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FAQ
What is the history of Lady Mondegreen? Why did you start Lady Mondegreen? Why did you call the group Lady Mondegreen? What instruments does Lady Mondegreen play? Is she in Lady Mondegreen too? Where do the members of Lady Mondegreen live? How the hell does Lady Mondegreen rehearse? No, really. How the hell does Lady Mondegreen rehearse? Please, please tell us how Lady Mondegreen rehearses? Where can I see Lady Mondegreen in concert? Have I seen Lady Mondegreen in concert? Well, I'm at the concert, where's the rest of Lady Mondegreen? How does the Lady Mondegreen auxiliary system work? Dude, Lady Mondegreen has a band charter? Does Lady Mondegreen do covers? What covers am I likely to hear from Lady Mondegreen? Does Lady Mondegreen do anything but covers? Would Lady Mondegreen cover my song? NEW! I hear Lady Mondegreen has a DVD now! What is it and how can I get one? Does Lady Mondegreen have an album? How can I get my Lady Mondegreen fix? What's the deal with the Clones and Lady Mondegreen? Is this some kind of conspiracy? Lady Mondegreen is a musical group comprising nine women from the United States and Britain. We also have a stealth Canadian. What is the history of Lady Mondegreen? Lady Mondegreen was founded in 2001 around Merav Hoffman, Seanan McGuire and Batya Wittenberg, who were inspired to create the group in order to maintain closer ties and also to sing together more frequently. Why did you start Lady Mondegreen? In 2001, back when we were all much younger, we thought, "Wouldn't it be fun to have no time to enjoy any convention ever again? Wouldn't it be fun to coop ourselves in stuffy hotel rooms driving each other mad?" And then we said, "Nah, we don't want to be a concom, let's start a filk band instead." It should be noted that all three of the founding members and some of the auxiliaries have since been drafted to significant positions on concoms. There never was a Lady Mondegreen, and that is the tragedy of her story. She was a figment in the imagination of the young Sylvia Wright. Unfortunately, Sylvia stopped believing in her when she grew up and discovered the real lyrics to the Bonnie Earl of Moray. Wright was so distraught at the demise of her heroine that she coined the term "Mondegreen" for the misheard song lyric. Examples can be found here. Why did you call the group Lady Mondegreen? All of the members of Lady Mondegreen have names which are either difficult to pronounce, difficult to spell, difficult to remember, or all three. This goes for both first and last names, as some of our members got off easy with names like Mary and Amy. They both belong to the difficult last name club. As misheard and misunderstood young women, we identify with Lady Mondegreen. As filkers, we attempt to carry out the grand and glorious traditions of the Mondegreen. What instruments does Lady Mondegreen play? Amongst our weaponry are such diverse instruments as: guitar, fiddle, banjo, keyboard, harmonica, pennywhistle, bouzouki, bodhran, bones, spoons, boxes, and anything to hand that makes a pleasing sound when struck vigorously. The three founding members of Lady Mondegreen are Merav Hoffman, Seanan McGuire, and Batya "The Toon" Wittenberg. Our other members are: Mary Bertke, Talis Kimberly, Rika Korte, Allyssa Latham, Eloise Beltz-Decker Mason, Amy McNally. We often are seen playing with honorary Mondegreens, which begs the question ... Is she in Lady Mondegreen too? Callie Hills, Brenda Sutton, Scott Snyder, Alicia Garcia, BDan Fairchild, Phil Alcock, Mike Whitaker, Debbie Gates and Betsey Langan have served as stunt Mondegreens, but are not actually members of the band. We like to think of them as honored guests. We expect that we will have other guest Mondegreens in future. We are not currently accepting any more members. Nine is quite enough, thank you. We like the ones we have and are not looking to replace any. However, feel free to join in the madness and start an unwieldy intercontinental band of your own. Maybe we'll tour together someday, or at least overwhelm a small con. Where do the members of Lady Mondegreen live? Merav lives in New Jersey, Seanan lives in California, and Batya lives in New York. Mary lives in Ohio, and Talis lives in England, and Rika lives in Germany. Allyssa lives in Maryland, Elliott lives in Illinois, and Amy lives in Wisconsin. Yes, we are out of our minds. How the hell does Lady Mondegreen rehearse? Would you believe by carrier pigeon? We train the birds from birth to sing individual notes, and then we each recruit a full