Since I created Herne’s Apprentice the music industry has changed, I think for the better. The internet has been a curse to the traditional music industry, but a gift to independent musicians. Herne’s Apprentice, Hills they are Hollow and Spirit of Albion were all produced as CDs, but in 2006 they all became available on iTunes and other digital services. The Cauldron Born was my first CD to be launched both physically and digitally.
My new CD Tales from the Crow Man is finished, and has been sent off to be pressed, but I’ll be away touring in Australia until the 1st December so won’t be able to send any out until then. People are already reserving their signed copies through my website, but I’m also getting a lot of emails and tweets from people who want it right now! I’m really happy to be able to let you know that, if you are a fan of the digital download you can get my new album right now! Just click here and you’ll be taken to the site.
If you’ve already paid for a CD and would prefer to get your album through the download service, just email me through the contact details at www.paganmusic.co.uk and I’ll issue you a refund for the CD.
So it was that on the 10th October Cerri and I once more made our way around the M25 and headed northwards, this time towards Clee Hill in Shropshire to play at the third Serpent Festival. Clee Hill is famous for its association with serpents, so it was no surprise that, as well as musicians, there were going to be a number of storytellers on the bill.
We arrived in plenty of time, taking in the glorious countryside that surrounds Clee Hill – if you ever get the chance to go I would recommend it just for the view from the car park outside the village! The venue was the Royal Oak public house – a true Tardis of a pub! From the outside I wondered how they were going to host a small festival, but once through the door the pub somehow seemed to grow, weird…
We were the first to arrive – I never like to arrive rushed and prefer having plenty of time to tune up and set up – but pretty soon other people started to arrive, the first of which was Sue, the organiser of the festival. The room that had been chosen for the festival was a goodly size, very pleasantly set out with tables and chairs.
It was great to see a lot of OBOD members there, and to see my good storyteller friend Steve Gladwin (aka Ardan). After months in the making Steve was able to give me a copy of his new CD The Song of Taliesin bySpintale – a sonic/audio version of John Matthews wonderful tale about the Primary Bard of Britain, Taliesin. I’ll be playing a couple of stories from the CD on the next DruidCast. As ever it was also great to see my Bardic pal Paul Newman, who was also on the bill for the festival.
It wasn’t long before Sue set the scene of the festival with a great story about the Clee Hill serpent. Then, after another great storyteller, Paul took the stage and gave a brilliant performance full of his usual energy and humour – breaking two strings in the process and in the end having to borrow one of my guitars to finish his set as he’d used all of his spares! I suggested a lighter pick, maybe one with the Herne’s Apprentice logo on it…! The picture shows Paul thrashing the shite out of my lovely new Takamine. The photo’s blurry because I was quivering in fear behind the camera!
After a short beer-break it was time for my set. I have always traditionally started by sets with Song of Awen, and tonight was no exception, but I can feel a change in the air, and I think this may well be different next year. I’ve been subtly adding songs into my set that I either haven’t played for a long time, or haven’t played live at all, such as Lughnasadh, and tonight I also played Oak Broom and Meadowsweet for the first time in ages (requested by Cerri). I like this, and I’ll certainly be revisiting some of those songs in my live sets during 2010.
I played two sets with a short break in between, and had a real blast in each. The audience were with me, and we were all singing together. Also Paul grabbed a Djembe drum and added some rhythm too which helped to get the feet tapping!
So the set drew to a close. But it has been written, that whenever there is a Paul Newman and a Damh the Bard in one location, lo, they shall play Telling the Bees‘ The Worship of Trees, and thus it was. Man I love that song. Andy Letcher wrote a classic and it’s one of those songs that, every time I hear it or play it I think, damn I wish I’d written that! So the pub rocked out, and after a couple of Guinness, we made our way back south, and home once more…
Almost a month since I posted on the blog! I’ve had my head deep in recording mode – recording the last few songs, laying down the parts from the guest musicians, then mixing, and mastering, the new CD. I’ll post separately about that another time, but first let’s catch up on what’s been happening in the life of Damh since last time.
