Renaissance festivals are the birthplace of a unique genre of music that results from an unlikely mingling of influences. On the faire site, Irish rebel tunes rub shoulders with medieval French love lyrics, a capella drinking songs meet Southern interpretations, sea chantys stir the landlubber's blood, and pipe reels dance to middle-eastern drum beats. After hours, baroque recorders and Celtic harps dally with electric guitars and blue singers in campgrounds and rennie bars. This unique blend of traditions has given rise to a style of music peculiar to the ren faire subculture. The musicians who play ren faire music tend to stand independent, not only from their parent musical styles, but also from the established music industry. Without the support of megalithic record labels and distribution machines, they have turned to grassroots, cooperative methods to spread the word about their music. Songs of the Faire Folk is one of those methods. Songs of the Faire Folk was conceived and produced by James Hazlerig. Mastering by Tree Leom and Eldridge Goins at Soundwright Studio. Cover photo by Don Hindis (donaldhinds@usa.net). Further cover design by Hawke. Additional photos provided by the Castle of Muskogee (www.thecastle.org). All recording copyrights held by performers. All music traditional except "Advice from the Animals" by Minstrosity and "The Yew Tree" by Brian McNeill, performed her by permission. The compilation was created by the cooperative effort of over thirty struggling independent artists with the support of any large corporations. Please support ren faire music by ordering recordings for your friends rather than making illegal copies. Songs of the Faire Folk are performed by Zoe Alexander McGregor Vitulari www.bedlambards.com Scot Boswell www.flutecart.com Rafferty the Piper www.raffertythepiper.com Queen Anne's Lace www.qalace.com Morning Glory seventrees@ev1.net Minstrosity www.minstrosity.com The Corsairs Brobdingnagian Bards www.thebards.net Birds of a Feather The Bedlam Bards www.bedlambards.com