Queen's Gambit

On the Eve of White Hart

2008-06-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

Those who know us from Faire or in our mundane lives have come to understand that we invest a lot of heart, soul, and sometimes even money into the faires where we perform, and that is perhaps more so of White Hart Renaissance Faire" than of any other. This coming weekend finds Queen's Gambit (sans Queen, she's actually the Queen at WH!) performing as a trio with theBruce, Niniane and Eliza entertaining patrons and having fun in Hart Grove.

Please come join us. This faire is special. There's a wedding bower where our dear friends Eric and Julie were married last year, and there will be more ceremonies there this year. In that bower is a tree (no, we don't do the "Rattlin' Bog") that has been dedicated to the memory of Charles Taylor, who founded WHRF. Charles passed from this life on February 13, 2007. Two weeks ago I took a walk alone to the faire site, placed my hand on the tree, and promised Charles we'd carry on, as we promised then.

Sadly, it's not my promises or our determination as a group of performers, or even his wife Di's hard work and sacrifice that decide whether or not that faire continues, but rather the patronage of the public, and their willingness to come to White Hart and spend money. We of Queen's Gambit sincerely hope that you, our fans and visitors to this website, will come and do just that.

Last Fall, Rowan got the idea to produce a compilation CD that would help to raise funds for the continuation of White Hart. So we got together with Cedric of the Bedlam Bards and recorded a few songs, and asked all the musicians of WHRF to donate a track or two from their CDs. It finally all came together this Spring, and we've just finished "An AfFaire of the Hart", which has tracks from Cedric, Queen's Gambit, Cedric *with* Queen's Gambit, Ezra and Dilly, Seymoure, Lady Nancy, Thistle Green, and a new group formed of WHRF cast members, "The Sea Dogs" playing some faire favorites, and a couple of tunes you may not have heard before. All of the groups will have "An AfFaire of the Hart" available at their shows, and there will be some for sale at the ticket booth as well, so come and get one! $5 from each CD sold goes directly to White Hart.

Thank you, and bless you all!

--theBruce

...And Into The 2008 Season!

2008-04-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

Greetings, and welcome!

Our 2008 faire season got off to a shivering start with temperatures in the 20 degree range for the Scarborough Academy of Performing Arts (SAPA) Renaissance Character Camp in Mexia, TX in January. It was cold, but we camped out and played until late in the evenings for our Scarby friends, and got some good professional development done. As always, we love interacting with and performing for SAPA, and the friendships we've developed there will last a lifetime.

The following weekend, the last weekend of January, Scarlet's Mid-Winter Renaissance faire got our attendance, and at full strength! We spent a happy weekend singing and playing, and visiting with the folks that we only get to see in Oklahoma City, and had a great time, as always, with Robert and Angela.

After Scarlet's, we had a bit of breathing room, allowing us to help set up the Joplin and White Hart Renaissance Festival academies. Rowan managed to get drafted as entertainment director of Joplin, and of course that means almost weekly trips up the Will Rogers turnpike to keep up with her duties there. Meanwhile, rehearsals were happening at Becky's in Parsons, which happens to be midway between where Nikki, our new whistler, lives in Olathe, and the place where we live in Tulsa.

Then came Norman. We were in pretty good musical shape for the faire, and our physical conditioning was challenged by a very-early-morning TV promo that the director of Norman Medieval Faire asked us to do. So after getting settled in to the hotel late Thursday night, we arose at 4:30 on Friday morning and drove up to Bricktown to do an interview and play some music for the News 9 viewers. It was very much worth it, as we had at least a couple dozen folke come up to us during the weekend and mention that they'd seen us on the news. The eaerly morning made for a long day on Friday, but Saturday went quite well. Sunday we all remembered what it's like doing a 3-day-weekend of Faire when you're outta shape....still, we held together and had a successful run!

This coming weekend Rowan and Bruce are going to visit Scarborough Faire, and visit with our friends there.

