We're celebrating the 20 year anniversary of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers. I'll share a story about "When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling". You'll find out how about how my first Kickstarter did 4 years before Kickstarter existed. Plus, you'll enjoy rockin 'traditional music from High Octane out of France.
This is Folk Songs & Stories #300
0:45 - Marc Gunn "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" from Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion
2:37 - WELCOME TO FOLK SONGS & STORIES
I am Marc Gunn. I'm a Celtic folk musician living in Atlanta, Georgia and host of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. I'm also a cat lover as you'll hear later on in the show. This show is for fans of my music.
If you're new to the show, please subscribe. You can do that PubSong.com or Just send me an email to follow@celtfather.
3:00 - NEWS
3:13 - UPCOMING SHOWS
- JUL 19: Fiddler's Green Coffeehouse Concert series @ 8 PM, First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta. 470 Candler Park Dr. NE / Atlanta GA 30307. 404-378-5570. firstexistentialist.org, Presented by Atlanta Area Friends of Folk Music (AAFFM)
- JUL 31-AUG 3: Gen Con, Indianapolis, IN
- AUG 28-SEP 1: Dragon Con, Atlanta, GA
- SEP 24-28: ALEP 6, Harrodsburg, KY
- OCT 17-19: MultiVerse, Peachtree City, GA
- NOV 8: IrishFest Atlanta, Roswell, GA with Inara
- DEC 7: Nerdy Wonderland at The Lost Druid, Avondale Estates, GA @ 12 - 5 PM.
4:02 - High Octane "Eastern Vagrant" from High Octane
9:55 - SUPPORT THE CLUB
The show is brought to you by my supporters on Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast or my music, please join the Club. You get something new every week. It could be a blog, an exclusive podcast, downloadable song, printed sheet music, or stories from the road. Plus, you'll get access to all of my Coffee with The Celtfather video concert series. Email follow@celtfather !
If you can't support me financially, just sign up on Patreon for free. Special thanks to our newest and returning patrons:
--CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS
Every year, I lead a small group of people on an exciting adventure to one of the Celtic nations and other exciting locations. In 2025, we're going on a Celtic Invasion of Galicia in Spain. Galicia is indeed one of the more obscure Celtic nations to those of us who are most familiar with Ireland and Scotland.
Find out more at CelticInvasion.com.
11:43 - IRISH DRINKING SONGS FOR CAT LOVERS KICKSTARTER
In 2005, I decided to fund my second solo album, Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers, with a Kickstarter. Well, officially Kickstarter hadn't started yet. It would be another four years before that happened. However, I ran the Kickstarter in a very similar way. I set different levels and ended up raising over $10,000 to fund the album.
Admittedly, that was not all profit. In fact, I had far higher expenses back then because I didn't know how to run a fundraising campaign back then. Nevertheless, it was a huge success and I was able to order 1000 copies of this CD.
I think I've printed over 3000 copies of this CD since it was released. But of course, now it is no longer available on CD with me at least. It's only available as a digital download or on an album pin.
On June 6, 2005, I released the second episode of the Cat Lovers Podcast to fund this album. Here's a re-release of that podcast episode.
11:56 - CAT MUSIC LOVERS #2: "WHEN KITTY EYES ARE SMILING", CATS STUCK IN DRAWERS (REBOOT)
- A tabby cat stuck in the dresser drawers
- A letter to Torre from Anthony Creech of Celtic Radio
- Keeping cats indoors
- Cat Galaxy, All Cats! All the Time!
24:25 - Marc Gunn & The Dubliners' Tabby Cats "When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling" from Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers
"When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling" is a parody of the song "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling". The lyrics to When Irish Eyes Are Smiling were written by Chauncey Olcott and George Graff, Jr. and set to the music of Enerst Ball for Olcott's production of The Isle O' Dreams. The music was published in 1912.
when kitty eyes are smiling
autoharp, lead vocal: Marc Gunn
flute: Hannah Gunn
bass, piano: Ari Koinuma
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27:12 - CREDITS
Thanks for listening to Folk Songs & Stories. This episode was edited by Mitchell Petersen.
You can follow and listen to the show on my Patreon or wherever you find podcasts. Sign up to my mailing list to learn more about songs featured in this podcast and discover where I'm performing.
Remember. Reduce, reuse, recycle, and think about how you can make a positive impact on your environment.
Have fun and sing along at www.pubsong.com!
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