Hilary Booth... of course!

A 26 minute edit of A Moveable Musical Feast, will be airing on PBS stations across the United States and some border stations in Canada over the next few weeks. It's a behind the scenes documentary on Loreena McKennitt's An Ancient Muse tour with performances and interviews. The full 61 minute version is available from Quinlan Road, either individually or as part of Midwinter Night's Dream deluxe set.

Loreena McKennitt is releasing yet another Christmas/winter season album "Midwinter's Night Dream". It'll include eight new songs along with the five tracks of "Winter Garden" which have been remastered. It'll be released in the US in October 28th or it can be preordered at Quinlan Road. The deluxe edition will have the "Moveable Feast" dvd, a behind the scenes dvd on the Ancient Muse tour.

Loreena McKennitt appeared live on NPR's Weekend Edition with in studio performances of "Bonny Portmore", "Penelope's Song" and "Stolen Child". The program is archived on the website on streaming audio.

I watched the "Nights of the Alhambra" PBS special with Loreena McKennitt. Thank god for DVRs so I could fast forward through the PBS pledge stuff. The Great Performances hosts talked to Loreena in the studio, but the questions were so repetitive I finally gave up listening. The performance itself was lovely. The Alhambra palace is stunning, so I could understand why they'd want to choose it for a venue. Apparently the organizers wanted assurances that their lighting and fixtures wouldn't mess their historical landmark or that the music wouldn't shake the rafters too much. The only concern there might be for something like "Bonny Swans" with the electric guitar and drums combination. I was pleased they included a few others than what we heard at the DAR. Two songs appear to have been skipped according to the dvd listing: "All Souls Night" and "Huron Beltane Fire Dance" The latter is a shame because you really see the interaction and fun between the musicians, rather than focusing on Loreena's beautiful voice. She seemed to have even more musicians for this performance, including a different hurdy gurdy player altogether. The Alhambra also included some of the introductions to the songs. I can understand not including them on tour. If she introduced every song with appropriate footnotes and travelogues, we'd be lucky to get out of there in four hours, rather than two!

Washington Post did an article about classical violinist Joshua Bell busking at a busy Metro station at A.M. rush hour and lamented the unfeeling audience's reaction. Loreena started her music career as a busker, learning to record and market her own tapes and cds. I sometimes wonder if I'd noticed Bell or McKennitt zipping past to work. With Bell, it was an unfair test really, picking that hour and that location and not even allowing him to perform more recognizable pieces. Much as I grumble about the horn player or electric guitarist I see everywhere, I know those songs. Or at least reasonably recognize them. *wince* I do recall fondly a string quartet that used to play at one of the Metro stations at lunch hour. I loved listening to them. So obviously there's more to it than just showing up and playing. There's getting people to listen. Loreena has come a long way from those days, for good or bad. Sometimes I miss the sparser arrangements and sometimes it adds a richness.

( Which Loreena McKennitt song am I? )

Just returned from the Loreena McKennitt concert at DAR. Wow is putting it mildly. I'll have a full report sometime tomorrow. I'm exhausted and my feet are killing me. Their idea of near-Metro and mine are slightly different, especially wearing dressy shoes. But at least I survived the day without hurting an ankle. Although I had everyone wondering if I was going on an interview or something, since I usually dress very casually.

Once upon a time, there was a fandom. It brought together fantasy and romance and literary references. Then things changed in the fandom and it all went kaboom. "Beauty and the Beast" was one of my earliest fandoms, even buying zines and such. I was in college for the third season, so I only caught bits and pieces. Now the first season has finally been released on dvd, so it can be appreciated again. Or at least watched again. (Not that we're bitter or anything, are we, WENN fans?) azarsuerte voiced her opinion about the later part of the series and on Catherine Chandler as a character. I'm still not sure whether I'll buy the set or not. Some things age well and others do not. I have the same fears with "V" sometimes.

I managed to survive the DC ice storm, despite the aircast. I stayed home for the worst of it, knowing my mobility would be massively impaired, if not threatened. The last thing I needed to do was slip and hurt myself. I still avoided the side streets this morning, in favor of slightly more navigable route. Thank god I live so close between two Metros.

I scored tickets for Loreena's DC concert, fairly close up, too. I still remember our seats in Baltimore for the Mask & Mirror tour where we were almost on the first row. Of course I haven't been back to DAR since well... my high school graduation.

I'm on the Quinlan Road mailing list and I just received this ecard link in my email with info about Loreena McKennitt's new studio album.

Ancient Muse coming in Autumn 2006