The weekend after that, 26 and 27 April, is the debut of Joplin Renaissance Festival, which is promising to be a very big deal. They've got nearly 60 vendors (for a first-year faire!) and have hired the Limey Birds, the Bedlam Bards, The Musical Blades, and Queen's Gambit, among other acts. It promises to be quite the faire debut. We've helped hold the performer academies for the cast, and this faire seems to be well on its way.

After that comes the Four Weekends of OKRF at the Castle of Muskogee!

More on that later!

After Somewhat of a Hiatus....

2007-11-26T19:28:00.000-08:00

Seems our blogging has taken a longer pause than I'd hoped! 2007 has been a very busy season for us, with some amazing musical successes, and Yet Another CD!

So let me get the newest news out first: We've finally got "Fianchetto" up on CDBaby.com!! We only had a few left. Julia worked her magick late of nights and long of days and we managed to get it out the last weekend of OKRF, and sold them at our shows through White Hart and KCRF, without even having had time to get them shrink-wrapped! Which is about how busy it's been!

Ok, so what else... ah, there was OKRF, then there was White Hart, then there was Conestoga, which was a very pleasant Sci-Fi Con debut for QG. That turned out to be pretty much a final performance for Amber and Julia as members of Queen's Gambit, both of them having stayed on clear through White Hart! We were very grateful, and sad to see them go, as they both added so much Beauty and Music to the group, and that's really what it's all about for this Bruce.

New members....Lady Niniane (Becky) had been with us off and on for several months since OKRF last year, playing Viola, and Nikki, who we've known for some years from KC and Sedalia, have joined the group full-time! Becky moved from St. Charles, MO a bit closer to Tulsa, and it turns out that her home is now midway between Kansas City, where Nikki lives, and Tulsa, where Rowan and I are, so that may be our new rehearsal headquarters! Anyway, Becky and Nikki did it all for the run of KCRF, and the Boare's Head Feaste, and are continuing to spin up on the repertoire for the group. They're doing a wonderful job, and have even added a thing or three to what we were doing before! Becky's picked up a 5-string violin and has been playing the fiddle parts to just about all the tunes, and Nikki has learned just about all the whistle parts we're gonna need. Nikki's voice, believe it or not, is a step or two *higher* than Amber's, so that's an interesting addition of range to work with, and Becky's adding a low alto and some good lead vocals as well. Come hear the new lineup and see if you agree!

And then Bruce and Rowan got married opening weekend of KCRF! Many thanks to all of our fans who came to visit, many from far, far away. Our friends of Tullamore and WhirlyJig and the SAPA (Scarborough) cast...I can't say enough good about our loving friends. Bless you all! We were a-huggin' people for a solid two hours at the end of the Reception, and loving every second of it. Again, bless you, and bless all our dear, sweet friends that put the ceremony and reception logistics together!

Now I'm planning out the QG calendar for the year, and it looks to be a busy 2008. The tentative schedule is up here, and it looks very similar to last year. We haven't been booked for St. Patrick's Day yet, and we're hoping to make another run to the Tipperary Inn in Dallas followed by another Sunday morning at Scarborough, but that's all in the "thinking about it" stage at this point. Twenty weekends on the road....ye gods, we know what Bob Seger was singing about with "Turn the Page".

So enough of my ramblings...
I'm making an early New Years Resolution to keep this blog up a little better. Meanwhile, anybody that wishes to can send pictures of QG performing, and I'll get some newer photos
up on the Gallery. Just use the "contact" link from our homepage!

Love you all and see you soon!

--theBruce

OKRF 2007

2007-04-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

This year at the Castle of Muskogee will be an exciting one! Queen's Gambit will be there and playing each day of the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival, on the Burns stage near the Maypole.

We're looking forward to seeing all of our fans and friends, and making some new ones!

This run of faire, all the weekends of May including Memorial Day, will be your last chance to see this configuration of Queen's Gambit, as Julia and Amber will be leaving the band after the end of faire. Julia's following her husband, who's landed quite the nice job on the east coast, and Amber will be moving down to Edmond to pursue her collegiate career.

Come out and see us, and you'll never feel pressured to pay money at our shows, because we don't pass a hat!

Blessings,

--theBruce

And Into the Spring Season....

