Marc Gunn

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Marc Gunn is a musician and entrepreneur. As the autoharp-playing half of the Brobdingnagian Bards, Gunn and partner Andrew McKee developed a following with weekly performances on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. This led to gigs at renaissance faires, science fiction conventions, and Celtic music festivals as well as parties and weddings for the pair. The group headlined at the Oscar party for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

With the Bards’ calendar busy, Gunn began producing the duo’s recordings. Their first effort in 1999 was Marked By Great Size followed by Gullible's Travels in 2000. The third release was 2001’s instrumental Songs of the Muse, then two theme CDs A Faire To Remember and A Celtic Renaissance Wedding. 2002 saw the release of Songs of Ireland, 2003 brought Memories of Middle Earth, and their latest CD is Brobdingnagian Fairy Tales. A solo album, Soul of a Harper, appeared in 2004; he then embarked on work for Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers.

He is also involved in an online resource called the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. The weekly publication reviews Celtic music of all varieties from Irish traditional music to Celtic rock. Two free, full-length MP3s are offered for download every week on the site. Marc is one of the few professional podcaster producing five different podcasts each month, the most-popular being the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Additionally, Gunn publishes The Bards Crier's Music Marketing and Promotion Tips Ezine, a newsletter that teaches musicians about marketing and promotion, and handles webmaster duties for a variety of sites including the Austin Celtic Association.

It is claimed that more than five million MP3s have been downloaded from him; over one million of those were for "Tolkien (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings)." The Brobdingnagian Bards were voted “Best Renaissance Men” in the Austin Chronicle’s 2003 Best of Austin poll. In March of 2005, The Bards collected an Austin Music Award for the Bards as Best Novelty Band, the first time any Celtic band has won. Gunn’s solo CD Soul of a Harper won the Best Cover Art category that year. In 2007, they continued that honor by winning Best None of the Above Band.

[edit] Bibliography

Bella Filíocht : Heartfelt Poetry of a Celtic Italian Hopeful Romantic (2005)
Mozart's Digital Concerto: The Quick and Easy Guide to Classical Music Downloads (2005)