We had an amazing time in Prague and Vienna. The day after the concert in Prague we were shown around the city by members of the PF International group. Prague is so beautiful – it’s almost sensory overload! Everywhere there are stunning buildings, then you turn a corner and there are even more! Their snacks are good too! I tried a rolled pastry thingy that was simply divine! We went to Prague castle, saw the astrological clock strike noon, saw where Mozart did his first performance of Don Giovani, and tasted the delights of Czech cuisine. But we only had one afternoon, and then it was farewell and off to Vienna!
I had played a concert in Vienna last year and had had such a great time. We’d made some good friends and I was looking forward to seeing them again, along with the lovely Siggy (who was responsible for me getting my first harp!). We were driven to Vienna which gave us more opportunity to see the surrounding countryside, and we arrived there about 10pm, going straight to Siggy’s where she had prepared some wonderful soup. Yum.
I have been to Vienna about 3 times now and I’m beginning to feel quite at home there. The concert was in a different venue – a great little place that not only hosts music, but also art exhibitions. I set up my stuff and tuned up as people arrived. The two men who run it had prepared some great food for people coming to the show too. Just like last year we had an amazing evening together, and the celebrations continued onwards into the morning.
My first Pagan camp was The Broomstick Rally which was held annually in Sussex and run by the then PF regional co-ordinators, Rob and Fran. It was a real party, part bikers’ rally, part Pagan spiritual camp, but one that never really took itself too seriously. There were games like Pentacle Rounders, Tree of Life hoopla, and the infamous Toss the Cross, plus a live band and fireside eisteddfod. One of the people who came to the Broomstick Rally then moved to Austria, and started one there too. So thus it was that many years later I found myself at The Broomstick Rally once more! The venue was an amazing Austrian Palace out in the country. The grounds were stunning, had their own little temple space, and surrounding woodland, and a wonderful covered fire pit circle. It was weird to be at a Pagan camp where I hadn’t been booked to play as a performer, but it was also lovely to just relax and be. Wherever Siggy goes you will find harpers and other musicians, and this was no exception. Plus the PFI people from the Czech Republic were there too, so it was great to see them again. We chilled, played music, read, listened to talks, did workshops, and then as night fell, got wild around the camp fire, and man do the Czechs and Austrians know how to party!!
What is great is that this now seems to be becoming an annual tradition, and we have already been invited back again next year. They are all such amazing people, I can’t wait!
About 4 years ago at one of the Anderida Gorsedd open rituals at the Long Man of Wilmington I was approached by a young man called Eurik from the Czech Republic who asked if I was Damh the Bard. I nodded and he took me by the hand, shaking it vigorously and exclaiming that “your music is huge in our Country! We all sit around our campfires singing your songs!” As he was shaking my hand I remember being incredibly excited to discover this, but also grinning, thinking I know I’ve only sold one CD to the Czech Republic.
So it was that 4 years later me and Cerri are boarding a flight to Prague to play a concert organised by the PF International in this beautiful city. After an incredibly short 1 1/2 hour flight we were met at the airport by Barbora and Petra and taken through the warm, sunlit city to our hotel. We’d got up at 5am and the concert was at 7.30pm, but they had also organised a radio interview for me at 3pm, so it was going to be a full, and long, day. After a short rest we were picked up and took the tram to the Celtic/New Age radio station. I told Barbora, one of our hosts about my meeting at the Long Man a few years ago and she smiled and said, “I think I know who that was, and he will be the translator at the radio station”. And the World shrunk once more… Sure enough when Eurik arrived I recognised him immediately.
