It was in my first year playing at the New York Renaissance Fair that I had the pleasure of meeting the amazing multi-instrumentalist Stefan Mark Dollak who would eventually play a big role on the debut album of my group Moat Jumper. I had been hired by the New York Renaissance Fair to provide musical accompaniment for a few of the stage plays as well as stroll the faire with my nylon-string guitar, and my Renaissance repertoire was small, pulled from the Classical Guitar music I had learned at Duquesne School of Music.  I was also serving as Musical Director for Shakespeare productions in Manhattan, and started recruiting musicians from the Ren Fair, who would eventually become the much-acclaimed group Mince Pye. Many of the tunes that became the foundation of our repertoire that year came from Stefan, who accompanied the maypole dances every day at the Renaissance Faire, strutting around playing a pipe with one hand and a tabor with the other.

Stefan eventually left New York for Arizona, where he formed the group Bartholomew Faire. Mince Pye went on to perform at festivals throughout the northeast United States, as well as Shakespeare plays, parades, costume balls, garnering a loyal following on the New York City gothic scene.

One of Mince Pye’s most popular tunes was the raucous and energetic Medieval Drum Dance. This song has been performed behind belly dancers, at bat mitzvahs, and in dusty fields from Maryland to Massachusetts.

As a thank you for being one of our subscribers I want to give it to you for free – no strings attached.

Download Medieval Drum Dance by Mince Pye here.

If you like the track you might also consider checking out Christmas at the Renaissance Fair. It’s the most recent album and it’s full of classic holiday tunes in the same fun Renaissance/Medieval/Celtic style.

Talk soon,

Joe

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