2007-04-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

Norman Medieval Faire was a blast, as always! QG was at full strength for the event on the first weekend of April, and we even had Amber-Bob to hawk CDs for us while we were up on the stage playing. The three-day event suffered from a truncated Friday as strong thunderstorms nearly flooded Reaves Park in Norman, but Saturday and Sunday were business as usual, and a good time was had by all. We shared the Gryphon Stage with the Rogues, Harmless T. Jester, Arabesque, and on Sunday with Oklahoma-based Calliope House, and it was a wonderful atmosphere.

The following weekend found us in Dallas for our gig on April 7th at the Tipperary Inn, just south of SMU. We were really nervous, as this was our first "real" Irish Pub performance, and we wanted to make a good impression. We got there fairly early, set up our own mikes and stands for the existing sound system, then took a break to eat....and realized we'd left the CDs in the hotel room! A flying trip through unfamiliar territory to get them, and then back for sound check! Our friend Shadow, who runs sound for Spriggan, who are some of our Ft. Worth-based friends, balanced us out perfectly, and away we went....4 hours and no repeats! Great crowd there, and we really enjoyed the company and the chance to play in front of people who really know what they're listening to! Hope to be able to do it again someday soon, and thanks to Tim, the owner, for hiring us pretty much sight-unseen, or should that be "sound-unheard"? And of course to Mark Clavey for suggesting the gig to us and recommending us to Tim! And to Montgomery and Theresa, the barkeeps who kept the water flowing for us all night! And to Gypsy, who sat in on Bodhran for a set with us!

Next morning, April 8th, we dragged our tired bodies out of bed to make the drive down to Waxahachie for Scarborough Faire! Even though they didn't hire us this year, I emailed Coy, the Entertainment Director, and got performer's passes for the band and permission to busk the street for the day. We spent the morning and early afternoon renewing acquaintances with our dear, dear friends of SAPA, the cast of Scarborough, and playing the morning jam, and the morning Country Dance, and then busking the Pepper Lady's booth...then went over at noon to help our friends from Stonhenj, who lost a member to a tragic accident this Spring, perform at their first show of the day. We even managed to squeeze in a "Fields of Athenry" at the woodcarver's booth, and then sat in for a song with Queen Anne's Lace at the Brothers' stage. We sat and enjoyed a masterful performance of Stunny Fories from Terry Foy, and then called it a day. Long drive back home, and we returned fully contented.

Then on Monday night, April 9th, we went to Arnie's bar in downtown Tulsa, and played for the annual gathering of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. We were fortunate enough to make aquaintance with Chad of the local group "Larkin", who stayed for all our songs. It was a free gig, but it got us in front of a local crowd and we ended up getting a booking for a wedding out of it! More good friends made, and a nice evening of "ceol agus craic"!

After we were done at Arnie's, we went with some friends to the "Center of the Universe" up on the overpass by Union Station, and stood there, all four of us, and sang a few songs acapella, just to hear what they sounded like....ya had to be there. Beauty......

So, what's next?

....to be continued.....

Amazing Times....

2007-03-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

Some wonderful things happening with QG this year.

First of all, we'll be playing at The Pub (formerly Fitz's or Whistle Stop) in Union Station, Kansas City, MO for St. Patrick's Day. We'll be upstairs, and our sets are at 10 a.m. 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. It will be a long day, but worth it for the fun times with both kinds of friends...the ones we've met and the ones we haven't!

Then, and THIS NEWS JUST IN!!!

On April 7th, which is the Saturday after Norman Medieval Faire, we'll be playing the Tipperary Inn in Dallas from 8 p.m.-Midnight!

Of course we're looking forward to seeing all our Oklahoma friends at the Norman Medieval Faire and at the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival!

Busy season! We love you!! Come have fun with us!

--theBruce

Welcome to QG 2007!

2007-01-23T18:54:00.000-08:00

Who'd a thunk it; 5 years this season since Desahra and I started playing music together for peasant and country dances, and 4 years since Rowan and I began making harmonies! Well, there's a good bit in store for 2007, and it starts this coming weekend, January 27th and 28th in the Farmer's Market Event Center in Oklahoma City, with Scarlet's Mid-Winter Renaissance Faire.

