Danny Birt

Danny Birt is an American-born music therapist and massage therapist, but is more widely known as an award-winning author of science fiction and fantasy literary works, and as a composer and performer of filk and other music.

Not to be confused with Daniel Birt.

Background

Danny Birt was born and raised in the western half of the United States.[1] He attended high school and junior college at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM, Loyola University New Orleans for his bachelor's degrees, and Shenandoah University for his master's degree.[1]

Birt is a medical professional in the fields of Music Therapy and Massage Therapy.[2] Birt is most widely known for his published science fiction and fantasy works, and his published instrumental and parody music. Birt is invited frequently [3] to appear at renaissance festivals and to be a panelist at literary science fiction and fantasy conventions, where he commonly gives live musical performances.

Literary Works and Bibliography

Stand-Alone Literary Novels

Between a Roc and a Hard Place (Toybox Books, November 2010) is a children’s/YA chapter book about a baby dragon who is abandoned as an egg and is raised by a family of birds (Rocs).[4][5] The book’s cover art and illustrations are by Swedish artist Richard Svensson.[6]

Between a Roc and a Hard Place has been recognized with the following awards:

  • Creative Child Magazine’s 2010 Seal of Excellence [7]
  • Named one of Dr. Toy’s Best Picks of 2010 [8]

The book has been praised by some reviewers for its take on such diverse themes as adoption[9] and environmentalism,[10] but has been criticized by other reviewers as having too advanced a vocabulary for younger readers,[11] yet being too short a story for older readers.[11]

Short Stories

"Pinkbeard" in the anthology Spells and Swashbucklers (Dragon Moon Press, 2012)

"Stealing the Sky" in the anthology Tales of Fortannis (Double Dragon Publishing, 2011)

"What Does Luck Taste Like?" in the anthology Time in a Bottle (Altered Dimensions, 2010)

"Booty Haul" in the anthology Rum and Runestones (Dragon Moon Press, 2010)

"A Spell of Bad Weather" in Realms Magazine (Black Matrix Publishing, 2009)

"Murphy the Android and His Law" in Abandoned Towers Magazine (Cyberwizard Productions, 2008)

Five 55-word Fantasy Stories in the CWP anthology Strange Worlds of Lunacy (CyberAliens Press, 2008)[12]

Literary Series

The Laurian Pentology, a five-book collegiate-level epic fantasy series. The series includes:

  • Ending an Ending: First Book of the Laurian Pentology (Ancient Tomes Press, 2008)(repub. Dark Quest Books 2013)
  • Beginning: Second Book of the Laurian Pentology (Ancient Tomes Press, 2009) (repub. Dark Quest Books 2013)
  • Beginning an Ending: Third Book of the Laurian Pentology (Ancient Tomes Press, 2010) (repub. Dark Quest Books 2013)
  • Ending: Fourth Book of the Laurian Pentology (DarkQuest Books, 2013)
  • Beginning a Beginning: Fifth Book of the Laurian Pentology (DarkQuest Books, 2014)

Musical Works

In addition to having a master's degree in music therapy and being certified as a Music Therapist, Birt is a published composer, and is a frequent live performer of filk music at American science fiction and fantasy conventions.[3] Birt was the coordinator of the Filk/Music programming track for the 2010 North American Science Fiction Convention[13] and for DeepSouthCon50 in 2012 [14]

Some of the songs from Birt’s 2007 album Warped Children’s Songs have been featured on local and national radio programs such as The Dr. Demento show,[15] and on internet comedy music sites such as The FuMP.

Discography

Narcoleptic Pianist on CDbaby (Somnifacient Records, 2002) – an hour-long nonstop piano solo written for insomniacs.[16]

Warped Children’s Songs (Somnifacient Records, 2007) – parodies of children’s songs, such as Mary Had A Business Plan and Row, Row, Row Your Raft.[16]

Piano Petrissage on CDbaby (Somnifacient Records, 2010) – an hour-plus nonstop piano solo composed and arranged for play during massage therapy sessions, yoga sessions, and meditation.[16]

Od-Ditties on CDbaby (Somnifacient Records, 2011) - Recorded Live at RavenCon 2011; songs to make your inner nerd snicker.[16]

Teas on CDbaby (Somnifacient Records, 2013) Songs ranging from King Arthur to Harry Potter, from Dungeons & Dragons to Star Wars, and from Mole Day to the hypothalamus, this filk album covers some of fandom's favorite haunts "shotgun-style." [16]

References
  1. "Danny Birt - The Official Danny Birt Web Site - Biography". Archived from the original on 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
  2. ""Danny Birt, Renaissance Man"". Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
  3. "Danny Birt - The Official Danny Birt Web Site - Calendar". Archived from the original on 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
  4. [“Reading is Fun-to-Hudson’s.” (Oct.-Nov. 2010 ed.) Hudson’s Childrenswear Review, p. 22.]
  5. "Danny Birt". www.librarything.com.
  6. "Richard Svensson". www.goodreads.com.
  7. "Creative Child". www.creativechild.com.
  8. "Dr. Toy - The Name You Trust - Online Since 1995". Archived from the original on 2011-01-19. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
  9. “Local Books Make Great Stocking Stuffers”
  10. "Between a Roc and a Hard Place, Danny Birt, a review | Darkcargo". Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
  11. Birt, Danny (August 18, 2010). "Between a Roc and a Hard Place".
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2014-05-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. "Reconstruction — The 10th Occasional North American Science Fiction Convention * August 5th-8th, 2010 * Raleigh, N.C." Archived from the original on December 18, 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  14. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-05-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. "Danny Birt". www.themadmusicarchive.com.
  16. "Danny Birt | CD Baby Music Store". store.cdbaby.com.
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