Patron Spotlight: Scott Maitland! (Patreon)

This week’s Patron spotlight is a creative writer and musician after my own heart, Scott Maitland! By day, Scott writes and produces radio commercials in Alberta, Canada. By night, he continues his IRL-bardic persona with musical parodies, audiobook fanfiction, and playing D&D in a castle.

Dabbling in parody music (namely his Scanlan-inspired Bowie parody Vax Oddity) led Scott to Cantata Pansophical, a group of artists who make and illustrate songs inspired by Critical Role (organized by Will Crosswait). The group started with “Vox Machina: An Exandrian Musical” inspired by Hamilton: An American Musical, which can be seen on YouTube, for which Scott voiced Grog, Thordak, and Larkin. When we chatted, Scott shared that they’re currently adapting the Taryon Darrington arc through the lens of Dear Evan Hansen with Scott reprising his role as Grog.

While he’s gearing up for public releases, Scott was willing to share a few sneak peeks. Right now, he’s working on rewriting “Hard to Be the Bard” from Something Rotten to instead be sung by Scanlan. He shared the lyrics with me and you can trust me — it’s gonna be a masterpiece!

Music isn’t Scott’s only audio hobby: he also records fanfiction readings as audiobooks! He started out with Harry Potter fanfics, which made him a perfect fit to join PotterFicWeekly as a host. PotterFicWeekly is a Harry Potter fanfiction podcast which finished its ninth season earlier this year.

Recording audio fanfics allows Scott the opportunity to practice accents and voice acting. Lately, he’s been recording chapters of “The Runestone”, which starts out as a fanfic of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novels by Laurie R. King, then crosses with Star Trek: The Next Generation. The crossover really kicks into gear in Part 10, which you can listen to on Scott’s Soundcloud. For something a little more D&D-adjacent, Scott shared his recording of “Zaavan’s Revenge,” based on the poem “The Ballad of Zaavan’s Revenge” by YsabetWordsmith.

Even though he doesn’t cosplay often, Scott shares an enthusiasm for nerd apparel. “I wore Jedi robes to a con once, and a cape and Hufflepuff scarf to another,” he says, “Mom made the cape, I made the scarf, and Dad and I made a wand together (but mostly Dad). The scarf remains the only thing I've ever knit, but I'm still proud of it!”

I’m so into the concept of immersive roleplaying events, so I was pumped to hear the details after Scott told me he’d played D&D in a castle! When he attended the session at Langley Castle in England, he stayed in a glamping tent on the castle grounds and played three days of D&D in the castle. Six sessions as his elf Ranger, Rolen Moonbrook, one Lasers & Feelings game as a canny Engineer, and one Weave game of Goblins R Jerks later, Scott was hooked. He planned to attend again this year, but a pandemic got in the way. Maybe he’ll see one of you at the next session (whenever it’s safe to travel again).

Scott says there are more secrets coming from Cantata Pansophical now that the #CriticalConcert is over, so… keep your eyes and ears peeled!