My paper wings, a piece of string
And pretty things that keep me sane
Unopened doors and something more
I've said before that calls my name

Standing
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dudley on our sitting room table
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Playing the Royal Albert Hall
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Live session for BBC Radio Sheffield
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
My bass player Christian Dunham
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Meeting Tariq Ali
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A snake with bad indigestion
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Serenading a snake at Shaktu
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
My yurt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
'Shaktu': shack no.2 on the farm
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Playing Pianos in NYC
 
 
 
 
 
 

On the plane to London


 
     
EMILY'S BLOG    
____________________________________
New gig photos up
[18.07.10]
 
I had a great gig last night in Colchester at this fantastic venue called the Headgate Theatre. Lovely audience, great sound and some wonderful singer-songwriters playing – it was a ‘Women of Song’ night with me, Liz Simcock, Dave Ellis and Boo Howard. Thanks to James Hibbins of AcoustiCity for promoting such a great night. It’s been going for about 8 years now. It’s people like him who make it possible for people like me to go around singing my songs. Click here to see photos from the gig. You can also see photos from my gig at Stuminster Newton the other week.

I’m really looking forward to next weekend playing in Berkshire, Cambridge and Reading and then the week after down to the Purbeck coast to play my favourite pub the Square & Compass with Christian and cellist Beth. Dates and details are all on my gigs page – all support much appreciated.

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
Singing for the mums
[29.06.10]
 
There are some gigs I do that make me wish I’d trained as an accountant and some that make me feel like this is the best job in the world. Last night we went to Blandford Forum in Dorset and played to a room full of women who all bring their young kids to Playsongs groups and were having a night out on their own. It was just me and Christian playing (who was in his element ;) and we did 2 sets which included ‘A Song for Stephanie Rose’, my new songs ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Old Valentine’, and a new piano version (with the original lyrics) of my last Radio 2 single ‘I’d Rather Be’. The response we got was just amazing. A huge thank-you to Nickie and Gill of Playsongs for inviting me and for organising such a wonderful evening, and to the 70 women who came and listened to my songs and made me feel like this is so worthwhile.

xx
____________________________________
Lyrics, laughter and cellos
[12.06.10]
 
For the past few weeks I’ve been busy writing cello parts for new songs and re-writing some of the big string arrangements from my albums for a wonderful cellist called Beth Porter who is going to be doing some gigs with me and my bass player Christian.

Beth is also singing backing vocals for us. It's quite something to be able to sing and play cello at the same time – I know cos I’ve tried it. So we’ve been busy rehearsing and I’m really looking forward to our first gig at Ondaatje Hall in London next weekend.

This is all a good distraction because at the moment I seem to have writer’s block. I had a really creative burst at the start of the year when I finished a lot of new songs and started many more but now I’m left with all these new songs with no words. I’ve been through this enough times to know that it passes but I still get a bit frustrated.

So last night to cheer myself up I went to see some fantastic stand-up comedy at my favourite pub (the Square and Compass in Worth Matravers as you probably know already) and spent the evening laughing and drinking Guinness - a magical combination which I highly recommend. It made me forget all about songwriting angst… for the time being.

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
New single and bonus tracks
[18.05.10]
 
I’ve got a new single out now called Anything You Do and to celebrate we decided to include a couple of bonus tracks which have never been released before.

One is my cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ which I was commissioned to record a few years ago for the audio-visual installation ‘Electric Storm’ on London’s South Bank. More recently, it was used on a Radio 2 documentary for Remembrance Sunday.


The other song is a lullaby that I wrote for my sister’s baby girl who was born in the UK while I was living in the Australian bush. I didn’t get to meet her for another 6 months and so I wrote this song for her to let my sister know how much I was thinking of them, and wishing I could be there. It’s called ‘A Song For Stephanie Rose’ and has never been released before.