Queen's Gambit will be performing at nearly full strength; Bruce, Rowan, Desahra and Julia will be there and performing your favorite ballads, jigs and reels. We'll be missing our Violist, Lady Niniane, but she'll be there with us at Norman Medieval Faire, last weekend of March. We have a CD that's new to Oklahomans, "En Passant", that we produced during the summer right before KCRF, so come and get your copy!

Bruce and Rowan again this year participated in the Scarborough Academy of Performing Arts (SAPA) Renaissance Character Camp at Old Fort Parker in Mexia (ma-HAY-ah) Texas the weekend of the 19th, and though we're not slated to perform at Scarborough this year (a moment of silence, please), it was wonderful to spend some time with our friends from the Village of Scarborough. We got the opportunity to sing and play a bit with the lovely ladies of Queen Anne's Lace, and got soaked and frozen, but it was well worth it!

Hope to see all of you, our friends and fans, at Scarlet's this weekend! It will be one of the last chances you'll have to see Queen's Gambit in this configuration, as life is intervening, and Desahra (Whistle, Vocals) and Julia (Violin, Vocals) will be leaving after OKRF in May; Desahra to college in OKC and Julia to the East Coast, where her husband has landed quite an internship!

Meanwhile, if there's a fiddler or a whistle-playing soprano out there, drop us a line, we'd love to talk to you! Info on our "contact" page at http://www.queens-gambit.com!

Over Halfway through KCRF

2006-09-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned how much we love KCRF? In spite of the long drive, the late and early hours, and all we have to do in order to perform there, seeing so many old friends and making so many new ones always makes it worthwhile.

And this past Saturday, you, our fans and patrons at Dunwoodie Dell in KCRF blessed us by making it the most successful day we've ever had at KCRF. Thank YOU!! Your support of indie and Celtic music allows us to continue doing what we love, which is bringing the beautiful music to you!

Our latest CD, "En Passant" was released with bravado at the opening of KCRF, and it is since just last week now available at CDBaby.com. Click over to our "samples" page or "recordings" page to order your copy!

Bob Brinkman of www.modernbard.org has given "En Passant" a review, and we really weren't expecting the caliber of praise he gave the album. Thanks, Bob! You can read the review for yourself at http://www.modernbard.org/reviews/enpassant.htm.

So with three weekends of KCRF yet to go, we're very happy, and appreciate you, our patrons and fans, very much. You rock!

--theBruce

We're Back!!

2006-09-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

After lovely times performing at Scarborough, OKRF, and the brand new White Hart Renaissance Faire, and a hectic summer of recording, travelling, and visiting, I was able to recover my blog password so I could post something here!

First the Big News: Our Fourth CD, "En Passant", is being released tomorrow, September 2nd 2006, at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival! The main website has a link to our "music samples" page, where you can listen to some of the things we did.

Then the Bigger News: Rowan and theBruce are getting handfasted (ancient Celtic rite of betrothal) after the faire day is over at KCRF on Sunday, September 3rd. This is a "ya'll come" type of event, and we hope to see many of our friends out there!

Now, most of you know that we never, ever push deadlines, and we've always produced our CD's just as laid-back and relaxed as possible, right?

HAH!

We pushed 'way hard to get this one done over the space of about 5 weeks, and our lovely fiddler, Julia, worked for about three days straight afterward to get the mixing done so we could get "En Passant" out in time for KCRF. TheBruce put in a few late nights this week as well, finalizing the mastering (each CD that we produce goes through three stages of "pre-release", where we burn a CD of what we have and listen to it and nothing but for a few days to find the kinks to get out) and getting the CDs to production. Andruss (really, Russ) at Nogard Enterprises got the initial run done in about 2 hours, and the last of the packaging is being printed as I type this. Kimberly and Sherry came over last evening to help assemble the CDs, and they won't be shrinkwrapped in time for this release weekend, but we'll have 'em :)

We'd like to thank everyone again who worked hard and quickly to get this CD out! Emilee, who did the photography, Kimberly again, who sang "Greensleeves" with us, and all our friends who are always there!