The plan was to play some songs from The Cauldron Born album intermingled with questions about my music, spiritual path, and the story behind the songs. Things were going really well until they tried to play Green and Grey. It has a long intro with bird song and flute, and it crashed the computer software, twice! I probably wouldn’t have been that worried had I not seen the panic on the presenter’s face as he waved his hands to encourage me and Eurik to keep talking. We managed the first crash, but when it happened again I did have to say, “I think you’re going to have to ask me another question now…” But even with the computer problem it was a real pleasure to do. Sitting in a radio studio doing a live interview is a strange thing. I tried not to think about the people listening, and just have a nice chat with the presenter. When I thought about the amount of people listening, and that it was live, I got a lot more nervous!
After the interview we headed straight to the venue. The PFI had hired a 150 seater theatre, and when I asked how tickets were selling I was told “about 45 so far, but more have said they would arrive on the day”. I was a little worried for them. It costs a lot to put on a show like this and I wondered just how well known my music really was here in the Czech Republic. The last thing I wanted was for the PFI to lose money bringing me here.
We soon arrived at the theatre and it was lovely - a proper little music venue. There was even a few posters outside advertising the gig. I was invited to see the theatre, and when we got inside I instantly knew it was going to be a good night – the sound check went well, and the acoustics of the hall were superb. Top tip – always get to know the sound engineer, he is the most important person in your life at a gig where there is a PA. So I did, and the sound was as clear as a whistle. So, all ready to go, it was just time to chill out and wait to see who arrived.
Doors opened as 7.30 and slowly the theatre began to fill. And the more it filled up, the more excited I got. The last hour before a concert is so hard for me – I just want to get on stage and get communicating. I go from nervous, to overwhelmingly excited – imagine ‘Xmas day when you’re 8 years old’ excited, if that makes any sense. The only thing that exists is the music, the only people that exist is the audience, the only time that exists is now. I took a little look through the curtains to see how the theatre was filling up, and was so pleased to see only a few empty seats. Barbora, one of the organisers, was backstage with me and she looked even more nervous than me! I knew then just how much the next few hours meant to them. To be brought here to play for these lovely people was a priviledge, an honour, and I was not going to let them down. Tonight we were going to have a blast!
So the time finally arrived to get on stage. When I walked out I could see that only a few seats on the balcony were left, and the cheer that went up felt like just as much a release for those in the audience as it was for me! Eurik was my translator for the concert and, as usual, I opened with Song of Awen. Almost from the first few lines I could hear people singing along, could see the smiles on the faces of the people in the first few rows, and instantly felt the connection. The Wheel was next and as the audience sang the refrain so the evening opened up before us and we shared many beautiful moments.
As I had only brought one guitar with me, and I didn’t want to keep retuning, I’d organised the first set to be songs in regular tuning, and the second DADGAD. Here are the set lists:
1. Song of Awen, The Wheel, Merlin am I, Pagan Ways, Pipes of Pan, Lughnasadh, Spirit of Albion and The Winter King
2. Hills they are Hollow, Green and Grey, Twa Corbies, When I become the Moon, Domeanna, The Cauldron Born, Wild Mountain Thyme
Encores. Gently Johnny, Winds of Change.
It was obvious that Lughnasadh is my most popular song here in the Czech Republic. The response from the audience was, to say the least, enthusiastic, with the loudest singalong I’ve yet experienced on this musical journey (but not the loudest of the trip…! More about that in a later blog post). It’s almost like the Czech Pagans’ anthem, awesome!
Talking to people after the show it seems that a good number of them had heard the radio interview that afternoon and decided to come along to hear more. Whilst others had been fans for years. We had a great time after the concert with members of the PFI, and discovered that a goodly number of them were going to accompany me and Cerri on a tour of the city the next day!! So more soon!
Last weekend me and Cerri went to the Mercian Gathering near Coventry. I had a gig on the Friday night, and Cerri had the opportunity to have a stall outside our tent where she could sell some of her artwork. Last year I had strained my back so barely made it up there to play the gig, and then it rained solidly all weekend and some people had to be towed from the field. This year some kind of Karmic debt needed to be paid and sure enough the weather was lovely. A few little sprinkles of rain, but nothing like the deluge of last year.
