Peg Kerr's Journal

Not Literally has finally gotten around to my House!

Not Literally are on Facebook here and on Twitter at @TheNotLiterally.

Sometimes a song just gets under your skin, you know?

I've been listening to this little gem over and over for the past few days, written by Lena Gabrielle (a/k/a The Butterbeer Experience). It's based on the haunting tale "The Three Brothers" from J.K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard (remember that exquisite little shadow puppet animation in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1?). It's on her album Songs from Beedle the Bard. I just think it's a great example of songwriting, where the words are deceptively simple, but just right, and together with a beautifully hummable tune, it sinks your hooks into your heart.

The chords and words are here.

Listen to an excerpt here.

Let me know if you listen and like.

I really like Lena's work. She's brimming with talent: besides her Butterbeer Experience albums, she's composed several musicals/operettas based on Rowling's work: The Final Battle (the "Prince's Tale" on that was just gorgeous) and The Warlock's Hairy Heart. She has also started composing and releasing mainstream (muggle) tunes. Check out her EP Everybody's Story. See her albums here and here on her website here or check her out on iTunes. She's also on Twitter (@lenagabrielle), Youtube and Facebook.

Bonus! See her do a duet with Darren Criss, "Granger Danger" from Darren's A Very Potter Musical. Fun, (although admittedly the sound quality isn't great.)

Oh, and hey! She wrote the official Leakycon 2001 theme music. Get it on itunes here. (This is the US link, search "leakycon" on your country's iTunes to get it.)

Tracks from the movie soundtracks (I still need to get the soundtrack for Deathly Hallows 2):
153 tracks
4 hours 44 minutes 48 seconds

All seven books as read by Jim Dale:
1692 tracks
4 days 20 hours 11 minutes 42 seconds

Wizard rock
1098 tracks
2 days 9 hours 21 minutes 43 seconds

Total: 7 days 9 hours 18 minutes 13 seconds.

I've created a wizard rock set list which adheres pretty closely to the plot of the seven books, book by book. I chose a variety of artists I particularly like, that have done a good job of dramatically presenting various scenes or just the feeling the books evoke, through their lyrics and music.

( Here's how I'd tell the story of Harry Potter through Wizard Rock songs )

Your suggestions, additions, deletions? I'm probably relying most heavily on Riddle™ and Ministry of Magic, with a goodly dose of Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, the Parselmouths, the Weasel King, the Remus Lupins, the Whomping Willows, and Oliver Boyd & the Remembralls.

Here's one of the songs ("House Song") on their new album which has just been released, Magic is Might. This one really made me laugh. Jason Munday of MoM and Alex Carpenter of the Remus Lupins are the Gryffs, Kristina Horner of The Parselmouths and John Noe of Potter cast are among the Slytherins, Luke Conard and Ryan Seiler (MoM) are the Ravenclaws, and Christian Caldera of Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls is the Hufflepuff. Order a hard copy of the album here or on iTunes here.



( Here's another song on the album, 'Don't Leave' )

Jason Munday did an interesting little informative video about the process of composing that song:

( How to write a MOM song )

Brian Ross of Draco and the Malfoys has decided to embark upon a creative challenge:

So it was 5 years ago today that Bradley and I recorded My Dad Is Rich for our soon-to-be myspace page. It’s funny to think about us being a source for nostalgia, but I guess we’re at that point. You kids have grown up so fast!

I’d like to celebrate this milestone somehow, and I’ve been inspired by National Novel Writing Month to make some kind of ridiculous creative commitment. So here it is- Brian Malfoy’s Song-a-Day! I’m going to write a song every day for the month of November and post it right here.

Off the bat, let me qualify this a little bit. I’ll be traveling to Wrockstock early in the month, and this will throw a monkey wrench into my uploading songs here. But I’ll still be writing them, and I’ll get them posted asap. My hope is that I’ll be able to record a decent version of each one, but if time does not permit this, I’ll record it with an acoustic guitar and either video tape it for our youtube channel, or just make an audio demo.

Please subscribe to this blog so you can follow the fun!

You can also find Draco and the Malfoys on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Myspace.

