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Upcoming Events, Shows & Performances:

The Fun of Composing New Music

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The Fun of Composing New Music

I work with two 12-string guitars, a Taylor and a hand-built Ro Ho custom. This week I’m preparing my musical scores for two Viking tales for Saturday’s show. Ever since I began performing these stories for adult audiences about six years ago, each season I return to the music afresh. Earlier this year, at a show down in Cambridge, I debuted a beautiful, relaxing theme that solved a musical puzzle I’d been struggling with for decades. The tale is THOR’S JOURNEY TO UTGARD. Much of the music conveys action or an impending strange fate, but moments do arrive where the feeling “all is well” needs to be expressed.

I finally found it. It makes me happy to play it when, at the story’s end, Thor and Loki realize that they scared the Frost Giants of Utgard quite handily, but had no idea they’d done so. They’d been fooled by Frost Giant magic ever since they’d arrived in Jotunheim.

If you’re at the show, you’ll know exactly what music I’m talking about.

Hope to see you there!

Odds Bodkin

ODIN AND THOR BATTLE THE FROST GIANTS

Adult Storytelling with Music

Saturday Sept. 24, 2022 at 7 pm (doors open)

Nova Arts, 48 Emerald Street, Keene NH

Tickets: $25

 

 

 

 

 

Thor Defeated. Is That a Real Norse Myth? Yes, It Is.

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Thor defeated. Is that a real Norse Myth? Yes, it is.

Thor the God of Thunder is known as a giant killer. Across the Norse mythos, in many tales, his hammer Mjolnir sends Frost Giants to their graves.

So what is this? You mean Thor is defeated? Well, no, but he is outwitted thoroughly, along with Loki, in the hall of the Frost Giant king.

To find out how, come join me Saturday night, Sept. 24th, at Nova Arts in Keene, NH. The show is at 8 pm. I’ll have my two 12-string guitars and Celtic harp for this 90-minute performance. Character voices. Sound effects. Narrative. Full musical scores for the tales. Plus amazing visuals, lore and plenty of humor.

Grab dinner, enjoy some wine, and sit back for some adult storytelling.

 

ODDS BODKIN

performs

ODIN AND THOR BATTLE THE FROST GIANTS

SEPT. 24TH at 8 pm

Nova Arts

48 Emerald Street

Keene, NH

Tickets: $25

https://www.novaarts.org/events/oddsbodkin924

 

 

New Odds Bodkin Recordings

Posted on by Odds Bodkin

NEW ODDS BODKIN RECORDINGS

From Odds Bodkin:

I’m in the studio next week to mix ODIN AND THOR BATTLE THE FROST GIANTS, my best live show ever of Viking tales and lore. So surprising and wonderful was the audience’s reaction (it was recorded this year at Grendel’s Den in Cambridge MA–college students mostly) that we’re mixing the audience microphone in with the two stage mics to capture that magic. They laughed. They groaned. They even sang.

ODIN AND THOR BATTLE THE FROST GIANTS will be available soon.

By the way, I’m doing a live version of this show at Nova Arts in Keene, NH on Sept. 24th, if you’d like to enjoy it in person. Music on Celtic harp and two 12-string guitars.

Tickets are $25:

https://www.novaarts.org/events/oddsbodkin924

Also being studio recorded next week, my latest original tale, VOYAGE OF THE WAISTGOLD, which we’ll publish soon as well. A 70-minute adult pirate fantasy, it’s naughty but beautiful. Watch for it.

Plus more fresh recordings to follow! A new DARK TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL, which folks have been requesting for years. It’s going to be a busy few months!

–Odds Bodkin

IN A WORLD OF WOE, THERE IS A CLASSIC OASIS

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IN A WORLD OF WOE, THERE IS A CLASSIC OASIS

Simple, beautiful spoken-word stories from peoples around the world, all told with original, culturally flavored acoustic music.

Storyteller Odds Bodkin’s classic audio stories. A mentally healthy, simple gift for your kids so that they can understand the wisdom literature of other people.

Age coded for appropriate listening for ages 4 to forever.

THE EPIC DRIVE: 19 full-length storytelling albums.

Plug it in. Transfer files to music software. Start to listen.

“a consummate storyteller”—The New York Times

A Sunday Evening with a Classic Greek Myth: Odds Bodkin Tells THE ODYSSEY

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A Sunday Evening with a Classic Greek Myth: Odds Bodkin Tells THE ODYSSEY.

“The closest thing we have to a genuine Homeric performance…”–Professor James Tatum, Dartmouth Classics Department

“Students are clamoring for him to return…”–Professor Martha Taylor, Chair of Classics, Loyola University Maryland

The Greek poet Homer, scholars say, recited his ODYSSEY epic while plucking his lyre. Odds Bodkin performs his modern-day language ODYSSEY while playing 12-string guitar.

If you value Western Civilization and its timeless lessons, including literacy and imagination, don’t miss this live performance on YouTube Sunday, January 16th at 7 pm EST. Just buy your ticket for the login, and then sit back for a 70-minute blast of virtuoso storytelling.

