Merry Measure

To Michigan...And Beyond!

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:22:35 GMT

We're happy to finally announce our late summer-early fall schedule!

Weekends August 15th through September 21, we will again be performing at the Michigan Renaissance Festival in Holly. Join us for another fun season and a great show! Let us know when you're coming - we may be able to spare a ticket or two.

But be sure to show up before their closing weekend, because we have to miss that one. We're returning to the Four Kingdoms Faire in Moline IL. It's a smaller show but with a lot more variety (Samurai training demos and a Viking longboat!) than some of the larger ones. This year they are adding an after-hours Pub with entertainment, and we'll be a large part of that.

And don't forget, at any of our shows or online you can get out debut CD "Faire Warning" !

Wendy, Fred, and John
Merry Measure

Jubilee and others

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:28:30 GMT

Jubilee Olde English Faire
You know, for a show that's been going on for 30-some years, it's bloody hard to find any information online about this one.

We know it's next weekend, from 10-5:30 , because that's what it says on our contract.
We know that it's in Brimfield which is near Peoria, because that's where our hotel is.
But other than that, we haven't a clue!
Check the Merry Measure website for what information we DO know, and a phone number and e-mail.

Faire Warning
Remember that you can order our first CD 'Faire Warning' from our website, at any of our shows, or if you happen to run into one of us on the street corner. John and Wendy will be at Duckon this coming weekend, and I suspect we will have stock.

Rumors of our appearance have been greatly exaggerated...
Despite what you may hear through the rumor mill or read online, the only show we have confirmed for this fall is the last weekend of September at the Four Kingdoms Faire in the Quad Cities. We hope that this will change, but for now we have not managed to figure out how to bend time and space to perform in 2 different cities 9 hours apart on the same weekend. As soon as theMmagic 8-ball becomes a little clearer, we will let you know!

Merry Measure
John, Wendy & Fred

St.Pat's Day photos

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:46:11 GMT

Durty Nellies
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/wendyzski/P3170005.jpg

Duke O'Brien's
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/wendyzski/P3170006.jpg

HELP?

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:39:34 GMT

Can someone who is coming to the show at Durty Nellie's tomorrow and has a working printer print this for us?

CDs have shipped!

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:14:15 GMT

According to the website, our CDs are leaving the factory today and we should have them in-hand by Thursday evening.

As a result, we are opening orders for "Faire Warning" effective today. See our website for details. www.merrymeasure.com

CDs will also be available at our St. Patricks Day shows at Durty Nellies and Duke O'Brien's.

In addition, there is a DATE CHANGE for our appearance at Molly's Place in Mokena. Due to a family committment by our hosts, the show has been moved to Sunday March 30th at 7PM. Again, correct details are available on the website.

Merry Measure in March

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:04:13 GMT

Merry March Measures!
(or something like that)

March Means St. Patricks Day!
We have joined the ranks of those musicians who scurry from bar to bar on St. Patricks Day! (well, the ones who get PAID to do it, at any rate)

Join us as we return to the place of our beginnings!
Durty Nellie's Irish Pub - Main Room
11:30 am to 2:00 pm
Palatine, IL
(We made our debut as 'Merry Measure' there last year. Maybe you'll actually be able to hear us this time!)

Then we had even further west for our first show ever at
Duke O'Brien's
4:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Crystal Lake, IL

March means Molly's Place!
We are honored to become part of the fine tradition of House Concerts at Molly's Place in Mokena, IL at the home of our dear friends Tinker McLea and Molly!

Join us for an evening of music, chaos, and deep embarrassment on Saturday March 29th at 8PM. It's pass-the-hat and reservations are recommended.

March means MUSIC!
According to all the signs and portents (as well as the online order-tracking system for DiskFactory) we expect that our first CD "Faire Warning" will ship the second week of March.

Tracks include:
1) In Merry Measure - Fred Lauritzen
2) Korabushka - Trad.(ish)
3) Why Does Love…? - T.R. Ritchie
4) Bell-Bottom Trousers -Trad.
5) Metal Man/Sidhe Beg, Sidhe Mor - Trad.
6) I Wish They'd Do It Now - Trad.
7) Mingulay Boat Song - Sir Hugh S. Roberton
8) Heaven's A Bar - Tim Laycock
9) The Butterfly - Turlough O'Carolan
10) The Star of the County Down - Trad.
11) Red Is The Rose - Trad.
12) Give Me My Yellow Hose Again - Anon. (17th Cent.)
13) Sail Away - Mary Benson
14) Carrickfergus - Trad.
15) A Sailor's Prayer - Tom Lewis
16) John Barleycorn/Over The Waterfall - Trad.
17) Clare To Here - Ralph McTell

Cds are $15 and will be available online, at the events above, and on finer street corners everywhere.

