01. Lord of the Rings
02. The Heart of a Hobbit
03. Fox and Brown Bear
04. Storyland
05. Fairytales
06. Renaissance Fair
07. Renaissance Interlude
08. Peter Pan
09. A Merchants Song feat Calvin Thomas
10. Robin Hood
11. Dragon Fight
12. Sword in the Stone
13. By My Troth
There are albums that arrive fully formed, polished to the last detail, and albums that feel like they were made because the artist simply could not imagine leaving the songs unwritten. Ronald J. Fontenot’s Black American Bard (Deluxe Album) belongs firmly in the second category. It is a passion project in the truest sense, a handmade fantasy world built from acoustic guitars, flutes, percussion, storytelling and an obvious affection for the myths, games and fairy tales that shaped Fontenot’s imagination.
When College Radio Charts reviewed the original Black American Bard in February 2025, the album was described as a kind of musical time machine, transporting listeners into a realm where folklore, fantasy and RPG-inspired storytelling could coexist. The deluxe edition does not abandon that mission. Instead, it digs deeper into it, expanding the collection to 13 tracks and making the project’s central idea even clearer. Fontenot isn’t simply writing songs about fantasy. He is trying to create the soundtrack to a fantasy universe of his own.
That distinction matters.
Fontenot’s background as an electronic artist and game developer helps explain the album’s particular perspective. He cites Chrono Trigger as an influence, both for its music and its storytelling, and his ambition to eventually place his music in a video game or film is written into the DNA of these songs. There is a sense throughout Black American Bard (Deluxe Album) that the listener has wandered into an RPG before the opening cinematic has even finished.
“Lord of the Rings” establishes the mission immediately, turning Tolkien’s mythology into the sort of song one might hear from a wandering minstrel at an inn somewhere between Rivendell and the Shire. Fontenot approaches the material with affection rather than irony, and that sincerity is one of the album’s greatest strengths. He isn’t trying to make fantasy seem cool. He genuinely loves this material.
“The Heart of a Hobbit” may be the clearest example of that devotion. Built around acoustic guitar and vocals, the track strips away the embellishment and lets the story carry the weight. Its lyrics move through Isildur, Sauron, Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Galadriel and Gimli, but the song ultimately keeps returning to its central idea: courage does not necessarily come from the most powerful person in the room. Sometimes it comes from the smallest.
That is exactly the sort of message that gives Fontenot’s fantasy songwriting a surprisingly human center.
“Fox and Brown Bear” begins more modestly before flute and percussion gradually enter the picture. The lyrics tell a straightforward adventure story about a pair of sword-carrying travelers who set off to confront a dragon, defeat it and return with treasure. There is a wonderful old-fashioned quality to the writing. Fontenot approaches the song almost like a children’s storybook brought to life through music, and the simplicity becomes part of its charm.
“Storyland” and “Fairytales” continue the journey, reinforcing the album’s fascination with the stories that existed long before video games gave fantasy another vocabulary. Fontenot understands that the appeal of these worlds is not simply dragons, knights and enchanted forests. It is the possibility that ordinary people can step into extraordinary stories.
“Renaissance Fair” brings that idea into the real world. With references to recorders, dulcimers, knights, jousting, medieval clothing, food and romance, the song feels like a musical invitation to put down the phone, pick up a sword and spend an afternoon pretending the 21st century never happened. It is unabashedly playful, and that lack of cynicism is refreshing.
The brief “Renaissance Interlude” functions like a change of scenery, allowing the album to move from one chapter of its fantasy landscape into another. Then comes “Peter Pan,” another familiar story given Fontenot’s intimate treatment. Like much of the record, it feels less interested in reinventing the source material than in celebrating what made it memorable in the first place.
“A Merchant’s Song,” featuring Calvin Thomas, is one of the more character-driven moments on the album. Its traveling salesman narrator moves through forests and plains, offering medicines, rings and other goods while singing to peasants and kings. The repetition gives it the feeling of an actual medieval folk tune, something a merchant might sing along the road to announce his arrival in the next village.
It is also a reminder that Fontenot’s songwriting is often at its most effective when he focuses on the little details of his imaginary world. A merchant, a minstrel, an innkeeper’s son, a knight, a thief. These are the people who populate the spaces between the legends.
“Robin Hood” returns to one of folklore’s most durable heroes. Fontenot’s version keeps the story direct: Nottingham, Sherwood Forest, the Merry Men, Marian, Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham all make appearances as Robin fights corruption and stands up for the poor. The repeated “Oh Look!” refrain gives the song an almost theatrical quality, as though the listener is watching the legend unfold on a stage.
Then comes “Dragon Fight,” where the record leans most directly into the video-game inspiration Fontenot has openly embraced. Drums and flute provide the backbone while harpsichord or acoustic guitar sits in the background. The lyrics envision the listener marching toward a dragon’s cave, sword in hand, ready to claim its treasure. It is easy to imagine this as the soundtrack to an RPG battle sequence, complete with the moment when the screen fades into a boss fight.
That connection to gaming is more than a novelty. Fontenot is a game developer himself, and his work on Torin the Turtle makes the relationship between his music and interactive storytelling especially interesting. His songs frequently feel designed to accompany movement through a world. They introduce characters, establish locations and suggest quests.
“Sword in the Stone” takes that concept back toward legend, turning the Arthurian myth into another cinematic chapter. The song’s premise provides Fontenot with exactly the kind of larger-than-life narrative he seems drawn to: destiny, kingship, magic and the moment when an unlikely hero discovers that he is meant for something greater.
The album closes with “By My Troth,” and it is an intriguing final statement because it sounds somewhat more contemporary than much of what precedes it. The almost electronic kick drum gives the track a modern pulse, while the upbeat tone and theme of unwavering loyalty point directly toward the kind of fantasy adventure that inspired Fontenot in the first place. It could easily sit inside a video game soundtrack, particularly one that blends traditional fantasy imagery with a more modern musical vocabulary.
And that may ultimately be the key to understanding Black American Bard (Deluxe Album).
This isn’t a record concerned with proving anything to the skeptics. It is a record made by someone who loves fantasy, storytelling, video games, folklore and music, and who decided to combine those interests into one sprawling creative project. There are moments when the homemade quality is apparent, but that quality is also central to its identity. The album feels personal because it is personal.
Fontenot’s greatest asset here is not technical flash. It is enthusiasm. He approaches each story with the excitement of someone who has spent years imagining these worlds and finally found a way to put them into songs. The result is earnest, eccentric and deeply committed to its premise.
The original Black American Bard introduced that premise. The deluxe edition expands the map.
For listeners who approach music primarily through conventional genre labels, Fontenot’s work may be difficult to categorize. For anyone who has ever spent hours exploring a fantasy game, reading Tolkien, attending a Renaissance fair, watching an old fairy tale come alive or simply wondering what song might accompany the next great adventure, Black American Bard (Deluxe Album) offers something much more specific.
It offers a world. And like any good bard, Ronald J. Fontenot is inviting you to stay awhile and hear the story.
https://www.youtube.com/@RonaldJFontenotsChannel
https://open.spotify.com/artist/50UIn7vh8falwwbiGTciRl
https://www.tiktok.com/@blackamericanbard
