What an amazing month. We go from the dry warmth of Phoenix to the cold snow in New York and then end up back in Austin where it is 85. That is the life of a musician or, as I like to subtitle it, always bring a coat no matter where you go cause, you never know!

I’ve blogged about the individual things that went on but there is certainly a bigger picture that should be addressed. This last month was a learning experience, a growing friendship, a love of where the music is going, and a proof of concept.

It all started with a fun journey to Arizona. Traveling with Michelle was a blast and it was a bit like goofing around for 16 hours! When we got there, we stayed with friends and that can make all the difference. We spent the first weekend just figuring out where everything was and where we were supposed to be. We learned a lot! The Arizona Renaissance Festival is a beautiful faire. They take a lot of pride in everything. The site looks fantastic and the people are wonderful. We felt welcome right away and made many new friends.

Was it hot and sunny? Yes. Was it dusty and windy? Yes. But we had a great time. Maybe it is the climate, being so different from England, which makes them work so much harder to make it a great faire. It’s the details that make that faire.

Each weekend was better in all ways than the previous one. We tried many new things and most of them worked. I really look forward to getting back for a full run next year. If three weekends was great, imagine what eight weekends will be. I don’t know if I could have asked for a better start and that is the truth!

After we left, another 16 hours to Austin and then we had one day off before we flew to New York for I-Con, a Sci-Fi/Fantasy convention on Long Island. It was chilly up there, a drastic change. We saw many old friends and had a good time. We opened the music Cabaret and received a very encouraging response: People loved it! We played 5 songs and each was different than the others. I really wanted to show them our range. It was a good mix and I think the audience appreciated it.

I also conducted a panel entitled “How to Write Music.” The panel encompassed my theories on songwriting. I wanted to share them to help other aspiring songwriters out there. There was a good turnout and everyone enjoyed it and seemed to learn from it. I couldn’t ask for more than that. They even laughed at my jokes…… BONUS!

Whenever you travel you need to stop and smell the flowers so we managed to make it to Manhattan to Central Park. It was a fun day and I can’t wait to go there next year too. I want to stay longer though and plan some other shows in the area. Then we could really tour New York City with a bit of unmeasured time.

So what did we learn from this? Well… going into it I had several questions and they were all answered.


Question 1: Can we do well at Ren Faires?
Answer: You betcha!

Question 2: Can we do well at Conventions?
Answer: You betcha again!

Question 3: Having not done it successfully before, can we busk at faires?
Answer: You know it!

Question 4: Do Michelle and I travel well together?
Answer: Very well. We have a similar sense of humor and she’s fun.

Question 5: How difficult will it be to travel with that many instruments?
Answer: Difficult but not too bad.

Question 6: Are we ever going to finish our CD???
Answer: Yeppers. Should only be a few weeks away. It will be done by May.

Question 7: Is our group going to kick some butt and leave other groups behind?
Answer: Watch our dust!!!!


A lot of what I got from this past month was a new confidence that this is what I should be doing and that it is going to work out nicely. The Website is up and changes are being made and content being added almost daily. Our CD will be out very soon. I also expect to have a huge gig update next week so stay tuned for that!

Andrew McKee