We had a pretty good drive up and arrived around 4pm on the Friday, to be greeted by members of the Mighty Dagda security team. These people give so much to the Pagan community in Britain, camping by the gates of most of the festivals and keeping the participants safe. They are a Pagan National Treasure! Hugs a-plenty with the Dagda crew was followed by tent pitching, and a brew. It was chilly, and a little gusty, but the weather report said that would clear over the weekend.
We gathered around the unlit Labyrinth for the opening ritual and it was then I realised just how many people were there. 850 apparently, which has to make it one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Pagan camp in the UK. It was amazing to see, and stand in Circle, with so many other people. The opening ritual dance through the Labyrinth hailed the beginning of the festivities, so I headed back to the tent to get my instruments, and made my way to the main marquee. I was due to play at 10.30pm after my good friends Scott Jasper and Susan Garlick (AKA Dragonflymoon). They did a great acoustic set to a packed house ending with some rousing chants. Groovy!
I tuned up pretty quick and dived onto the stage area. The applause was loud and immediate. I could tell straight away that we were in for a good night together. I’ve tried to open with other songs, but Song of Awen always sets the tone so well, after that I went into Green and Grey, but pretty much after that requests started to be shouted out, so the set list went out of the window very early! It was lovely to just play what people wanted, with a new tune here and there too. I didn’t take a break, just played through about 90 minutes before I said goodnight. Not… so… fast… An incredibly loud cheering audience could keep me playing all night, and they almost did! I probably played another 30 minutes, so it was about a 2 hour set in the end. But eventually the last note was played. I could still hear the audience in my head for most of the night, reliving moments we shared together.
The next day I noticed a lot of missed calls on my phone – I’d forgotten to take it off silent mode. When I called I found out that Zakk, my eldest Son, had fallen off his bike and had a compression fracure on his wrist. He was in hospital awaiting an operation. I found out about 2pm. I really wanted to go straight home, but everyone said that it was all under control, so with reluctance I stayed put. About 30 minutes later my Mum phoned and said our dog had lost the use of her back legs after taking a tumble chasing a ball! I sat for most of the day worrying until I heard that Zakk was out of surgery and the dog was back home. When you travel as much as me it’s always possible that things like this could happen, but it was really hard being so far away, and not being able to do anything. We spent most of the day by the tent and Cerri’s stall, which was a lovely distraction – meeting people as they walked by, and watching the Witchmen Morris. The wind had dropped too, so it looked good for the evening Labyrinth and Wickerman ritual.
At 7.30 we all gathered once more by the Labyrinth as it was dowsed in lamp oil by the crew. Dusk soon fell. It was lit and looked amazing. Some fire dancers walked through with poi and then we were all led through in a mass of 850ish chanting Pagans. As we walked out we were guided to walk to the field where the Wickerman had been prepared. All day people had been placing wishes, prayers, burdens, on him, and now he stood proud, our proxy sacrifice, ready to send these to the Old Gods. We stood in a horseshoe shape before him, and flaming arrows were fired. He lit well, and soon 20-30 foot flames were sweeping into the sky. A great cheer sounded as finally he slowly began to keel over, and tumble in a mass of flames, to the earth. The Circle span, drums pounded, energy was raised, and then the fire-jumping began. Our messages sent to the Old Ones to do with as they wished.
I love the way that spectacle and drama have returned to Pagan camps, and the Mercian crew of the Hearth of Arianrhod do it so well. All of the profits from the Mercian Gathering go to their chosen Wildlife Charity, and they’ve raised something like £11,000 so far. Such amazing generosity. Anna, Sue, Oliver and their crew are wonderful! As we left I managed to have a hug with Anna who booked me again for 2010, and I tell you what, I can barely wait to get back in that field again!! To the Old Ones!
As soon as I got home I went to see my Son sporting his new fashionable arm wear. Here are the pictures of the injured pair!