Check the Yahoo! group for more info as it becomes available on "En Passant"!

--theBruce
September 1, 2006

Scarborough, Baby!

2006-04-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

First of all, a *huge* thank you to all our fans who came to Norman Medieval Faire this past weekend. It was an honor to share a stage with Tullamore, and to play in the same venue with Scottish Mayhem and Owain Phyfe and all the other wonderful acts that were there...but the
biggest honor was being able to greet all our fans and to make pretty music for you!!

The coming two weekends, April 8-9 and 15-16, we'll be at the LadyHawke stage at Scarborough in Waxahachie, TX. And we'll have plenty of our new bawdy CD "OFF THE BOARD!" with us! We're sharing a stage with the beautiful Iris and Rose again, and that is yet another great honor!

Our shows (at the LadyHawke Pub in Pecan Grove, over by the Joust Field) are at 12:00 Noon, 2:00 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. We will also likely busk a bit in the morning, after the Crown Meadow Country Dance (around 11:00), in front of the Pepper Lady's booth, just up from Eagles Crossing in Crown Meadow, across from the Glass Blower's.

Very much looking forward to seeing all our Texas fans and friends!

Ya'll come!

--theBruce

What a Difference!

2006-01-30T13:07:00.000-08:00

We got some *very* good news late last week!

On Thursday, I wrote an email to the Entertainment Director of Scarborough Renaissance Festival (its new name!) asking for passes and permission to busk for the band to visit our favorite Texas faire for their opening weekend.

A bit of backstory: A couple of weekends ago we attended and performed for the Scarborough Academy of Performing Arts (SAPA, the Scarbourough cast) Renaissance Character Camp, at a pre-civil-war fort near Mexia, Texas. The cast loved us so much that they insisted we come and visit for a weekend during the run of faire.

Well, since we're committed to performing all four weekends of OKRF in Muskogee, that would leave us with a choice of the first four weekends of Scarby. We figured that opening weekend would be best, and made our request.

On Friday, I had email from the E.D. offering a contract, once again, for the first two weekends of Scarborough! So it looks like we're hired after all, and we're just as excited as we can be. We fell in love with Scarborough years ago, and after getting hired for the first two weekends last year, we were heartbroken not to be going back.

Looks like the start of a busy season!

Speaking of which, Scarlet's Mid-Winter Renaissance Faire is now in the record books. It was an outstanding production, as all Fox Moon Productions always are! We had a great time entertaining all-full shows, and working with some other great performers!

Nothing is quite as funny at a faire closing as seeing the Bilge Pumps in Mermaid Tails. We laughed so hard we almost couldn't finish the Celtic Jam Session that we were holding near the entrance to the Hobbies, Arts and Crafts building at the OK State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City.

This was also Julia's debut with us as a full-time fiddler; she hasn't quite decided whether she's going to "officially" join the band or not, pending mundane commitments as she settles down in Oklahoma with job and the like, but we're sure hoping. Many who hadn't heard a fiddler with Queen's Gambit yet were thrilled at the lovely descants and counter melodies she adds to our songs, and here's something extra: she has a lovely voice as well, which you can look forward to hearing at Norman Medieval Faire!

Off The Board is still in production, after a major setback involving some computer files and a crashed computer. We're still plugging away at it and hope to have it out by Norman.

In one last piece of news, Bob Brinkman, the "Modern Bard" who recently reviewed our CDs, came up with an idea for a compilation CD, and teamed up with Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards on the idea. We contributed a track to the CD, and the proceeds of all sales go to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims. You can find the CD, which includes the Bedlam Bards, Queen's Gambit, Three-Quarter Ale, Empty Hats, Dogs in Doublets and many others at http://www.celticmusic.org/The_Circle.shtml

Blessings to all and see you at Faire!

Happy New Year!