You all know the words to ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ but here are the words I wrote for ‘A Song For Stephanie Rose’ in case you want to sing it to a very small person in your life…

A Song For Stephanie Rose

Take your time, go slow
The world is your mind
Make your heart so light
And open it wide
And see what’s inside


Make your smile so bright
To shine on the world
And every time you fall
You’ll see that you’re strong
And nothing is wrong


Make your way someday
And leave us behind
But take her hand, her arms
Holding you now
Will always be holding you now


Always be now
Always be now
Always be now


These tracks are only available as digital downloads – a plastic free world! Click here to hear clips of them on iTunes.

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
Playing live again
[29.04.10]
 
Thanks to everyone who came from near and far to see us play at the Square & Compass Inn in Purbeck last weekend. It’s one of my favourite gigs in the UK, and not just cos I get given flowers at the end of the night!

It was so great to see everyone and to be out there singing my songs again – now I can’t wait to get back on the road. We’re on the case booking gigs now so I’ll keep you posted on dates. If there’s a great venue near you – no matter how small – where you think I should play, let me know. You can email us at: gigs(at)shaktu-records.com.

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
New single
[06.04.10]
 
My new single ‘Anything You Do’ got its first airplay on Radio 2 on Sunday by Aled Jones on ‘Good Morning Sunday’. You can listen back over the next 5 days by clicking the link here (scroll to 2:07). The single will be released on 17th May.

xx
____________________________________
Thanks to Caffè Nero
[09.03.10]
 
I finished my Caffè Nero tour in Brighton at the end of February after 6 weeks of gigs in coffee shops up and down the country. Thanks so much to all the friends and fans who came down – through rain and snow - it was great to see you. I’d also like to say a huge thank you to Pablo Ettinger, one of the founders of Caffè Nero, who chose me to be his ‘Artist of the Month’ and has been playing my songs every day in his 400 coffee shops around the UK.

Last week we were down in Devon playing at the lovely Otterton Mill. Next month you can see me playing at my favourite pub in the UK, but in the meantime I’m taking some time out to do some more writing before my next single comes out. It's on my new album 'Believer' and I’ll tell you which song it’s going to be next time… or can you guess?

xx
 
____________________________________
New video for 'Wanting Time'
[12.02.10]
 
My amazing multi-talented bass player Christian Dunham just made a new video for my song 'Wanting Time' from my new album 'Believer'. You can watch it here on my website or on my Youtube channel.

We've also put up on Myspace
my new single 'I'd Rather Be' which has been played every day on the biggest radio station in the UK, BBC Radio 2, for the past 5 weeks. I was asked about the lyrics in a recent radio interview. I wrote 'I'd Rather Be' at a really tough time in my life and yet this song came out of my head that was so strong and positive, saying I accept the highs and lows and I'm grateful for them - cos that's where my songs come from. You can't have the silver lining without the cloud. Read the lyrics - you'll see what I mean.

Hope all's well in your world.

xx
 
____________________________________
What goes up must come down
[07.02.10]
 
Last Sunday morning I did a live interview on Radio 2 with Aled Jones, talking about my songwriting, Buddhist practice and the story behind my current single ‘I’d Rather Be’. Aled was the first to play my music on Radio 2 and he’s been a huge supporter of me ever since, playing my songs regularly on his ‘Good Morning Sunday’ show. He's a lovely man and it was great to see him.

I’ve had a very creative time over the past couple of months - melodies and lyrics in my head all the time, writing lots of new songs. It’s a truly wonderful feeling. But I know from long and bittersweet experience that what goes up must come down and these past few weeks I’ve made a not-so-graceful descent from cloud nine back to ground zero.

So I packed my guitar and heavy heart in the car at dawn last Thursday to go up to Manchester to do a couple of gigs and see my Buddhist teacher Lama Jampa Thaye. The first gig was in the Caffè Nero on Oxford Road where some very lovely people had come from far and wide to hear me play and I had some fantastic backing singers aged 9, 6 and 4 who cheered me up no end.

The second gig was at the Buddhist centre where we were staying. Kagyu Ling was the first Buddhist centre to be founded in Manchester, established in 1975 by Karma Thinley Rinpoche and Lama Jampa Thaye. It is part of the Dechen community, an international association of centres of the Sakya and Karma Kagyu traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. I’ve been a student of Lama Jampa for many years and we were asked to do a special gig at Kagyu Ling as part of their cultural programme of events.