And afterwards, chat with the artist if you have questions.

THE ODYSSEY: BELLY OF THE BEAST

SUNDAY, JAN. 16, 2022 at 7 pm EST, 4 pm PT on YouTube Live

Presented by Six Feet Apart Productions with Claire Hennessy

Tickets $25-$30

 

Odds Bodkin’s Live and Zoom Shows Now Booking for Fall 2021 and Winter 2022

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Odds Bodkin’s Live and Zoom Shows for Are Now Booking for Fall 2021 and Winter 2022!

Fully vaccinated and delighted to be back performing for live audiences, storyteller and musician Odds Bodkin is now booking live assembly performances for K-12 schools in New England and beyond. Plus a host of other incredible offerings for adult audiences. All shows are also available on Zoom.

Last year, Loyola University Maryland opted for their annual Iliad/Odyssey performance via Zoom, and 200 Classics and Honors students tuned in. That was Odds’ 13th annual September show for Loyola. But this year, he’ll be flying down in person with his 12-string guitar to regale his college audience once again. That’s 14 years in a row!

Special thanks to Gavin Bodkin, Odds’ son, for building a Zoom studio for his dad and engineering a host of appearances during the pandemic. Full day GOLDEN RULE residences for elementary schools in Merrimack, NH, complete with custom workshops, were completed to rave reviews (watch video). A Halloween show of Dark Tales of the Supernatural for Syracuse University. An Odyssey: Belly of the Beast performance for Old Greenwich School in Connecticut. An adult concert for a Long Island library. All took place on Zoom.

But now Odds is back live with his 12-string guitars, Celtic harp and other instruments. He’s ready to travel once again.

What is he offering?

 

GOLDEN RULE: World Stories About Empathy for K-2 and 3-6

FAIRY FOLKS AND OLD OAKS: Two Long Fairy Tales told with voices and 12-string guitars

DARK TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL adult scary concerts for Halloween

DANIKA THE ROSE: A Blend of Dvorak’s Moravian Duets with an original Odds Bodkin fairy tale performed with sopranos Jazimina MacNeil and Sarah Shafer, available for concerts nationwide (the next show is for The Groton School on Jan. 9, 2022!)

THE ODYSSEY: BELLY OF THE BEAST, THE ILIAD: BOOK I, HEARTPOUNDERS: ADULT HALLOWEEN HORROR TALES, BEOWULF: THE ONLY ONE, ODIN AND THOR BATTLE THE FROST GIANTS and FALL OF THE TITANS for universities and high schools

STORYBLAST! Family concerts for libraries, churches and museums are also available.

Be sure to check out the storyteller’s amazing family recordings at Odds’ Shop!

 

 

 

 

 

11 Days Left in MASTER DRIVE Sale! Ends July 30th!

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11 days remain in Odds Bodkin’s MASTER DRIVE sale at the storyteller’s online shop.

Get $50 off the price of his MASTER DRIVE this July. This flash drive features his complete audio stories, his epic poem The Water Mage’s Daughter (550 pages pdf), a live performance video plus original musical compositions.

Just plug it in and distribute the stories to your family’s devices! All mp3 audios.

 

Regular price: $199.95. Now $149.95!

Perfect for Family Travel!

 

Age-Coded Stories Include:

The Adventures of Little Proto (audio)

Little Proto’s T-Rex Adventure (audio)

Little Proto and the Volcano’s Fire (audio)

The Teacup Fairy: Very Old Tales for Very Young Children (audio)

The Evergreens: Gentle Tales of Nature (audio)

With Twinkle in your Eye: Funny Folktales from Everywhere (audio)

Rip Roarin’ Paul Bunyan Tales (audio)

The Winter Cherries: Holiday Tales from Around the World (audio)

The Blossom Tree: Tales from the Far East (audio)

The Wise Little Girl: Tales of the Feminine (audio)

Earthstone: The Eco-Musical (2 hour audio)

The Odyssey: An Epic Telling (4 hour audio)

Giant’s Cauldron: Viking Myths of Adventure (audio)

Hidden Grail: Sir Percival and the Fisher King (90 minute audio)

Stories of Love (audio)

David and Goliath: The Harper and the King (audio)

The Myth of Hercules (audio)

 

Plus Rare Works:

Beowulf: The Only One (live audio recording)

The Iliad: Book I (50-minute video)

The Water Mage’s Daughter: a 13,000-line epic poem. (PDF e-book)

 

Plus Odds Bodkin’s Original Musical Compositions on Acoustic Instruments and Kurzweil synthesizer:

Rapunzel’s Window

At Beauty’s Door

Black Irish

Soft-Hearted Men in the Good Old USA

Little Paws

Christmas Morning

The Great Irish Elk

 

Order yours today!

Tonight at 5 pm…Live on ZOOM…Odds Bodkin’s Fairy Tales for Smart Girls!

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“a consummate storyteller”–The New York Times

Join Odds Bodkin tonight for four amazing and fun fairy tales about smart girls. Tomorrow is International Women’s Day, and Bodkin has created this special show–including a new story from Italy–for the event. You can sing along with two of the tales, so get your voice ready.