So today, in 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. 70 years later can we look back and say we learned from that terrible time? I had dinner with my parents a couple of weeks ago and we talked about their memories of the war – of Doodlebugs, evacuations, air raid shelters, gas masks. It must have been a terrifying time to live through, not knowing how it would all pan out, whether Hitler would make his way to these shores, and what that invasion might bring. It was only 70 years ago.
Along with this news, and an interview with Dame Vera Lynn, I also saw on the news this morning that another young soldier had been killed in Afganistan. So what have we learned since 3rd September 1939? And now that our last remaining WW1 veteran has died, do we actually bring these lessons with us? It seems not. Humans are still used by governments as pawns in private power games.
Of all of the anti-war songs ever written these words of The Green Fields of France sum up my feelings about this day. I offer a prayer for all of the victims of war, past and present, and I will say again, not in my name.
Well, how do you do, Private William McBride,
Do you mind if I sit down here by your graveside?
And rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,
I’ve been walking all day, and I’m nearly done.
And I see by your gravestone you were only 19
When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916,
Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or, Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?
Did they Beat the drum slowly, did the play the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fir o’er you as they lowered you down?
Did the band play The Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?
And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined?
And, though you died back in 1916,
To that loyal heart are you forever 19?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Forever enshrined behind some glass pane,
In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?
The sun’s shining down on these green fields of France;
The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance.
The trenches have vanished long under the plow;
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard that’s still No Man’s Land
The countless white crosses lie mute in the sand
To man’s blind indifference to his fellow man.
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.
Young Willie McBride, I can’t help wonder why
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe when you answered “The Cause?”
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.
Last weekend me and Cerri travelled to Glasgow to play a concert at Pagancon. It was my first concert in Scotland for 6 years and one I was really looking forward to. The last time I played there Pagancon was called Druidcon and was a Druid-specific conference, but to help broaden its appeal they changed the name to make it a more Pagan-wide event.
Thursday night I said to Cerri, “So, what time shall we set off tomorrow?” Thinking maybe 9 or 10 o’clock. “I think we should go at 5?” she replied. 5am! Now I knew it made a lot of sense, but I’ve always said that, really, I should have been a Wiccan as I’m far better at night, and don’t do dawns very well. But seeing the sense we agreed and the alarm kicked us out of bed at 4.30… But we were in Glasgow by 3pm. Nice.
The organisers were lovely. They had arranged for us to stay in the Glasgow University Halls of Residence as they were just down the road from the venue. We met up with some of the other speakers, and I finally got meet Little Raven, someone I had ‘met’ several times on internet message boards but never in person. We had locked horns on a number of occasions and, if I’m honest, I was quite determined not to like him. But the internet can be a strange place, and his internet persona was nothing like the person I met. I have to report that nobody got hurt, and we got on really well.
A lovely spread of food was delivered to the kitchen and we all sat down and chatted for the evening.
The next morning we set off to the venue and, apart from having to carry Cerri’s stall and stock up three flights of stairs to get to the hall, it was a mellow and chilled time. I had time to interview Rufus and Melissa Harrington for the next edition of DruidCast about Enochian magic and the life of Alistair Crowley. Listened to a number of inspiring talks, including Little Raven’s, and finally 6pm approached and I moved my instruments into the Reading Room ready for my two sets.
The last time I played in Scotland in 2003 I think it was the worst performance I’d ever done. The people there seemed to enjoy it, but there was something wrong with my own energy, so I was determined to lay that ghost to rest with this one.
The venue was a little weird for music – a long, thin room with a bar at the far end. The seating, as you can see in the photo, was individual and rather comfy armchairs. It reminded me of a Men’s Club. The bar had a really noisy dishwasher, so people towards the back might have had trouble hearing the quieter songs. But I did 2 45 minute sets, the audience was lovely, and were singing along to the songs.