It was the most amazing night. With my bass player and partner Christian, we played songs we hadn’t played in years, like ‘The Borderline’, and songs from my new album 'Believer' to a packed room of people - some Buddhist, some not. To see my teacher, to be made so welcome and to be given the opportunity to play my songs in such a special, inspiring place was just wonderful beyond words. I got back in the car the next day in a completely different state of mind.

And now it's Sunday morning again, and I've been playing my guitar and thinking it’s alright having my head in the clouds - I just need my feet on the ground.

xx
 
____________________________________
New single 'I'd Rather Be' on Radio 2
[27.01.10]
 

It's been a fantastic start to the year hearing my new single 'I'd Rather Be' being played every day on Radio 2. Big love and thanks to Chris Evans, Steve Wright and all the other Radio 2 DJs who've been playing it these past few weeks.

Hearing 'I'd Rather Be' on the radio really makes my day cos it's a song that means a lot to me. I wrote it during a very tough time and it was like a really positive, strong statement to the universe about the choices I'd make for my life. If you read the lyrics you'll get the idea... the single's out now so if you'd like 'I'd Rather Be' on your iPod, you can download it from iTunes now.

I've been writing a lot of new songs recently so it was good to get out and do some live shows - thanks so much to all the friends and fans who came down to my Caffè Nero gigs in Cambridge and Oxford, it was great to see you there. Tomorrow night (Thursday 28th) we're playing in Bath but the location's moved due to building works – it's now the Caffè Nero on Old Bond Street, not the High Street. It will be very intimate! Entry is absolutely free - just get there for 7pm, say hello and I'll sing you some songs for half an hour.

The following Sunday (31st Jan) you can hear me being interviewed by the lovely Aled Jones on Radio 2 (around 8.15-8.45am) then we're off to do more Caffè Nero gigs in Manchester, Birmingham, Gloucester and Brighton (see details). If you've got friends in these places, please spread the word… and if you can make it, come and say hello. It'd be lovely to see you there.

Hope all's well in your world.

xx

____________________________________
My free gigs at Caffé Nero
[10.01.10]
 
My Caffé Nero gigs are all confirmed… I’m playing Cambridge, Oxford, Bath, Manchester, Birmingham, Gloucester and Brighton, all in the next 6 weeks.

Entry to all these gigs is absolutely free. Just get there at 7pm, buy a coffee and I’ll sing you some songs for half an hour.

Dates and addresses are on my gigs page and on Myspace. Please feel free to invite your friends – spread the word! It’d be great to see you all there. Go to my Facebook site and check out who is already going...

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx
 
____________________________________
Happy new year
[04.01.10]
 
I spent the past week on the Isle of Purbeck, with lots of family, food and wine. It’s the place where I wrote some of the songs on ‘Believer’ and there’s no electricity where we stay so I’d sit with my guitar and pen and paper writing songs by candlelight. It reminds me of our home in Australia though the walls here are stone not potato sacks. On New Year’s Eve, we went up to the Square & Compass Inn and watched the blue moon and the people in fancy dress dancing to some crazy band you could hear but not see.

I’m really looking forward to this year – I got a good feeling about it. My new single ‘I’d Rather Be’ has just been playlisted on Radio 2 and this month I’m the ‘Artist of the Month’ for the Caffe Nero chain. They’re really into supporting music and it’s fantastic promotion for an indie artist like me. They’re playing my songs every day in 400 coffee shops nationwide and I’m going to do some live shows for them over the coming weeks. I’ll keep you posted on when and where…

Wishing you a very happy new year.

xx
 
____________________________________
Keeping music alive on the Sunshine Coast
[10.12.09]
 
If you’ve ever been to the Sunshine Coast of Australia, you’ll know that it’s one of the most special places in the world.

And one of the best things about the Sunshine Coast is a live music event that happens every Sunday afternoon by Peregian Beach. Hundreds of people come to lie in the grass in the sun and listen to live, acoustic, original music for free.

It’s called Peregian Originals and it’s one the best gigs in Australia. It’s the last gig I played before I left Australia back in 2007 for a UK tour that ended up at the Royal Albert Hall.