Save 10% - order both "Faire Warning" and "Simply Entitled" (John's solo project) for only $27!

Clearance! Buy a copy of "Faire Warning" for $15 and get your choice of Minstrosity CD's for only $10 each! Complete your collection! (and give us back our closet space…)

Order details, shipping costs, schedule updates, and all sorts of other nonsense soon to be updated at www.merrymeasure.com

The work is over, now comes the waiting

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 03:06:12 GMT

For all practical purposes Faire Warning is "in the can", as engineer-types have it (and don't they have it!). We have finished the process of mastering and mixing, and it goes off to the reproduction house ASAP. There was some last-minute panic owing to the engineer's computer crashing about six times. woody_whistler& self sat down with the engineer tonight and heard what amounts to the final product and gave it our blessings. We are hoping to have it available at our St. Paddy's Day gigs and certainly for possible others shortly thereafter. Keep an eye on this space and the website for further updates.

Ladies and Gentlemen - Start your engines!

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:28:32 GMT

Merry Measure is pleased to announce our first official booking of 2008!

We have joined the ranks of musicians who scurry from Pub to Pub on St. Patricks Day!

On Monday 3/17, we will be playing the main room at Durty Nellies in Palatine from 11:30am-2pm. Hopefully we will remain uninterrupted by bagpipes this time around, although I wouldn't place bets on it!

Then a quick packup and on to Duke O'Briens in Crystal Lake from 4:30-6:30pm. This is a new venue for us, and we are very excited.

Our new CD "Faire Warning" should be available at both these shows, so drop by! You will also be able to order them online, and there will be special pricing if you also buy John's solo effort 'Simply Entitled' and/or one of the Minstrosity recordings.

Work in Progress

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:13:39 GMT

It's certainly WARM enough to be thinking about Faire season already, so it seemed time for an update.

We're mid-way through recording on our first CD, "Faire Warning". There's a lot still to do but we're on track for a St. Patricks Day release. Thanks to Fred's mother-in-law for help with initial financing, to gramercy for graphic help and to rileybear67 our ever-faithful webmistress.

Partial tracks are available for preview at www.merrymeasure.com

We also still have a decent stack of Minstrosity CDs left if you're interested - email me if you are interested.

See you soon!

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:24:14 GMT

Blatant plug:

VOTE FOR MERRY MEASURE!

http://www.renaissancefestivalmusic.com/awards/

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 02:43:10 GMT

Greetings, all! I am pleased to announce that my debut solo CD, which is simply entitled, Simply Entitled, is now available and can be ordered online at www.johncwiseman.com
It includes the RenFaire-influenced "The Parking Lot Strip", which was recently played nationally on the Dr. Demento Show!

Bardic Service Announcement

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:54:09 GMT

The Brobdignagian Bards are a couple of great musicians and really wonderful guys from Austin TX. We're worked with them a couple of times in KS and MO. Mark Gunn is also THE go-to guy on helping independant musicians with marketing and promo advice.

They got scammed, and are out a rather huge chunk of money. The FBI has been contacted, but in the meantime it's still two guys out of pocket who don't deserve to be.

They have put together some pretty nifty gift packs with live video, T-shirts, stickers, and MP3s from recordings no longer available, and are selling them to help recover some of the money. Smaller donations can also get a CD/T-Shirt/Tote Gift Pack

Since Merry Measure won't have any recordings out till Spring, please consider using some of that holiday gifty-spending money to not only do good but also get some really neat stuff too!

PicSpam

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:11:57 GMT

On the streets

sitting pretty

best pic of Fred

best pic of John

Wendy playing the psaltery

Wendy playing the whistle
(I can post 2 pics because it's my camera!)

Two more weeks to go - This weekend at Four Kingdoms and next weekend at Stronghold. Then it's grab a little sleep and then into the studio we go!

Still kicking!