2006-01-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well, after a lovely Yule get-together and house guests, and a NYE visit to Kansas City, we're just about settled down to finishing up "Off The Board". Waiting a bit for Desahra do get over her sinus infection so we can finish the vocals, then on to the final mix.

We were a bit disappointed to learn that we won't be hired for Scarborough Renaissance Festival this year, but keep those cards-n-letters coming to the contacts at their website, and perhaps we'll get hired for next year!

The word came from Norman Medieval Faire that we're hired again this year, so everyone be sure and mark your calendars for the first weekend of April in Reaves Park in Norman!

Sooner than that, January 28-29th we've been hired for Scarlet's Mid-Winter Renaissance Faire, to be held at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City. Please come out and support us. This will be a different (and more musician-friendly) building than the mid-summer faire, and we're really looking forward to performing. Robert and Angela always put together a first-class event, and their website is at http://www.foxmoonproductions.com.

Of course, plans are on track for us to perform at the Castle of Muskogee for our home faire, the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival. This event is the first four weekends of May, and this year for the first time, includes Memorial Day Weekend! We're hoping for record crowds in Muskogee, and look forward each year to seeing all our old friends at the Castle.

The Photo Gallery part of the website is in the process of being rebuilt. Hopefully I'll have all the albums and pictures back up by the end of the week. Keep checking :)

We're actively seeking a non-faire gig for St. Patrick's Day in March. About 90% of our repertoire is Irish music, and we'll be happy to travel anywhere in the State for a good evening of Ceol agus craic. Let us know if you can put us in touch with those responsible for hiring the music; click the "Contact" link for e-mail info.

Thanks, and we love you all!

--theBruce

Off The Board

2005-11-30T11:37:00.000-08:00

We're still working on "Off The Board" our long-awaited 3rd (and BAWDY!) CD. Rowan and Bruce are putting a big effort into getting the last of the tracks recorded and we expect to release it before Christmas. So far those who have been by the house and listened to the preliminary mixes have been impressed!

Look for some more exciting news here in the next few days...something big is coming up!

2005 Boare's Head Feaste and Beyond...

2005-11-30T11:36:00.000-08:00

We had some guests in for the 2005 BHF, lovely Amber B. came in from Cushing, and Brian I. from Duncan, OK to stay with us for the feast.

Julia, who some of you may remember having played with us on Student Day at KCRF 2004, agreed to come and play with us for the evening, and we were much elated to have a fiddler with us, again! She plays somewhat in the style of DJ, noodling a harmony behind the vocals, and is also bold enough in her playing of melody lines to improv an instrumental break now and again. Just what we like, and she has a voice as well!

We arrived for the feaste itself just a bit before 6 p.m., after having rehearsed a few numbers with Julia at home before we left. Unloaded and unpacked and immediately went back to rehearsing some more before the feaste started, missing a part of the feaste that I traditionally love to do: Playing for the patrons as they enter. Next year, yes.

Richard (Rav) was in charge of the programming and at Susi's suggestion, rather than have each band up 3 times to do one song, we had each band perform for one "remove". Afterward, during dessert, we did a 10-minute jam session, which consisted of us doing "Star of the County Down", and Kerridwynn doing "Black Velvet Band", which Amber hijacked with "Piano Man". Was great, though we coulda warned him, I guess...

Then on to the dances. After a Half-Hannikins and a Korabushka, Kimberly sang a *lovely* Greensleeves with us, and Butterfly Bill was trying to get in position to hear it better, as we had a 4-part harmony going that was a real tear-jerker...but dancers kept getting in his way. Then we did a couple of our instrumental waltzes, and they told us that was enough...I thought we were done, but with everyone standing around, I just *had* to have us do a jig set, to which those inclined danced "The Lilt".

Then, John Auld, the best King Henry VIII I've ever seen and the only king I've ever known at Muskogee, came out and wished a final "Godspeed"...and we were standing about as he left toward the curtains in the back of the Garden Room.

Every one of us in the place knew that that was his last "Godspeed" as Henry. And it set us all back.

Karen C., the GM of the Castle, came up as we were tearfully looking at each other. She had a song in mind and sang a few words of a lovely tune that neither Susi nor I had ever heard. But I had another song that was begging to get out of my brain.