And now the local council say they're going to shut it down.

I want to stand with my guitar on the grass beside Peregian Beach and sing my songs again someday. Please sign this petition and let the local politicians know that we want more for our culture than just clubs, pubs and pokie machines.

http://www.gopetition.com.au/online/32682.html

____________________________________
Light a candle for climate change
[10.12.09]
 
Out of a world population of 6.8 billion, 15,000 people have been chosen to go to Copenhagen and make decisions that could determine the fate of our planet.

You’d think this would be the moment for nations to unite behind a common cause, but so far the headlines are saying the opposite. Maybe that’s just the media - maybe behind closed doors the delegates are all in agreement that something must be done, and done now, just in case. That the risk of doing nothing is not worth taking.

But it seems right now all the talk in Copenhagen is about saving money, not saving the planet. Do they think that gold will stop the seas rising?

As for the rest of us, we’re not at Copenhagen. We can’t go and knock their heads together. But we can make a stand. This weekend, over 2,800 candlelit vigils are being held in 136 countries across the globe, organised by people like you and me. To find out the nearest vigil to you, or to organise one yourself, visit http://www.avaaz.org/en/.

xx
 
____________________________________
Caffe Nero 'Artist of the Month'
[01.12.09]
 
I'm delighted that I've been chosen as the first 'Artist of the Month' for 2010 by Caffe Nero. They're already playing tracks from my new album 'Believer' in their chain of 400 coffee shops around the UK. From the beginning of January, if you're passing one at 3.30pm any day, drop in and you'll hear one of my songs being played.

xx
____________________________________
Greenpeace: 'Love Letters To The Future'
[21.11.09]
 
I’m very happy that Greenpeace asked me if they could use one of my songs for their global climate change campaign. The song is on my new album ‘Believer’ and it’s called ‘Woke Up’. I wrote it after watching a film about climate change which had a particularly big impact on me because we were running out of water at the time because of the terrible drought in Queensland, Australia.

Greenpeace asked me to film a video to the song for their ‘Love Letters To The Future’ which is a campaign where anyone can write a message, post an image, or make a video about their vision of the future of our planet. The top 100 Love Letters, as voted by the public, will be included in a time capsule that will be locked in Copenhagen on December 13th 2009, to be opened again in exactly 100 years.

You can watch my Love Letter To The Future video featuring my song ‘Woke Up’. If you want to read more about the Greenpeace campaign and write your own 'Love Letter To The Future', click here.

Greenpeace need and deserve all the help and support we can give them in their work. To find out more about them, click here.

xx
____________________________________
My new album 'Believer'
[16.11.09]
 
My new album ‘Believer’ is out today. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the people whose incredible talents made it what it is… producer Philip Tennant, drummer Geoff Dugmore, guitarist Luke Potashnick, violinist Jae Yoo, and engineer George Apsion. Above all, I’d like to thank my partner, producer, bass player and best friend Christian Dunham who told me 7 years ago to start over again and make a record. Now ‘Believer’ is our third studio album, released on our own independent record label Shaktu Records. And the reason we can do it? You. The FANS. A huge thank you for your support – without you, we couldn’t do it at all.

xx
____________________________________
Saving the Mary
[11.11.09]
 
Huge congratulations to the Save The Mary River campaign in SE Queensland, Australia. After three and a half years of hard campaigning by hundreds of local people, environment minister (and ex-Midnight Oil frontman) Peter Garrett has finally said no to the dam that would have flooded the Mary Valley, wiping out countless wildlife, trees and over 1000 homes. Check out www.stoppress.com.au for pictures of the campaign.

xx
____________________________________
Gigs & new album release
[06.11.09]
 
It’s now less than 2 weeks til the release of my new album ‘Believer’ (16th Nov) and I can’t wait!

While I’m counting the days, we’ve been busy rehearsing for my headline shows which are coming up in the next few weeks… I’m playing in Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, Stratford on Avon and Petersfield plus (just confirmed!) a very special show in Sturminster on 11th December. Venue details and booking info are all here on my website… please spread the word among your friends and come down if you can - it’d be great to see you there.

