She turned me into a GNEW-t!… I got better.
Lord Frederick Vanderveer had approached me once again to open my mouth to make pretty noises. It was time to arrange another concert for GNEW. It was a bit harder to wrangle performers this year due to the fighting schedule and the notoriously long pomp and circumstance of Court.
I had lined up a few new acts for the concert. Something about this year filled me with the anticipation of new and exciting talent.
A few days prior to the concert, I began to receive multiple messages from people who could no longer perform. What started as a venue of 7 performers was now down to 4. This would still work, but we all suddenly had more stage time to fill.
Bardic Grove had been moved to Merchants Row, and the stage was now more intimate. The concert was slated for Friday night so it would not compete with Court (besides, some of us like to go to bed BEFORE the thunder parties are over).
Waiting with me to perform was Lady Nuala McKensie, but my 2 other performers never appeared.
I swore I would still make this work.
Nuala and I would weave between pieces. I also had the genius idea to turn the concert stage into a safe space for newer and less confident performers.
Lord Frederick Vanderveer happened to be in attendance. I asked him if he would grace us with a piece. He gladly accepted and entertained the audience with a beautiful melody. It was really nice to see him perform. He doesn’t often get a venue to perform vocally and sometimes the bard factor can be intimidating.
After that, we also had the joy of being entertained by Lord Greger when he told us a humorous tale of one of his many experiences within the SCA.
To round out the night, we had a young woman with a beautiful voice who had never performed publicly before. It was absolutely lovely to have new blood show such bravery as to perform in front of an audience at our show.
We finished with a group performance of “Life Blood”, which has always been an SCA favorite of mine.
The next day, there were to be several courts held. There was one mid day at which a friend of mine would be receiving an award, so I made sure to be present.
There was a hold with the royalty (not uncommon in these situations). They had called for a bard. Typically, in these circumstances the King’s or Queen’s personal bard would be called to perform, however, neither was present for this event. Being noticed by the King, I was called to perform. I did not have my bard book on me, but without hesitation I began to sing. I few verses later, my services were no longer needed and court resumed.
I had never been called on to perform so suddenly and without preparation. This was a huge honor bestowed upon me by the royalty, and I can only be thankful my performance was not preceded by me losing my lunch all over the court attendees.
Meddlings of the Minnesinger 