During the gig three moments stuck out for me. The first was realising, as I was introducing Twa Corbies, that I had translated the Scottish dialect of this folk song into English, and wondered how that would be received – it was fine. Whew! The second was hearing the words of Wild Mountain Thyme being sung by the audience in delicious Scottish accents. The third was the encore – I really wanted to play Caledonia by Dougie Maclean – now I truly understood the indescribable love I have for Cornwall, I know what Dougie meant in this song. I had to get from DADGAD to open C tuning… for the first time… right. Let’s say I just asked the audience to talk amongst themselves for a bit!! Anyway, I did get the guitar into the right tuning, and it was so good to play that song in Scotland, being a HUGE Dougie fan.
The concert ended at 9pm, and we were back in the car by 10, heading back to Sussex. We got home around 4 and had a welcome lay in. It was a wonderful night, and I’m really hoping it isn’t another 6 years before I get the chance to play in Scotland again!
This year has been the Year of the Gig for me. Almost every weekend you’ll hear the sounds of Spirit of Albion, or Hills they are Hollow echoing through a field, woodland, hall or campsite. It really has been an incredibly exciting ride (and there are more to come too!), but I have been incredibly lazy when it comes to blogging my experiences onto The Bardic Blog.
I look at my fellow Bards like Kevan Manwarring with his Bard on a Bike blog, and the writer Kit Berry on Moongazy Girl, and they are always posting about their travels. I know what my problem has been… Twitter! You see, I’ve found myself ‘micro-blogging’ as the events happen, uploading photos and mini blogs actually from the event, so it feels like I’ve already written about it. But I now intend to fully address this and keep The Bardic Blog readers informed, up to date, and still keep Twittering too!
I think the last concert I wrote about here was the OBOD Summer Gathering in June! Where have I been since then? I played a beautiful Handfasting evening, The Anderida Gorsedd conference in Sussex, Pagancon in Lancashire, Oakleaf camp in Yorkshire, the Artemis Gathering in Oxfordshire, and the Goddess Festival in Canterbury. It’s been an incredibly exciting time.
Since the release of The Cauldron Born things have really shifted up a gear, not just with the gigs, but with emails from people, Facebook fan pages and fanclubs, the DruidCast podcast continues to grow and now has around 10,000 monthly listeners worldwide. Every now and then I have to pinch myself to make sure this isn’t all just a dream. Then I realise it is a dream, my dream of a life of music, and it’s actually happening! And I am so grateful!! I’ve said this before but the major change I’ve noticed at concerts this year has been the audience’s singing. I always encourage an audience to join with me on the choruses of songs, but this year there have been times when I could have just stopped singing, and left the entire song to the audience; verse, bridge, chorus, the lot! Amazing!
In the next few months I’m heading off to play in Prague, Vienna, Scotland, Shropshire, Mercia and Australia, so I’ll be sure to write about what happens here on The Bardic Blog!
In the photos you can see the Hunter’s Moon Morris at the Anderida Gorsedd conference, and the stone circle at Oakleaf camp.
I saw this comedian, Steve Hughes, on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow last night. I haven’t laughed so much for years. The Bard’s were said to be able to raise welts on the faces of their enemies with satire and this comedian continues that tradition. He reminds me of the great American comedian Bill Hicks. I love him!! Enjoy!
The way that the tickets for the Anderida Gorsedd Autumn camp sold out in under a day has really shocked me and Cerri. My own natural reaction is to try and please everyone, so when I get emails from disappointed people I just want to make them happy and shift the boundaries to accommodate them. I spoke to Cerri for a long time about this last night, talking over different options. We could, of course, drop the 60 adults limit and just have no limit. We could make one of the camps unlimited and the other as they are now… So many thoughts.
When we started the AG camps in 2003 we set the limit to 40 and struggled to get that amount. But then more people found out about them so we increased it to 50, then 60. But then the spring camp sold out in 2 weeks, and then this one in 24 hours!
Our goal for the camps was always to create an intimate space where we could create magic together. That the camps were different from other Pagan camps in that they became weekend rituals, deeply exploring a theme, then entering into it for the Saturday night ritual. The limit was made after our experiences with OBOD camps, and also the logistics of creating a meaningful ritual that could be deeply felt by everyone involved. We wanted people to feel safe enough to express themselves, to open up, to be free.
