"Serious Steel" is the second in a series of collaborative recordings
by Joe Bethancourt and Leslie Fish. This one covers some of their songs
that they have written for the Society for Creative
Anachronism, a medieval re-creation and re-enactment group.
While these songs are not intended as serious medieval re-creations,
they represent a good cross-section of the kinds of songs you will hear
sung by the average SCAdian around campfires (or in the taverns) at SCA
events. Some of them -are- re-creations of period styles, using period
instruments, but most are just for fun and use modern instrumentation,
or a combination of medieval and modern instruments and styles.
The title song, "Serious Steel," is sometimes known as "The War Is
Going Home." Joe parodied it in the last song, "Serious Steal."
The two songs that have been best received by listeners both in and
out of the SCA have been Leslie's "Valhalla," a mystical song tying in
the old Norse tales of Valhalla with the SCA (!) and Joe's "Bella Dona,"
an intense love song in a Spanish style. Both of these songs are
masterworks indeed!
As it turned out, the sound engineer, Todd Hallowell, is a superlative
classical musician (in addition to winning the 1997 Winfield National Finger Picking Championship!) and his talents on guitar and bass did much to make
this recording the enjoyable and high-quality package it is.
SERIOUS STEEL
- Serious Steel (Leslie Fish) 4:54
- Ladies in the SCA (Joe Bethancourt) 2:21
- Cripples Shield Wall (Leslie Fish) 4:15
- Atenveldt Invasion (Joe Bethancourt) 3:35
- Resurrection (Leslie Fish) 2:06
- Estrella War Song (Joe Bethancourt) 3:01
- True Story (Leslie Fish) 4:15
- Bella Dona (Joe Bethancourt) 3:28
- Aten Man (Joe Bethancourt) 4:31
- Valhalla (Leslie Fish) 6:08
- Song of the Dispossessed (Joe Bethancourt) 2:37
- Runnymede (Leslie Fish/R. Kipling) 2:58
- Once Upon a Time (Joe Bethancourt) 4:47
- Timeslip [Valhalla] (Leslie Fish) 2:18
- Serious Steal (Joe Bethancourt) 3:58
Joe's song "Bella Dona" has also been recorded by Daniel Bouman and Andrew Guy on their CD "White
Swans Black Ravens."
