Ken Theriot

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St. Crispin’s Day Song – Band of Brothers

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Agincourt-pic for Band of BrothersThere’s kind of a full spread on this over at the Raven Boy Music site. But since the song is on a “Ken Theriot” album, I guess it sorta kinda makes sense to mention it here too;).

Today is St. Crispin’s Day. If you’re a fan of Shakespeare, you’ll probably know that one of the most famous “…now-go-out-there-and-kick-ass” speeches EVER was in Henry V. King Henry delivers this rousing call to inspiration just before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. And as you know, the English went on to win the battle against overwhelming odds.

For my album – Human History – we (words by Shakespeare and Lisa Theriot, music by moi) wrote the song Band of Brothers, which essentially turns the iambic pentameter of the Henry V speech, and turns it into a pop song. How cool is that?

Anyway, you may download a free mp3 of Band of Brothers below, if you wish.

Free embed music player from ReverbNation.com

Here is a streaming only version (that works on iOS!):

If you’d like to purchase the full album of Human History from iTunes, click below:

Human History – Ken Theriot

And if you want a hard copy of the CD, CLICK HERE.

Happy St. Crispin’s Day!

Ken

Latest Update On The New Album – Outlaws and Bystanders

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Hi Everyone. I’m sorry for all the delays on the release of my latest album (yeah, you can call them albums again now, since CDs are going the way of all things), but you can blame my bad medical luck in 2013. I had 3 surgeries and just found out I’m having another one in January of 2014. These are not – I am happy to say – age-related medical issues;). And after the repairs, I will actually be better off than I ever was.

Anyway, progress is being made. Only three songs remain to be recorded after the current one we;re working on – “William Tell” – is in the can.

There is a bit more detail about all this in the post that went up earlier today over at the Raven Boy Music site here – What Is The Status Of Ken Theriot’s New Album?

So think good thoughts and all this new music might just be out before the end of the year. But I’ve learned the folly of making promises on release dates;).

Cheers!

Ken

William Tell Is Now A Song!

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Just finished composing the music for William Tell – lyrics by Lisa Theriot – and then presenting it to Lisa, always the most stressful part. We played catch-ball with it a little bit and then gave it the big old rubber stamp. This means there are only 4 more songs to write the music for and the entire album, Outlaws and Bystanders, will at least have all the songs for it written. Then of course they all have to be recorded:).

But this album will be out in July (barring any more medical setbacks).

[update: Yup. Medical setbacks. The surgery in July was quite invasive, and the recovery time is looooong. They say up to a year! That doesn’t mean I can’t work on the album starting, say, in mid September though. the new estimated release date is late October.]

Ken’s New Album – Outlaws And Bystanders – Coming in March 2013!

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Hi everyone! I am in the studio madly recording and producing the new album, called Outlaws and Bystanders, which will be out in early March of 2013 [well, that didn’t happen. See this post – http://www.kentheriot.com/blog/delay-in-album-release-due-to-medical-stuff –  for the reason. It’s a pretty good one;)]. Like the last album, Human History, this one will be filled with songs about historical characters from history (and in some cases, from legend) who were either declared or outlaws by those in power, or are viewed by history as such; as well as songs about those who were sidekicks or otherwise on the sidelines of great events.

There will, of course, be a Robin Hood song. Some others include Soldier of God about a warrior priest in the service of El Cid (bystander), The Ride of El Cid about The Cid himself (declared an outlaw), Utopia about Sir Thomas More (outlaw – weird to think so huh? But he was executed for treason), and The Dogs of War about Mark Antony of Julius Caesar fame (a little of both outlaw and bystander).

Some other characters appearing on the album will be Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad III Dracul or Vlad The Impaler  (The Dragon), Sir Bewyr from Arthurian legend (Morte D’Arthur, co-written with Jonna Bernstein), William Tell, Johnny Faa, and Joan of Arc.

The album will be officially released at the SCA event, Gulf Wars, some time during the week of March 11th through the 15th. There will be a CD release concert at The Green Dragon Tavern. The specific date and time have not been finalized. Watch this space for updates.

Cheers!

Ken

Gaudete – From Our CD: The Gifts of Midwinter

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Gaudete is a medieval Christmas carol that I first heard by the English folk rock group, Steeleye Span. As it turns out, this is true for a LOT of people in the last few decades. Well we (Ken and Lisa Theriot) decided to put the song on our Christmas Album – The Gifts of Midwinter, and do it a little differently. We added a middle-eastern beat with a tupan, dumbek, and riq (these are types of middle-eastern drums and percussion instruments) and add a bit of a hitch to the melody line, giving it a nice little syncopation. Now you can dance to it if you want to;).

Yesterday I finally finished a music video for this song. Which you can see below. Be warned – it contains scenes of up to four “Kens” on the same screen:).

View Gaudete on YouTube

Enjoy the song on this (ironically) Gaudete Sunday. Traditionally, Gaudete is associated with the 3rd Sunday of Advent in the Christian calendar, and that makes it December 16th, 2012. If you were wondering why you felt especially joyful today, it may be due to the fact that the Latin lyrics of the chorus translate to:

“Rejoice, rejoice! Christ is born Of the Virgin Mary — rejoice!”

You can hear this song, as well as all the other songs on The Gifts of Midwinter, as well as download the liner notes, here: www.ravenboymusic.com/christmas-album-the-gifts-of-midwinter-by-ken-and-lisa-theriot

We made an effort to put songs on this album that are not the same songs you hear on every other Christmas album. So although there are a few familiar tunes like Do You Hear What I Hear? and Cantique de Noël (O Holy Night in French), there are two original songs and several medieval and traditional songs, some in Latin, French, and Spanish (Riu, Riu Chiu). We think we struck a pretty good balance. I hope you enjoy the album!