Short Bio:
Since 2007, the Good Pennyworths have delighted audiences across the country with their playful and dramatic interpretations of 16th and 17th Century lute songs, folk ballads and theatre songs, from John Dowland’s well-known “Come Again” to rarely-performed comic gems like “Humour Say…” Their lush blend and witty musicality provide layers of enjoyment for Early Music lovers and newcomers alike. Selections from their CD, “Love! Lust! Longing… Loss – an Elizabethan Romp,”have been featured on Hawaii Public Radio and WBAI in NYC.
Email gfminstrel@gmail.com for complete presenter’s kit.
Good Pennyworths Press Clips – Downloadable PDF of press clippings from past tours
Garald Farnham has presented Passing By: My Life as a Minstrel over 150 times, mainly through the platform Couchsurfing. These are a sampling of past reference reviews.
“Hosting Garald was one of the most magical, heartwarming experiences I’ve had this year. The evening he offered us was enchanting, and made me long for more of those cultural social gatherings, where music, poetry and history all meet in one’s living room. Garald is feeding a sense of belonging as he makes us travel in time, and serenaded my blushing friends (including me!) It was a rare pleasure and I sure hope that other artists will steal his idea of touring with Couchsurfing! So long Garald, warm thanks again!” Vanessa – Lewiston, ME.
“Garald only stayed with me one night, but he offered to perform a show weaving Renaissance song, poetry, and his (more modern) life together. The dozen of us that assembled in my living room shared all of these, but most important of all, he shared his unique passion for life with us, which best to my knowledge is the very thing that makes something like couch surfing work. If the world could be the sum of all our best parts, it would indeed be a better place. So to you fine Sir, I say thank you, happy travels, huzzah, huzzah, and let us once more toss the pot!” Eric – Boston, MA.
“This fellow is wise enough to play the fool; And to do that well craves a kind of wit” so said Viola in Twelfth Night. Shakespeare’s respect for the wisdom of an entertainer rings true. Garald the bard brings not just wit to his playing, but also beauty, history, and deep feeling. Hosting him was an experience I will never forget, and a gift for our community. Those lucky enough to attend his performance laughed, cried, sang, flirted and huzzah’d well into the evening. A true professional who is passionate about his craft, I can’t tell you what a privilege it was to have him in our home, bringing the stories and songs of past times and cultures to our living room. This is the ultimate unexpected delight that Couchsurfing has brought me. It was an honor to host him, and I look forward to the day our paths cross again. **hat off, sir** Kirsten – Grand Rapids, MI
News Release from November 4, 2019 concert in Lynchburg, VA: Good Pennyworths playing the ‘pop songs from Shakespeare’s time’ at Holy Trinity
Flyer from the 2019 “Shakespeare & Chocolate” concert
PR Photos for the June 2012 Tour – Downloadable Hi-Resolution Photos suitable for print use.
“Engaging for the eye, ear, mind and heart…Surprising moments of depth in topic and vocal drama…A rich performance that deserves to be heard far and wide.”
~ review by Jocelyn Nelson, Lute Society of America Quarterly Journal
“The New York quartet Good Pennyworths was a hit at the 2009 Boston Early Music Festival. Their first recording, drawn from that concert, included a neat arrangement of Robert Morley’s best known madrigal, It Was a Lover and His Lass. They continue with… more raucous or suggestive songs, typical of the newfound confidence of a populist society. In Heigh Ho! For a Husband, a young maid cries, ‘I will have a husband, be he old or young!’ and then revises her ideas. In the more raunchy Bugle Britches, a farm girl tempts a soldier into the hayloft, and, well, you know the rest.”
~ Ian Capps during “The Early Muse” radio show of KHPR Honolulu
