About Us
Brobdingnagian Bards (pronounced brob-din-nahg-EE-en) are The Original Celtic Renaissance music duo. They take traditional Irish and Scottish songs and give them a comedic twist. Their unique brand of music on the autoharp, recorder, and mandolin put Austin, Texas on the Celtic music map and made them one of the most-popular Celtic groups online.
Starting in 1999, Brobdingnagian Bards performed coast-to-coast, and in a given month were at a Lord of the Rings Oscar Party, a Celtic festival, or a Science Fiction Convention. However, they were an legendary favorite at Renaissance Faires where they added high-energy and wit to make every show a memorable experience.
The band officially broke up in 2008. But these Celtic Music innovators are now back together!
In 2018, they relaunched their band with the support of the Nagians Only Club. Their fans support the Bards on Patreon allowing Marc and Andrew to create new music and new ways to entertain the world.
Brobdingnagian Bards Origin Story
In 1993, Andrew and Marc first met. They were both living in Moore-Hill Residence Hall at the University of Texas at Austin. Marc was Andrew's Resident Assistant and was dreaming about being the next Elvis Presley. Andrew was a computer geek. Wow! Things haven't changed much. Years past and they became good friends.
In 1997, Marc's last rock band finally broke up. So he started learning how to play the autoharp and writing a lot more songs. Several months later he quit his day job and decided to record an album--Ichabod's Geography.
Knowing that Andrew played some musical instruments Marc invited him to come play on his CD. Andrew recorded a track with the recorder on "Lounging in La-La Land", the one semi-Celtic sounding song. The album failed due to poor promotion. Several months later, Marc started working at the UT Austin again.
While practicing on the South Mall, Marc was invited to perform at a Renaissance Festival. He asked Andrew to join him and the Brobdingnagian Bards were born.
You can listen to the full Origin Story of the Brobdingnagian Bards on A Brobdingnagian Minute, our podcast.
Brobdingnagian Bards are...
Andrew McKee played guitar and saxophone in high school. He grew up with a classical music background and found the transition from saxophone to recorder to be seamless which led him to perform on Marc Gunn's first solo album. He is entirely self-taught on the mandolin.
Marc Gunn is an Irish and Scottish folk singer with a strange affinity for Celtic ballads, drinking songs and cats. He is the lead singer for the Brobdingnagian Bards, an internet music promoter, podcaster, poet, photographer and publisher of many, many things on and offline. Communicate with me through my websites:
Behind-the-Scenes Bards
There has never been a better time to be in the music business. We effectively broke up in 2008 only to reform as an online band in 2018. That's incredible!
We now have the ability to create new music and share it freely with you. We're doing it all through our Nagians Only Club on Patreon.
You can help us make more music and by becoming Patrons of the Arts. You know, like in olden times, with Mozart and all that crew.
Thank you for your continued support!