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:00:19 GMT

That faire up in Wisconsin may be done for the season, but we're sure not! If you're itching to hear some damned fine ren-music, here is where you can go see Merry Measure:

Sept. 15, 2007 Wilmette Festival of the Arts (John & Wendy only), Wilmette, IL 1-2pm and 3-4pm

Sept. 22-23, 2007 Michigan Renaissance Festival (Shamrocks & Shenanigans), Flint MI

Sept. 29-30, 2007 Four Kingdoms Renaissance Festival - Quad Cities

Oct. 6-7, 2007 Stronghold Olde English Faire, Oregon, IL

Once Stronghold is over, and we've all finally gotten some sleep, we plan to start work on our first CD, which should be available by next season.

It's Official (and John gets Demented)

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:50:49 GMT

*Whew* OK - now that the contract stuff is hashed out....

Merry Measure is please to announce that we will be performing at the Michigan Renaissance Festival in Holly Michigan, on 5 of their 7 weekends. (aka - the only ones we didn't have to be someplace else already)

So, here is our Late Summer/Fall Schedule for 2007:

August 18-19 Michigan Renaissance Festival (Arabian Nights)

August 24-26 Michigan Renaissance Festival (Highland Fling)

September 1,2,3 Michigan Renaissance Festival (Buccaneer Beer Fest)

September 8-9 Michigan Renaissance Festival (High Seas Adventures)

September 15-16 We’re staying HOME!!!!

September 22-23 Michigan Renaissance Festival (Shamrocks & Shenanigans)

September 29-30 Four Kingdoms Renaissance Festival Rock Island, IL www.fourkingdoms.com

Hope to see you all somewhere this fall!

Wendy, Fred, and John.

PS - and catch John's song "The Parking Lot Strip" (If you've been to a faire, you'll understand) on the infamous Dr. Demento show this Sunday July 29th. Some stations play Dr. D's shows out of order - this is the one that begins with "The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnatti". Apparently they've been to John's apartment building....

Lost our mailing list

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 02:34:02 GMT

OOpsies.

Yeah, I was not so good with the backups and the Merry Measure mailing list is probably melted into my old computer's hard drive.

If you were on the old Minstrosi-list, I'll get your info from my files. But if you had a new address, or just want to make SURE I have your info, please pop over to www.merrymeasure.com and join up again.

New pics

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:36:33 GMT

New pics. The fact that most are blurry seems strangely fitting somehow....

We have also confirmed our late September appearance at the Four Kingdoms Faire in the Quad Cities. Full info available soon - as soon as they fix their webpage anyway....

Nothing is as certain as change

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 16:16:32 GMT

We are saddened to announce that Andrea Else will no longer be appearing as part of Merry Measure. She is a wonderful musician, but it seems that everyone else knows that too! Her schedule has become simply too full to accommodate us, and we wish her well in her other endeavors.

Watch this space for new pictures and recordings as we settle into our new configuration”

We're on a podcast!

Thu, 24 May 2007 04:05:33 GMT

http://www.renaissancefestivalmusic.com/shownotes/2007/05/renaissance-festival-podcast-76-may-19.shtml

Thanx marcgunn

Woden Thor Medieval Festival & Joust

Sat, 19 May 2007 18:41:08 GMT

We got our schedule for next weekend's show.

10:00 AM - Front Gate for Opening
10:30 - 11:00 - Stage One (Main Stage, under the pavillion by the food court)
12:00-12:30 - Stage Two (aka "The Other One")
1:30 - 2:00 - Stage One
3:00 - 3:30 - Stage Two
5:30 - Closing Gate - stuff

Go to www.merrymeasure.com and click on the "See Us" link for a direct link to the show's website for complete information.

We're staying at the Hickory Hill Motel in Viroqua. Anyone have any suggestions for cheep and decent eats in the area?

Vote for us!

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:31:05 GMT

I-Go is a car-sharing service that I belong to. There is currently a competition for slots on a Chicago's Music CD that will be placed in all fleet's cars. It's great exposure to a wider audience, but we need your help to do it!

Go to http://www.igocars.com/igoaudioemissions/vote and scroll down to Merry Measure's entry of "Casino Czardas".

Thanks, and wish us luck.!

Pictures from the Durty Nellie's gig

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:27:36 GMT

According to the people I lent my camera to, there was exactly one place in the room where you could see all four of us, and there was a table there.

a sad day for ren music

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:14:18 GMT

RenRadio, the independent streaming net radio station that has featured so many great artists over the years, will soon be no more.

