Library Bards are a nerd parody band based in Los Angeles, California, consisting of reality personalities
Bonnie Gordon (ABC's ''
The Quest'') and Xander Jeanneret (TBS'
King of the Nerds).
They are known for taking pop songs and re-writing them as nerd-centric parody songs. Topics of their songs include Sci-Fi,
Cosplay
Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...
, Gaming, and Fantasy.
History
Xander and Bonnie had known each other before being cast on their respective reality competition shows. Both had gone on to become the "fan-favorites" of their shows, and wanted to continue performing at comic and pop culture conventions. Their first song "Gandalf" (a parody of Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off") was created in collaboration with the fan site theonering.net,
and debuted before the final installment of the Hobbit films. The song debuted as #1 in the comedy genre in Los Angeles on the music website Reverbnation, #2 nationally, and #3 globally in December 2014. The Library Bards continue to hold a top spot in the Comedy genre in Los Angeles.
Music
Both Bonnie and Xander collaborate on writing the lyrics to each of their songs, and they employ a third party to create the backing tracks for the music. Past collaborators have included
Jake Kaufman
Jake Kaufman (born 1981; also known as virt or virtjk) is an American video game music composer. After starting out creating arrangements and remixes of video game soundtracks, he began his commercial composing career in 2000 with the score t ...
, Bonecage,
Breakmaster Cylinder, and Ben and Michael McGeehee.
Nerd Parody Music
The Library Bards consider themselves a "Nerd Parody Band", which focuses on topics and "fandoms" that are generally considered nerdy or geeky. Some have placed them in the category of
Filk music
Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to Science fiction fandom, science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-197 ...
, and the Library Bards work within that category as well. They have been featured on the comedy music
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...
show and on The FuMP.
Touring
Amazing! Tour (2015)
The Library Bards started touring Comic and Pop Culture conventions in 2015, including the Amazing! Comic Con series. The list of cities included:
* Los Angeles, CA
* Indianapolis, IN
* Ventura, CA
* Houston, TX
* Honolulu, HI
* San Francisco, CA
* Oklahoma City, OK
Level Up! Tour (2016)
The Library Bards continued to tour over 50 comic and pop culture conventions in 2016, including:
* WonderCon (LA)
* Pasadena Comic Con (Pasadena)
* Orlando, FL Concert
* Anime Fan Fest (New Jersey)
* Amazing! Hawaii Comic Con
* BayCon (San Francisco)
* Ninja-Con (LA)
* LA CosplayCon
* Amazing! Las Vegas Comic Con
* Anime Expo (LA)
* San Diego Comic Con
* Wizard World Chicago
* FuMPFest (Chicago)
* Amazing Houston Comic Con
* NerdBot Con
* Santa Clarita Valley Comic Con
* Louisiana Comic Con (Lafayette)
* LosCon
BARDCORE Tour (2017)
The Library Bards toured for their first full studio album,
BARDCORE
Bardcore or tavernwave is a musical microgenre that became popular in 2020, consisting of medieval music, medieval-inspired remakes of popular songs.
History
In December 2017, before the term ''bardcore'' was widely known, a medieval version ...
, bringing their high energy performances to the stages across the country, including:
* The Pack Theater (Los Angeles)
* Long Beach Comic Expo
* MarsCon (Minneapolis)
* Tulare Sci-Fi Con (Tulare)
* LouisiAnime (Baton Rouge)
* FantasticKon (Santa Clarita, CA)
* BurlyQuest (Los Angeles)
* WonderCon (Los Angeles)
* WhedonCon (Los Angeles)
* WyrdCon (Los Angeles)
* BayCon (San Mateo)
* FuMPFest (Chicago)
* Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con
* Anime Expo (Los Angeles)
* San Diego Comic Con
* Amazing Hawaii Comic Con
* Quest-Con (Mobile, AL)
* Game-A-Con (Las Vegas)
* Van Nuys Comedy Club (Los Angeles)
* Long Beach Comic Con
* LosCon (Los Angeles)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''BARDCORE'' (March 2017)
* ''BomBARDed'' (10 September 2019)
EPs
* ''Library Bards'' EP (CD only, July 2016)
Compilation albums
* The FuMP Vol. 55 – "Gandalf" (January–February 2016)
* The FuMP Vol. 59 – "Warriors for Hire" (September–October 2016)
* FuMPFest 2016 – Live! (CD & Online, January 2017)
Music videos
The Library Bards have released several music videos for their songs. Most popular is the music video for "Gandalf", which was in collaboration with the Lord of the Rings Fansite theonering.net.
Typical Library Bards music videos feature popular cosplayers in the nerd community, as well as appearances by voice actors and other talent.
Television and media appearances
Bonnie Gordon appeared on ABC's ''
The Quest'' and Xander Jeanneret was a finalist on TBS' ''
King of the Nerds''
Season 2. Since these appearances, the Library Bards can be seen as a pair on CBS'
Celebrity Name Game
''Celebrity Name Game'' is an American syndicated game show that premiered on September 22, 2014. Based on the board game ''Identity Crisis'' (created by Laura Robinson and Richard Gerrits), the series was developed by Courteney Cox and David ...
twice in 2016, and Bonnie Gordon appeared on SyFy's
Geeks Who Drink. The Library Bards also appear on the LGBTQ Streaming application
REVRYbr>
Bonnie Gordon is also a voice actress for the English version of
Street Fighter V
''Street Fighter V'' is a 2016 fighting game developed by Capcom, Dimps and Taito and published by Capcom for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows, Windows. The major follow-up to ''Street Fighter IV'' (2008) as part of Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' ...
, providing the voice of the character
R. Mika Gordon provides the voice of the Narwhal Magisword, Dolphin-Chan and one of the Barnacles in
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
's
Mighty Magiswords episode "Unconventional Dolphism", created by The FuMP member Kyle A. Carrozza with FuMP member Luke Ski as storyboard artist, writer and voice actor. Gordon reprised her roles as the Narwhal Magisword, as well as the character Nana Mewfles in the episode "For the Love of Narwhal". Gordon and Jeanneret previously did a cover parody of the song "
We Didn't Start the Fire" based on the series, titled "Warriors for Hire!".
Xander Jeanneret is a voice actor for the independent fighting game
Divekick, providing the voice of the Announcer.
The Library Bards provided a musical trailer for the Geek and Sundry streaming show ''Callisto 6'', in which Gordon plays main cast character Lindy "Hopps" Hopper and Jeanneret plays recurring cast character Cobalt.
References
External links
Library BardsLibrary Bardson
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
Library Bards on Spotify{{Authority control
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Parody musicians
American parodists
American comedy musical groups
Musical duos from California
American comedy duos
Nerd-folk musicians
Musical groups established in 2014
Comedians from California
2014 establishments in California