The show comes to you via ZOOM at 5 pm EST. Grab your ticket and log in for a full-screen storytelling performance with characters, sound effects and live music on 12-string guitars and Celtic harp.

And if you have a question for Odds after the show, he’ll stay online to chat.

 

SHE’S CLEVER, THAT ONE: Fairy Tales for Smart Girls

Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 5 pm EST on ZOOM

Tickets: $25 per screen

 

Tonight 5:00-6:30 pm, Odds Bodkin is on Full-Screen Zoom to Tell BEOWULF

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Scored throughout with haunting and beautiful music on 12-string guitar, here is Odds Bodkin’s renowned storyteller’s version of Beowulf, a thousand year old Viking tale of darkness and light.

The monsters lurk in the fens, staring down the cliffs at the humans, tiny creatures who sing in their feasting hall to push back the night. The first monster, Grendel, who towers to the height of many men, hates the singing. With his enchanted fur to protect him and his wolf fangs to tear apart flesh, he attacks and takes back thirty slain men to eat in his cave.

The Danes are terrorized. Every night, Grendel comes. They try iron, bronze, silver, even gold sword blades and spear points, but nothing can penetrate Grendel’s hide.

For twelve years, the monster feasts, until in a far off land, a great warrior–one who has a reason to be grateful to the Danes–decides to go on a mission of mercy to kill the beast.

First discovered in 1563 in a dusty library when it was already five hundred years old, Beowulf is the oldest known work in the English language, a classic in every sense. Odds Bodkin brings it to life tonight on full-screen Zoom.

BEOWULF: THE ONLY ONE

Sunday Feb. 28 at 5:00 pm EST on Zoom

Not recommended for children

Tickets: $25

 

Sponsored by Grendel’s Den in Cambridge, MA

SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES AND CLUBS MOVING TO ZOOM SHOWS WITH ODDS BODKIN

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With all the uncertainly surrounding school openings, Loyola University Maryland has decided to go completely remote. Students won’t be on campus, but to preserve a twelve-year Odds Bodkin September tradition, the Department of Classics has chosen to invite Odds once again, only this time via ZOOM. The performance: THE ILIAD: BOOK I.

Grendel’s Den on Harvard Square, a location in Boston where Odds has regaled adult ticketed audiences for years, wants to preserve the magic. The two shows coming up on ZOOM sponsored by Grendel’s? THE ODYSSEY: BELLY OF THE BEAST on September 20th and HERCULES IN HELL on October 18th.

Simonds School in Warner, New Hampshire had to postpone a 2-day GOLDEN RULE: WORLD STORIES ABOUT EMPATHY residency for K-2 and 3-5 last spring with Odds. But with an HD video and sound ZOOM studio, he’ll be visiting the school anyway. Two performances on full-screen, followed by interactive workshops with the students will take place on September 21st and 22nd.

Yes, there’s a pandemic. Crowds of listeners crammed into big rooms, especially crowds of kids, are problematic these days.

But Odds’ brand of performing arts—always a complete one–man show—doesn’t require a troop of actors onstage, sets or backup musicians. Odds provides all that in his musical storytelling shows. Even Classics and Honors students and their professors at Loyola know that.

If your kids or grandkids go to a school, give them live Odds Bodkin stories by suggesting programs to teachers and principals. Every seat is a front row experience.

To find out more, go here.

ALEXA, PLAY ODDS BODKIN!

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“Alexa, open Bedtime Stories.”

That’s all you have to say to your Amazon Alexa to open a trove of Odds Bodkin’s audio stories for kids. The Evergreens. The Teacup Fairy. The Little Proto Trilogy of dinosaur adventures. The Elf of Springtime. The Rock n’ Roll Three Little Pigs. 38 stories in all, each told with beautiful music, wild characters and amazing vocal effects.

Yes, Odds Bodkin’s ancient craft is now available on the most high-tech of platforms. Parents’ Choice Awards. Indie Awards. Storytelling World Awards. The Dove Award. The Golden Headset Award. These timeless tales have won them all.

Of course, you don’t have to rely on Alexa when you own these stories, plus The Odyssey, Beowulf and Bodkin’s other tales for adults and teens. Just purchase an EPIC DRIVE, the complete collection of Odds Bodkin’s audio works.

Happy listening!

Story Time with Odds Bodkin on Facebook Live Tomorrow at Noon

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Each day this week at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time, Master Storyteller and Musician Odds Bodkin will tell a different music-filled story from his collection of tales for young children.

If you’re a mom or dad with kids at home during this scary time and you need a break, then sit the kids down for a half hour of wild characters, amazing sound effects and a live score on 12-string guitar.

Tomorrow, Monday March 30th , at 12 noon EST, he’ll perform The Little Shepherd, a completely absorbing Italian Fairy Tale.

Follow Odds Bodkin on Facebook.

That’s tomorrow, Monday March 30th at 12 noon EST.

Please share with friends and family!