In the current legislative climate, Mike can no longer afford to run it.

Renradio has been broadcasting since 1999. I've fought and worked hard to keep it on the net and free. I have made many compromises as big business has tried to push the small web casters out of business and control what you listen to just like terrestrial radio and satellite radio. I never wanted to compete with them I just wanted to listen to the music I like and share it with the few others that like it too. Over the years Renradio went from something I set up to play with and listen to at work to peak at 3 stream station with over a thousand listeners. I was voted as one of the best Celtic and Folk station on Yahoo. I don't play Pop music or anything mainstream but the RIAA and big record labels still wanted (more) money. I joined Live365 the 1st time the RIAA raised the rates so I could keep playing even though I had to let them insert commercials and take a vow of poverty and not make any money off the station. Not that I ever intended to. It was a hobby, it was for fun.
I made so many new friends, met so many new artist. I gained a bit of notoriety and fame within our community as "Rengeek the owner of Renradio". It got me free beers and plenty of thanks and compliments. And to my amazement people donated money and their talents to keep this thing going. Truthfully this is what has kept me going when my life took a turn for the worse. I don't want it to go away.
But the apathy and willingness for this country, and it's government, to let big business do what they want no matter who's freedom it steps on or what they take in the name of money leaves me with little choice. I can not justify the hundreds of dollars they will demand or the hundreds of dollars they want retroactively to continue this station. I frankly don't have the money or the energy to continue to fight alone. I'm tired, so very tired of the fight.
We all like a story such as David and Goliath, but in the end we all know it is just a fable.

From Rain:

The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has announced its decision on Internet radio royalty rates, rejecting all of the arguments made by Webcasters and instead adopting the "per play" rate proposal put forth by SoundExchange(a digital music fee collection body created by the RIAA).

RAIN has learned the rates that the Board has decided on, effective retroactively through the beginning of 2006. They are as follows:

2006 $.0008 per performance
2007 $.0011 per performance
2008 $.0014 per performance
2009 $.0018 per performance
2010 $.0019 per performance

A "performance" is defined as the streaming of one song to one listener; thus a station that has an average audience of 500 listeners racks up 500 "performances" for each song it plays.

The minimum fee is $500 per channel per year. There is no clear definition of what a 'channel' is for services that make up individualized playlists for listeners.

For noncommercial webcasters, the fee will be $500 per channel, for up to 159,140 ATH (aggregate tuning hours) per month. They would pay the commercial rate for all transmissions above that number.

Participants are granted a 15 day period wherein they have the opportunity to ask the CRB for a re-hearing.

Within 60 days of the final determination, the decision is supposed to be published in the Federal Register, along with any technical corrections that the Board may wish to make.

Within 30 days of publication in the Federal Register, it can be appealed (but only by the participants) to the U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia.
Rengeek Dee of Jay at Renradio.com
-------------
and you know that NONE of that "per performance" fee would go to any of the artists featured, as all of mike's playlist was contributed by the performers with full permission to play.

Full St. Pat's schedule for Durty Nellies

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 18:43:38 GMT

Schedule update

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 00:49:53 GMT

As if you're likely to forget...
St. Patricks Day is getting close, so just a quick reminder that you can see Merry Measure in the side room at Durty Nellies Pub in Palatine Illinois on Saturday 3/17 from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. There is an $8 cover, but admission is FREE if you arrive before 2PM - a good reason to get there early, catch the last set from Molly & The Tinker, and hopefully have good seats for our show!

Get Medieval over Memorial Day!
We are also pleased to announce that we will be appearing over Memorial Day weekend at the Woden Thor Medieval Faire and Joust in Viroqua, WI (about 35 miles SE of LaCrosse WI). Also appearing will be our good friends Mistress Bawd and The Shattock School of Defense! http://www.tribewodenthor.org/festival/ for more info

As always, you can find complete schedule information at www.merrymeasure.com

How we do things...
Just to let you know how we do things - a gig isn't "official" until we receive a signed contract. Once that happens we post complete info on the site. However, the contract process takes time, so we will sometimes list a date as "TBA", which just means we have agreed to be somewhere but it's not in writing yet. Wouldn't want you to get your hopes up or anything....