contingent of eight pigeons each, to simulate the experience of having all the members of the band present. This is sometimes difficult to achieve, especially in cities where it's hard to keep pigeon coops on the premises. No, really. How the hell does Lady Mondegreen rehearse? What, you didn't believe us about the pigeons? Please, please tell us how Lady Mondegreen rehearses? Since you asked so nicely. Lady Mondegreen rehearses through a combination of 1) face-to-face meetings in twos and threes 2) the occasional Mondegreen weekend where we try to get a quorum or more together 3) solitary rehearsals with recorded music serving as the other voice or voices and 4) frantic last-minute run-throughs at conventions before concerts. If you come up with a better way to run your unwieldy intercontinental band, please, please, let us know? Where can I see Lady Mondegreen in concert? Our tour/appearance schedule is available here. If there are no dates listed, encourage your local con to import us. There's a good chance that at least one of us is local. We regularly appear at OVFF, but have not added any other conventions to our permanent schedule. Have I seen Lady Mondegreen in concert? You may have. We have appeared at OVFF every year since 2001 and in various forms at FKO, the East Coast Floating Filk con, Consonance, and the British filk convention in 2007. Well, I'm at the concert; where's the rest of Lady Mondegreen? Not all of our members are available to attend every convention we play. In order to have Lady Mondegreen proper, it is necessary only to have two original members and one auxiliary member. As such, the Lady Mondegreen you see at OVFF may differ in personel from the one you see at FKO or Consonance or the floating East Coast filk con. Sometimes our international members are in attendance, often not. You may sometimes see us performing under another name, like The Funny Things or The Earls Moray when key members are unavailable. How does the Lady Mondegreen auxiliary system work? As Elliott is fond of saying, "when three are gathered together in Her name, She is there." According to the band charter, in order to have a quorum, two of the founding members of the band must be present, along with either the other founding member or any number of auxiliaries. This keeps our British members from franchising and forming Lady Mondegreen UK. Dude, Lady Mondegreen has a band charter? Yes, but really, we're not as organized as that makes us sound. Does Lady Mondegreen do covers? Yes, in fact, quite a few. We tend to find obscure songs, usually about drowning, or fairy tales, and co-opt them for our own nefarious purposes or at least, our own nefarious arrangements. What covers am I likely to hear from Lady Mondegreen? An incomplete list of the songs we cover is available here. Does Lady Mondegreen do anything but covers? Yes, in fact, quite a few. Often they are songs written by members of the band, or by friends of the band. Occasionally we write parodies of the songs we've rehearsed to death. See also The Three Fine Slayers of Rupert Giles or Why I Haven't Got a Boat. Would Lady Mondegreen cover my song? Part of the Mondegreen charter is to disseminate works not widely known in filk. If you feel you have a song that is not widely known, and lends itself to harmony and, ultimately, parody, feel free to submit it to us at songs@ladymondegreen.com. I hear Lady Mondegreen has a DVD now! What is it and how can I get one? Lady Mondegreen: 10 Years Together, Apart is now available from various filk dealers around the country. If you are a filk dealer and want to represent our DVD, please contact us. The DVD has songs from 10 years worth of archival concerts, as well as special features, interviews, picture galleries, easter eggs and more. There are only 100 DVDs left, so pick one up from Merav or from your local filk dealer today. Does Lady Mondegreen have an album? Alas, no. At least, not yet. We are considering recording an album, but our members are largely tied up with other projects right now. This will probably change in the future. How can I get my Lady Mondegreen fix? We allow taping at all of our concerts and if you ask nicely, your fellow tapers might be willing to swap concert tapes with you. Be sure to ask when they are not sleep-deprived, otherwise they may react violently. What's the deal with the Clones and Lady Mondegreen? Is this some kind of conspiracy? No, Conspiracy is in June, in Brooklyn. The similarities between the clone chain and the Lady Mondegreen membership are heavily exaggerated in the tabloids. |