I remember Paul Mitchell saying on another message board who were obviously really trying to create a ‘tribe’ that the only tribe he knows grew by accident, and that really is the case with the AG. The camps were never created to form a tribe of people, but to create shared magic – the tribal feel has been a very happy accidental mix of wonderful people, regular and reliable camps, open rituals, and then the conference. But there is no ‘membership’ fee for the Gorsedd, people are a part of it if they want to be. There is no inner, or outer circle, and word has spread about the magic we create at these camps, and more people want to experience them. These are all good things.
So the choice is whether to increase the limit, or have no limit at all. Well, I can say that the limit has already increased a little and it’s likely we will have about 75 at the Autumn camp. Simply put, I couldn’t get the PayPal buttons off the website quickly enough, and we want to honour all of the people who have bought tickets. But those who have been before, try to imagine 150-300 people in that field. There is no way we could all get around our community fire and keep warm. Imagine the Immrama Journeys with that many people, or the Battle of the Trees ritual, or if you were there, how could we have done the Three Worlds journey with that many? It couldn’t happen. It would vastly change the vibe and energy of these camps to increase them that much, and then I think the experience people have would change so much that we would start to hear things like, “They aren’t as good since they got bigger”.
I read a book on ancient tribal cultures and in that book it says that most successful tribal communities were, and still are, made up of around 60-80 people. Once they get larger than that they begin to fragment back into smaller groups. So for all of these reasons we’re going to stick with the current way of organising the AG camps for the time being. As they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s amazing really – the AG has 2 camps, a conference, 8 open rituals, three internet forums, and a monthly moot. I think that’s amazing in itself, but there’s always room for more exciting things for us to share, so watch this space…
Since I created Herne’s Apprentice the music industry has changed, I think for the better. The internet has been a curse to the traditional music industry, but a gift to independent musicians. Herne’s Apprentice, Hills they are Hollow and Spirit of Albion were all produced as CDs, but in 2006 they all became available on iTunes and other digital services. The Cauldron Born was my first CD to be launched both physically and digitally.
We arrived in plenty of time, taking in the glorious countryside that surrounds Clee Hill – if you ever get the chance to go I would recommend it just for the view from the car park outside the village! The venue was the Royal Oak public house – a true Tardis of a pub! From the outside I wondered how they were going to host a small festival, but once through the door the pub somehow seemed to grow, weird…
festival with a great story about the Clee Hill serpent. Then, after another great storyteller, Paul took the stage and gave a brilliant performance full of his usual energy and humour – breaking two strings in the process and in the end having to borrow one of my guitars to finish his set as he’d used all of his spares! I suggested a lighter pick, maybe one with the Herne’s Apprentice logo on it…! The picture shows Paul thrashing the shite out of my lovely new Takamine. The photo’s blurry because I was quivering in fear behind the camera!
s from the guest musicians, then mixing, and mastering, the new CD. I’ll post separately about that another time, but first let’s catch up on what’s been happening in the life of Damh since last time.
I had played a concert in Vienna last year and had had such a great time. We’d made some good friends and I was looking forward to seeing them again, along with the lovely Siggy (who was responsible for me getting my first harp!). We were driven to Vienna which gave us more opportunity to see the surrounding countryside, and we arrived there about 10pm, going straight to Siggy’s where she had prepared some wonderful soup. Yum.
was a real party, part bikers’ rally, part Pagan spiritual camp, but one that never really took itself too seriously. There were games like Pentacle Rounders, Tree of Life hoopla, and the infamous Toss the Cross, plus a live band and fireside eisteddfod. One of the people who came to the Broomstick Rally then moved to Austria, and started one there too. So thus it was that many years later I found myself at The Broomstick Rally once more! The venue was an amazing Austrian Palace out in the country. The grounds were stunning, had their own little temple space, and surrounding woodland, and a wonderful covered fire pit circle. It was weird to be at a Pagan camp where I hadn’t been booked to play as a performer, but it was also lovely to just relax and be. Wherever Siggy goes you will find harpers and other musicians, and this was no exception. Plus the PFI people from the Czech Republic were there too, so it was great to see 
them again. We chilled, played music, read, listened to talks, did workshops, and then as night fell, got wild around the camp fire, and man do the Czechs and Austrians know how to party!!