All I did was say the words: "Irish Blessing", and Amber started it out in a lovely soprano. Susi blended with it and I was under 'em with Bass. Every bard, minstrel, and musician in the hall decended upon us like white on rice and stood in that circle and we sang from our collective hearts and souls. It was the first time we'd ever sung "Irish Blessing" together, out of deference to 3PG/WMT and Kathleen, who have done so much to help us get started. That's kinda their song. But *damn* did that sound good.

And a fitting tribute and well-wish to His Majesty, the only King I knew at OKRF for many years.

Julia acquitted herself well, considering it was her second time ever to play with us, and she *does* have the ear and the love for the music. I hope we can inspire her passion to play.

We had a lovely time with wonderful hugs and kisses from many, all of whom I love dearly.

And now, an announcement for those who haven't heard:

Amber has agreed to re-join Queen's Gambit. In return I must pay for her college. She accepted the "Queen's Gambit Scholarship Program" which is now soliciting donors :)

New Photos, PK4 Shortage, and KCRF Final Weekend!

2005-10-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Well, after 6 weekends, we're down to the final weekend of KCRF 2005. This past weekend was a mixture of joy, as Desara rejoined us for several shows, and challenges, as Rowan lost her voice due to a cold. Not to worry, it seems to be coming back just fine, and should be at full strength for the coming weekend!

Friday night's show at the Just Off Broadway theatre was wonderful! All the people who missed it missed nearly all the musical groups from KCRF, including Tullamore and the Jolly Rogers. It was a fantastic show, and not only did Desahra join us for it, but also George and Rashelle on violins! We did several of our fast numbers, including "Ballad of St. Anne's Reel" and "Spanish Lady", and then a "Letters from Kilkelly" with twin whistles *and* twin fiddles, which resulted in an amazing sound that you just had to be there for.

Emilee Rush and Ray Cole each contributed some pictures from this year's appearances at KCRF, and they're up (and more of Ray's are coming) on our Gallery page. Enjoy!

We're running a bit short on "Pawn To King Four" CDs, so be sure and get yours early this weekend. If you'd rather use a credit card, or can't make it out to KCRF, you can click the link from our Recordings or Music Samples page and get the CD directly from CDBaby.

Looking forward to a weekend or so of relaxation and visiting with family, and then comes our next performance at Boare's Head Feaste, at the Castle of Muskogee on November 19th. Looking to see you there! Contact the Castle at 918 687-3625 for tickets!

--theBruce

Wanted: Fiddler

2005-09-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

I've sent e-mails out to several violin instructors throughout the Tulsa area in search of a full-time fiddler. We got one response, but it didn't get us any closer.

So if you are a fiddler, or violinist that wouldn't mind being called a fiddler, and would like to audition for Queen's Gambit, drop us a line through our "contact" page. I get and respond to e-mails right away.

We're basically looking for someone who is local to the Tulsa/Muskogee or NE Oklahoma area, and who is willing and able to make weekly rehearsals, and to travel on weekends during the Spring and Fall months. We especially want someone who can play music by ear and learns quickly, and can improv around a melody line. The music and the performances are very rewarding, in terms of artistic satisfaction and good will created. Not to mention all those wonderful Renaissance Faire folke!

So please, interested fiddlers, please inquire.

Slan,

--theBruce

QG at JOB

2005-09-28T13:30:00.001-07:00

It seems I've neglected to post updates to this Blog!

Well, never fear, the time has come. We've enjoyed the past four weekends of the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. There's such a lovely atmosphere of acceptance among the performers and playtrons there, and our fans have welcomed our new member, Brandy, with open arms.

Now Brandy is also a part of Commedia Sans Arte, a wonderful comedy troupe out of Kansas City, and they're producing a benefit show entitled "Faire Play for Friends" for Hurricane Katrina Relief. It will take place at the Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City on October 7th at 6 p.m., and will run until around 10-ish, as we all have to get up early the following morning to get to faire.