Here's a fascinating little video done by Luke Conard (YouTube: LukeConard, Twitter: @LukeConard) of Ministry of Magic, explaining how he mixes music. He's working on a song for the second ALL CAPS CD (his joint project with Kristina Horner of the Parselmouths) titled "Bmin/E." (Kristina is on YouTube at italktosnakes and Twitter at @KristinaHorner). You can hear the song, "Don't Unplug Me," at the CD Order page here. I've been promoting his music for a long time, of course. Wow, it's fascinating to get a glimpse into the process of making it.

If you're starting to have a hankering for wizard rock holiday music, you're in luck: Jingle Spells 3 is now available from the Leaky Cauldron. You can order the physical CD (limited print run of 1500, so order now) which will ship in early December, OR you can order the tracks for download, either immediately from Leaky or in a week or so from iTunes. Leaky's also offering a deal where you can download all three albums for a reduced price. All profits are being donated to the Harry Potter Alliance.

We have very much enjoyed the two previous albums. About half the bands on this year's disk are among the groups I consider just about the strongest and best in wizard rock: Ministry of Magic, Gred and Forge, Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons, Riddle^TM, Tonks and the Aurors, etc.

( What I did today to make the world a better place )

Per Wizrocklopedia [wizrocklopedia_feed]: Wrockstock the Third is happening November 6-9, 2009. The primary goal of the event is to “raise funds for the needy as we also raise awareness through music,” while at the same time celebrating the friendships that have been made through a shared love of Harry Potter. This year, it will be housed once again at the YMCA Trout Lodge in Potosi, MO. The lodge shares many characteristics with Hogwarts itself, such as a lake, large dining hall, and surrounding mountains. In addition to incredible performances from a multitude of Wizard Rock bands, there are many other activities to partake in at Wrockstock, including hiking, crafting, flying on a broom (with lots of ropes and harnesses, we are assured) and even Quidditch!

This year, there are 15 bands participating, including Draco and the Malfoys, Ministry of Magic, Tonks and the Aurors, and a special, final performance from The Mudbloods. You can see the full list of bands at Wikipedia, or at the Wrockstock website.

To begin the process of “advertising” for the event, Abby Hupp turned to Jace MacDonald, of Catchlove (who is also performing at the event!) with an idea to create a cartoon featuring the bands that would be performing. The entire process of creating the cartoon took around 5 months. Abby approached Jace in December with the idea, and the cartoon debuted on Wrockstock TV’s YouTube channel in the beginning of May. The first 2 months of the process revolved around getting people on board with the idea, creating the script, and collecting voice overs from the wrockers to be included in the cartoon. Here's the finished product, pretty cute:

Wrockstock tickets are currently available, but you must purchase your ticket and reserve your room at the Trout Lodge by October 31st in order to attend this year’s event.

It's awesome to have a totally clear day outside for my birthday. Free birthday coffee from Caribou for the win.

Chris Stewart in another racism accusations kerfluffle. Surprised? Not. Judging from experience, I'm much more inclined to believe Tim Cadotte.

The reunion for the Mexico mission group is this coming Sunday, which is the same day as the May Day parade. I'm wildly irritated about this; I don't want to miss the parade, but the girls don't want to miss the reunion, which would mean driving to Minnetonka.

I have been forced to hand over the cell phone to Rob, who needs it for his job with the census, so Mom, if you try to call it to reach me, you'll reach him instead. It is making me remarkably twitchy to be without it.

The Tonks and the Auror's EP "Tonks for the Memories" has given me hope again for the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club.

Tonight we have a simultaneous Girl Scout meeting, karate class and school meeting for parents. I suppose I'm supposed to get dinner in there somewhere, too, only I have no idea where.

I need a book to read.

I am starting to get a very very tiny itch to write original fiction again. I'm not sure what, if anything, will come of it.

My lawn looks just terrible, and I have zero incentive to do anything with the garden this year. Lack of money, time, motivation. My sister assures me that gardening gets easier when the kids get a bit older. Until then, avert your eyes when passing my house. Sorry.

Bete noir flourless chocolate cake for lunch, also for the win. It's my birthday. Bite me.

I'm not going to start riding my bike May 1, because of the knee problems. I am feeling a great deal of guilt over this. But my knee hurts every time I do something as innocent as hiking it up to cross my legs.

Sometimes grace is all about just going on with your life, despite everything. There may be pride there, too. I've been taught to extol one and be suspicious of the other, but I suppose it doesn't matter as long as the result is the same. Right?