The plan was to play some songs from The Cauldron Born album intermingled with questions about my music, spiritual path, and the story behind the songs. Things were going really well until they tried to play Green and Grey. It has a long intro with bird song and flute, and it crashed the computer software, twice! I probably wouldn’t have been that worried had I not seen the panic on the presenter’s face as he waved his hands to encourage me and Eurik to keep talking. We managed the first crash, but when it happened again I did have to say, “I think you’re going to have to ask me another question now…” But even with the computer problem it was a real pleasure to do. Sitting in a radio studio doing a live interview is a strange thing. I tried not to think about the people listening, and just have a nice chat with the presenter. When I thought about the amount of people listening, and that it was live, I got a lot more nervous!
e PFI had hired a 150 seater theatre, and when I asked how tickets were selling I was told “about 45 so far, but more have said they would arrive on the day”. I was a little worried for them. It costs a lot to put on a show like this and I wondered just how well known my music really was here in the Czech Republic. The last thing I wanted was for the PFI to lose money bringing me here.
hill out and wait to see who arrived.
keep retuning, I’d organised the first set to be songs in regular tuning, and the second DADGAD. Here are the set lists:
Last weekend me and Cerri went to the Mercian Gathering near Coventry. I had a gig on the Friday night, and Cerri had the opportunity to have a stall outside our tent where she could sell some of her artwork. Last year I had strained my back so barely made it up there to play the gig, and then it rained solidly all weekend and some people had to be towed from the field. This year some kind of Karmic debt needed to be paid and sure enough the weather was lovely. A few little sprinkles of rain, but nothing like the deluge of last year.
tt Jasper and Susan Garlick (AKA Dragonflymoon). They did a great acoustic set to a packed house ending with some rousing chants. Groovy!
d looked amazing. Some fire dancers walked through with poi and then we were all led through in a mass of 850ish chanting Pagans. As we walked out we were guided to walk to the field where the Wickerman had been prepared. All day people had been placing wishes, prayers, burdens, on him, and now he stood proud, our proxy sacrifice, ready to send these to the Old Gods. We stood in a horseshoe shape before him, and flaming arrows were fired. He lit well, and soon 20-30 foot flames were sweeping into the sky. A great cheer sounded as finally he slowly began to keel over, and tumble in a mass of flames, to the earth. The Circle span, drums pounded, energy was raised, and then the fire-jumping began. Our messages sent to the Old Ones to do with as they wished.
So today, in 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. 70 years later can we look back and say we learned from that terrible time? I had dinner with my parents a couple of weeks ago and we talked about their memories of the war – of Doodlebugs, evacuations, air raid shelters, gas masks. It must have been a terrifying time to live through, not knowing how it would all pan out, whether Hitler would make his way to these shores, and what that invasion might bring. It was only 70 years ago.
The next morning we set off to the venue and, apart from having to carry Cerri’s stall and stock up three flights of stairs to get to the hall, it was a mellow and chilled time. I had time to interview Rufus and Melissa Harrington for the next edition of DruidCast about Enochian magic and the life of Alistair Crowley. Listened to a number of inspiring talks, including Little Raven’s, and finally 6pm approached and I moved my instruments into the Reading Room ready for my two sets.
This year has been the Year of the Gig for me. Almost every weekend you’ll hear the sounds of Spirit of Albion, or Hills they are Hollow echoing through a field, woodland, hall or campsite. It really has been an incredibly exciting ride (and there are more to come too!), but I have been incredibly lazy when it comes to blogging my experiences onto The Bardic Blog.
Twittering too!
The way that the tickets for the 
