a member to a tragic accident this Spring, perform at their first show of the day. We even managed to squeeze in a "Fields of Athenry" at the woodcarver's booth, and then sat in for a song with Queen Anne's Lace at the Brothers' stage. We sat and enjoyed a masterful performance of Stunny Fories from Terry Foy, and then called it a day. Long drive back home, and we returned fully contented.

Then on Monday night, April 9th, we went to Arnie's bar in downtown Tulsa, and played for the annual gathering of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. We were fortunate enough to make aquaintance with Chad of the local group "Larkin", who stayed for all our songs. It was a free gig, but it got us in front of a local crowd and we ended up getting a booking for a wedding out of it! More good friends made, and a nice evening of "ceol agus craic"!

After we were done at Arnie's, we went with some friends to the "Center of the Universe" up on the overpass by Union Station, and stood there, all four of us, and sang a few songs acapella, just to hear what they sounded like....ya had to be there. Beauty......

So, what's next?

....to be continued.....

Amazing Times....

Some wonderful things happening with QG this year.

First of all, we'll be playing at The Pub (formerly Fitz's or Whistle Stop) in Union Station, Kansas City, MO for St. Patrick's Day. We'll be upstairs, and our sets are at 10 a.m. 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. It will be a long day, but worth it for the fun times with both kinds of friends...the ones we've met and the ones we haven't!

Then, and THIS NEWS JUST IN!!!

On April 7th, which is the Saturday after Norman Medieval Faire, we'll be playing the Tipperary Inn in Dallas from 8 p.m.-Midnight!

Of course we're looking forward to seeing all our Oklahoma friends at the Norman Medieval Faire and at the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival!

Busy season! We love you!! Come have fun with us!

--theBruce

Welcome to QG 2007!

Who'd a thunk it; 5 years this season since Desahra and I started playing music together for peasant and country dances, and 4 years since Rowan and I began making harmonies! Well, there's a good bit in store for 2007, and it starts this coming weekend, January 27th and 28th in the Farmer's Market Event Center in Oklahoma City, with Scarlet's Mid-Winter Renaissance Faire.

Queen's Gambit will be performing at nearly full strength; Bruce, Rowan, Desahra and Julia will be there and performing your favorite ballads, jigs and reels. We'll be missing our Violist, Lady Niniane, but she'll be there with us at Norman Medieval Faire, last weekend of March. We have a CD that's new to Oklahomans, "En Passant", that we produced during the summer right before KCRF, so come and get your copy!

Bruce and Rowan again this year participated in the Scarborough Academy of Performing Arts (SAPA) Renaissance Character Camp at Old Fort Parker in Mexia (ma-HAY-ah) Texas the weekend of the 19th, and though we're not slated to perform at Scarborough this year (a moment of silence, please), it was wonderful to spend some time with our friends from the Village of Scarborough. We got the opportunity to sing and play a bit with the lovely ladies of Queen Anne's Lace, and got soaked and frozen, but it was well worth it!

Hope to see all of you, our friends and fans, at Scarlet's this weekend! It will be one of the last chances you'll have to see Queen's Gambit in this configuration, as life is intervening, and Desahra (Whistle, Vocals) and Julia (Violin, Vocals) will be leaving after OKRF in May; Desahra to college in OKC and Julia to the East Coast, where her husband has landed quite an internship!

Meanwhile, if there's a fiddler or a whistle-playing soprano out there, drop us a line, we'd love to talk to you! Info on our "contact" page at http://www.queens-gambit.com!

Over Halfway through KCRF

Have I mentioned how much we love KCRF? In spite of the long drive, the late and early hours, and all we have to do in order to perform there, seeing so many old friends and making so many new ones always makes it worthwhile.

And this past Saturday, you, our fans and patrons at Dunwoodie Dell in KCRF blessed us by making it the most successful day we've ever had at KCRF. Thank YOU!! Your support of indie and Celtic music allows us to continue doing what we love, which is bringing the beautiful music to you!

Our latest CD, "En Passant" was released with bravado at the opening of KCRF, and it is since just last week now available at CDBaby.com. Click over to our "samples" page or "recordings" page to order your copy!

Bob Brinkman of www.modernbard.org has given "En Passant" a review, and we really weren't expecting the caliber of praise he gave the album. Thanks, Bob! You can read the review for yourself at http://www.modernbard.org/reviews/enpassant.htm.

So with three weekends of KCRF yet to go, we're very happy, and appreciate you, our patrons and fans, very much. You rock!

--theBruce

We're Back!!

After lovely times performing at Scarborough, OKRF, and the brand new White Hart Renaissance Faire, and a hectic summer of recording, travelling, and visiting, I was able to recover my blog password so I could post something here!

First the Big News: Our Fourth CD, "En Passant", is being released tomorrow, September 2nd 2006, at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival! The main website has a link to our "music samples" page, where you can listen to some of the things we did.

Then the Bigger News: Rowan and theBruce are getting handfasted (ancient Celtic rite of betrothal) after the faire day is over at KCRF on Sunday, September 3rd. This is a "ya'll come" type of event, and we hope to see many of our friends out there!

Now, most of you know that we never, ever push deadlines, and we've always produced our CD's just as laid-back and relaxed as possible, right?

HAH!

We pushed 'way hard to get this one done over the space of about 5 weeks, and our lovely fiddler, Julia, worked for about three days straight afterward to get the mixing done so we could get "En Passant" out in time for KCRF. TheBruce put in a few late nights this week as well, finalizing the mastering (each CD that we produce goes through three stages of "pre-release", where we burn a CD of what we have and listen to it and nothing but for a few days to find the kinks to get out) and getting the CDs to production. Andruss (really, Russ) at Nogard Enterprises got the initial run done in about 2 hours, and the last of the packaging is being printed as I type this. Kimberly and Sherry came over last evening to help assemble the CDs, and they won't be shrinkwrapped in time for this release weekend, but we'll have 'em :)

We'd like to thank everyone again who worked hard and quickly to get this CD out! Emilee, who did the photography, Kimberly again, who sang "Greensleeves" with us, and all our friends who are always there!

Check the Yahoo! group for more info as it becomes available on "En Passant"!

--theBruce
September 1, 2006