Slated to appear are Tullamore, Queens Gambit, The Lord Mayors Company, The Jolly Rogers, The Jester Rejects, Commedia Sans Arte, The Brobdingnagian Bards, and Beth Byrd (Sparrow the Mime). Seymoure will be the Master of Ceremonies.

Tickets are $15 per person, and all proceeds from the show will go to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

Hope to see everyone there!

And come see us at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival for three more weekends!

--theBruce

Home Stretch -- to Mid-Season!

2005-06-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all, and welcome to our new fans! We are finally coming down the home stretch of our Spring Renaissance/Medieval Faire season. We've just finished with Excalibur and Norman Medieval Faires, then with two weekends of Scarborough Faire, a performance for Earth Day at the Norman Sierra Club, then four weekends of the Oklahoma Renaissance Faire at the Castle of Muskogee. We capped that all with a busking trip to Scarborough Faire (which shall next year be known as "Scarborough Renaissance Festival!") on our own dime, to work the streets and play with our wonderful friends from Texas for Memorial Day weekend. Now my guitar is at the Luthier's being re-fretted, because all that playing just wore the frets down to nothing! We got back from Scarborough Tuesday afternoon, just in time to get chores (for me) and sewing (for Rowan) done. Needless to say, we're looking forward to a weekend off, something we've not had since sometime back in February! This coming weekend, on Sunday, June 5th, we shall be providing the music for Tulsa Chautauqua's "Dinner with da Vinci" fundraiser, sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa. The Tulsa World carried an article on this fundraiser here. The article features a picture of Queen's Gambit in the beautiful garden of the private home where the event will be held. The fundraiser benefits the actual Chautauqua which starts June 11th on the campus of OSU Tulsa, and features several historical characters, for a "living history" segment, along with music. The article in the Tulsa World describes it much better than I can! We'd like to encourage anyone who is able to contact the Arts and Humanities Council chairpeople at the number in the article to donate and attend the fundraiser, and of course the general public is invited to the Chautauqua at T-OSU itself at no cost. The fundraiser is $100/plate, which makes me very anxious to provide these folke with some first-class Renaissance and Celtic music! For those who will be in the Tulsa area on the following Tuesday, June 7th, Queen's Gambit will be in concert at the Tulsa Hardesty Regional Library Auditorium at 93rd and Memorial, just off the Creek Turnpike, from 7 until 8 p.m. to help kick off the Summer Reading Program, which has the Renaissance theme this year of "Joust Read!" This is the gig we'd like to make sure all our Tulsa area fans attend, so we can "pack the house" with folke, in or out of garb, doesn't matter, we'll be happy to see what some of you look like in clothes! ;) The Hamlet of Mid-Missouri Renaissance Festival will be our next stop after that, in Sedalia, Missouri at the State Fairgrounds, on June 11th and 12th. We're hoping for a good turnout, and anyone who comes that weekend and catches all of our shows will probably get to hear our entire (70+ song) repertoire, as I'm sure we'll be playing at least 4 shows per day, but we haven't got the schedule yet. Ya'll come to that one, those of you who don't mind a lovely drive through the mountains. Straight North from Springfield Mo., if you're coming from Oklahoma or Arkansas, or straight out I-70 from Kansas City. We shall also perform at a "Renaissance Faire" partially sponsored by the folke of King Arthur Faire, at the Martin Public Library on July 9th at various times during the day, more info on that as it draws closer. So it has been a busy Spring, and we hope yours has been busy and productive as well! Thank all of you for your kind support, and we look forward to Summer and the opportunity to entertain you again! Hope to see you all soon! "Bruce the Bruce"

First Entry

2005-03-29T13:58:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Queen's Gambit Blog!

Hopefully we'll be able to better keep you abreast of the goings-on of QG, as in what projects we're working on, our thoughts on performances and venues, and other things of interest.

By now everyone's sure to have got the word, CDBaby.com has our new CD, "Pawn to King Four" up under the URL http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/queensgambit3/from/celtic. We've been getting good feedback from those who've bought the CD, and theBruce even got a piece of Fan Mail from an Excalibur playtron who bought the CD this past weekend!

Excited!!