Now how did it take me almost a week to see this one?

This will be just about my stomping grounds - there's a lot out there, and there's enough in what I know alone to last a long time.

I'll heartily (if somewhat selfishly) endorse The Poxy Boggards - a wonderful, talented, skilled and overly handsome group of fellows based primarily out of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, SouthernCA (Not that I'm biased or recently picked up by them as a bass singer or anything).

I'd also recommend Oak, Ash & Thorn... Dave Swan (semi-regular 'catter) is a member and by all reports a heck of a nice guy.

I'm partial to the Jolly Beggars as well, though they don't have a page to link to that I'm aware of. Members have gone on to SEVERAL other fairly well known (or at least good) bands.

Siren Song are another great primarily female singing group from the CA faire scene as well... Love their version of "Bells of Norwich".

Another great (and more instrumentally inclined) group is Stinkeye. Honestly, I haven't heard anywhere near as much of them as I wish, but what I have heard has been very good.

A group formed by several veteran performers (seen usually once a season in night show), the Sons of Anacreon are a Victorian based show (picked up for this year's Dicken's Christmas Fair in San Francisco)... Several of their tunes (or at least their arrangements) have made it into the greater world of faire at large out here.

Where to go from here?

Country Matters was a regular (and good) show at RPFS for a sizeable time, but I'm not certain as to their current status.

Goode Company is one of the 'older' faire bands - long defunct, but one of the original groups to form out and take a run at performance.

Cripes. Who else? There have been so many... I'll leave other regions to describe who is out in their areas. My apologies to anyone that I've omitted either their group or their favorite. I'm not being exhaustive, merely naming what's off the top of my head.

If you're looking for individual SONGS... that's another matter entirely. There's a nasty split in what's really a 'faire' song. Are you looking for 'Renaissance Period' songs, or are you looking for 'Renaissance FAIRE' songs? The former are not too difficult to find - a good source that I've found is 988.com. I've no idea what they actually do, but their section on Thomas Ravenscroft alone make them worth recommending.

If you're looking for filk, there are hundreds of sources. By 'filk', I'm primarily concerned with the songs that are usually 'faire-ized' versions of either traditional or popular tunes. Honestly, I'm not a big filk fan, but a quick search of Google will turn up (quite literally) hundreds of links. This one will do for starters.

Other than that, any ideas as to what you're looking for? I've rambled long enough, and may not have really answered your question.

M