STARK RAVENS: Stage & Street

Stark Ravens

Stage & Street

© 2002 Stark Ravens Historical Players (628740691021)

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The 3rd CD from the StarkRavens takes the orchestral, wall of sound, idea from our "Alice" CD, & applies it back to our roots in Celtic folk music. The CD includes many classic favorites, as well as amazing new music in the Celtic tradition.

notes

The third CD from the Stark Ravens Historical Players takes the orchestral, "wall of sound" concept that they used with their Alice's Adventures in Wonderland CD, and applies it back to their musical roots in Celtic folk music. On a single track, you might hear 4 mandolins, octave mandolin, 6 & 12 string guitars, fiddle, banjo, upright bass, flute, pennywhistle, recorder, accordion, melodion, tom, bodhran, & snare drums, tambourine, spoons, shakers and over a dozen voices. The sound is HUGE, rich, complex & layered. Stage & Street has traditional English, Irish & Scottish songs as well as original music written in a Celtic folk style with a little dash of rock & roll or island groove thrown in here & there.

Dido Bendigo, The Jolly Beggarman, Old Maid in the Garrett, Spanish Lady, Brewer Laddie, Pills of White Mercury, She Moves Through the Fair, & Twa Recruiting Sergeants are all traditional tunes from England, Ireland & Scottland.

The Cuckoo's Call, White & Red, Ride Him Well, & Turning of the Year are all original songs from the Stark Ravens' production of William Shakespeare's comedy of love & infidelity, Love's Labours Lost. The lyrics of White & Red were written by William Shakespeare. The other songs were inspired by his play.

Agincourt is an original rocker from Mark Donnelly of Lee Press-on & the Nails fame. It's inspired by William Shakespeare's rousing St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V.

Credits:

Vocals:
Christopher David Barnes, Laura Brueckner, Mark Donnelly, Tisha Donnelly, Margit Elland, Jeremy Hou, Carol McCollum, Terry Mulrooney, Brian Patterson, Andrew Pettit, Bryn Tucker, Chase Williams, and Heidi Wohlwend

Musicians:
Christopher David Barnes - Mandolin
Laura Brueckner - Flute, Pennywhistle
Mark Donnelly - Mandolins, Banjo, Percussion
Paul Donnelly - Bodhran
Aaron Hendel - Upright Bass
Brian Patterson - Drums
Ben Seeman - Accordion
Bryn Tucker - Mandolins, Banjo, Guitars
Steve Tucker - Guitars, Percussion
Megan Tucker - Pennywhistle, Recorders
Chase Williams - Tambourine
Heidi Wohlwend - Melodion, Turkish Spoons
Laura Valentine - Violin

All songs arranged by Mark Donnelly.

Cuckoo's Call - Donnelly/Brueckner
White & Red - Donnelly/Shakespeare
Ride Him Well - Donnelly/Brueckner
Turning of the Year - Donnelly/Brueckner
Agincourt - Donnelly
All other songs traditional

Recorded at The Ravenry, Fairfax, CA
Engineered by Mark Donnelly & Bryn Tucker
Mixed by Kent Matcke
Jacket Design by Mud 'n Yer Eye Graphics, Oakland, CA

Copyright 2002 Stark Ravens Historical Players


Special thanks (and a big kiss) to:

Hard Times (We learned Dido Bendigo from their excellent CD.)

The Sea Dogs of St. Dymphna (These awesome performers let us let us use some of their musicians.)

Margit Elland (Super heroine extraordinaire, she adds the power soprano to our vocal ensemble.)

Laura Valentine (A prodigy on the violin, we want to kidnap her forever! Thanks Traveler's Union!)

Reyes Photography (Many of the pictures on our CD cover were used with their permission.)

Lee Press-on (computer techno wizard & all around great guy)

And lastly... to all the great folks who make it worth our while to endure all the dust and dirt of a Renaissance Faire. The happy faces out in our audiences are why we do this crazy thing. THANK YOU!!!


Stark Ravens is a theatrical project founded in 2000 with the mission to spread joy by performing distilled classics with a musical twist. Our first show, Twelfth Night, was warmly received by the smaller Renaissance events in California, and we toured with it for two years. We also just finished our third & final year of our wildly popular Victorian era show, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which won numerous awards at both the Great Dickens Christmas Fair, and Pickwick Comic Annual, and at the San Francisco Fringe Festival in 2001. 2002 brought us into production on Love's Labours Lost, whose songs are on this CD.


These are some of the events where we've performed:

The Northwoods Renaissance Festival, Redding, CA
The Shasta Highlands Celtic Festival, Anderson, CA
The Valhalla Renaissance Festival, South Lake Tahoe, CA
The Fair Oaks Fair, Fair Oaks, CA
The Heart of the Forest Renaissance Faire, Novato, CA
The Central Coast Renaissance Festival, San Louis Obispo, CA
Young's Grove Revels, Turlock, CA
The San Francisco Fringe Festival, San Francisco, CA
The Folsom Renaissance Festival, Folsom, CA
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Pickwick Comic Annual, San Francisco, CA

If you enjoy this CD, please check out our soundtracks to 12th Night, & Alice's Adventures in Wonderland CDs, and check out our website for our performance schedule, and COME SEE US LIVE! J

Love's Labours Lost:

The cast:

Ferdinand: Brian Patterson
Biron: Christopher David Barnes
Longaville: Chase Williams
Mercade: Terry Mulrooney
Don Adriano De Armado: Andrew Pettit
Costard: Mark Donnelly
The Princess of France: Carol McCollum
Rosaline: Heidi Wohlwend
Katherine: Tisha Donnelly
Jacquenetta: Liana Day-Williams

Second season saviors:

Longaville: George Chlentzos
Costard: Chris Calahan
The Princess of France: Tisha Donnelly
Katherine: Holly Calahan
Jacquenetta: Julie Antti

The band:

Octave Mandolin: Bryn Tucker
Upright Bass: Aaron Hendel
Bodhran: Chris Calahan
Recorder: Megan Tucker


Foley:
Megan Tucker

reviews

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  • A great album!
    author: Shannon

    I had never heard these guys before but another group I enjoyed from Renaissance Fair recommended them and I bought the album on a whim. It's wonderful! I love it!

  • First thing I heard by them. Superb! Love these old songs!
    author: G Gammie

    Stark Ravens Very rich, deep instrumentals behind the vocals. The vocals are superbly done. Often choral groups are not quite in sync and so have a muddy sound. Not true here, they are so well in sync that it's as if there is one person singing with perfect enunciation, sloppy enunciation really bugs me. A great selection of traditional songs, using the traditional lyrics not a modernized version, from the British Isles many of which are hard to find in any format. To have so many done so well here is a real treat. My one and only criticism is that on a couple numbers the instrumentals overpower the vocals making them hard to hear and with such interesting lyrics I do want to hear every word. Who would write "A maid in Her Garret" now? "Pills of White Mercury" tells the story of a young rake struck down in his prime after dalliance with the 'flash girls.' The "Twa Rercuitin' Sergeants" persuading a young Scots laddie to join up and wear a 'feather in your bonnet and a kilt upoon your knee.' "Agincourt" form King Henry's speech on St. Crispins Day before the battle set to music in a delightful way. A 9 out of 10. Wonderful!

  • Beautiful,wonderful,moving the best
    author: Linda

    I can not tell you how much joy this cd has given me.It is beautiful,fun great.

  • Charming, full of fun and melody.
    author: J. Barnett

    After seeing them perform "LLL" at a recent faire I was very curious about their work, so I got this cd at it is just first rate. My favorite song on it and from the performance is "Ride Him Well," good job all. wink J.Barnett

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