I’m so excited that my new album will finally be available at these gigs. You can preview all the tracks from ‘Believer’ at http://www.emilymaguire.com/htm/music.htm. If you can’t make it to a gig, pre-order the CD now from Townsend Records and you’ll get your own signed copy sent to your door the week after next. You can also order it now from Amazon, Play.com and HMV - click here for the links.

Other news… I was filmed recently talking about my music and why I ended up living in a shack in the Australian bush – you can watch this interview on my new YouTube channel… my cover of Bob Dylan’s classic ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ is being broadcast on Radio 2 this weekend in a documentary for Remembrance Sunday… Aled Jones on Radio 2 gave my song ‘Anything You Do’ (which is on the new album) its first airplay … and I’ve just done some filming for Greenpeace, who are using one of the songs on ‘Believer’ for their global climate change campaign. There’s so much happening, it’s exciting times! I’ll keep you posted…

Hope all's well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
My new YouTube channel
[30.10.09]
 
I’ve now got my own YouTube channel – you can watch it here. Videos include footage of us in the studio making my new album ‘Believer’, the video for my new single ‘Lighthouse Man’, plus footage of me being interviewed about my music and life in the Australian bush. Click ‘subscribe’ on the channel if you want to know when there’s new clips to watch – more videos will be up very soon.

xx
____________________________________
Playing the Union Chapel
[15.10.09]
 
Last night I played the Union Chapel on London’s Upper Street. It’s one of the most beautiful venues I’ve played in. People sat in old wooden pews with candles everywhere under a massive high arched ceiling. It was my first gig playing live with Luke Potashnick, the amazing guitarist who played on my new album ‘Believer’.

We played 'Free', 'Wanting Time', 'I'd Rather Be', 'Lighthouse Man' and 'Start Over Again' all from the new album. I'll be playing all these songs and more with my bass player Christian at some headline shows next month in Stratford Upon Avon, Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle and Petersfield. Dates are on my website. If you're around it'd be great to see you there.

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
A prize for peace
[09.10.09]
 
After years of leaders like Bush, Putin, Berlusconi and Mugabe running the world, now we have Barack Obama, current President of the United States, winning the Nobel Peace Prize. That made me smile today.

xx 
____________________________________
Playlists and pythons
[06.10.09]
 
For an indie artist like me, it doesn’t get much better than waking up to Wogan playing your song on his Radio 2 show, like today. ‘Lighthouse Man’ is the first single from my new album ‘Believer’ and it’s just been playlisted on Radio 2 here in the UK.

This made me happy to stay this side of the world for a while even though I’ve been feeling very homesick for our shack in the bush - even missing the creatures! I never thought I could get misty-eyed over a 7-foot python, giant hairy spiders and a million other sentient beings that live with us in our house made out of wood, tin and potato sacks (all covered in red dust from the desert so I'm told).

Anyway, back to this reality. We’ve made a video for ‘Lighthouse Man’ which you can watch on my revamped website at www.emilymaguire.com, where you can also hear clips of all the new songs on ‘Believer’. The album will be out on 16th November but you can now pre-order it now from Amazon, Play, HMV and Townsend Records who are doing a special pre-release deal. Check it out on the website.

We’ve got gigs coming up soon so we’ve been busy working out new songs and rehearsing old favourites. I’m really looking forward to the gig at the Union Chapel in London next week where I’m opening for Jon Allen and playing for the first time live with Luke Potashnick, the genius guitarist who played on ‘Believer’. If you’re around, it’d be great to see you there.

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
New album release date
[15.09.09]
 
Suddenly, after months of waiting (not very patiently), it’s all happening. My new album, called ‘Believer’, has gone to press and will be released on 16th November. Fortunately I’ve just been on retreat meditating for 6 hours a day so I’m slightly calmer than I would be otherwise. But still so excited I managed to jump in the freezing cold Channel for a swim with my sister at the weekend – the first time I’d braved it since living next to the Pacific ocean. It was well worth it.

We were down on the south coast, the Isle of Purbeck, to do our annual gig at the infamous Square & Compass Inn in Worth Matravers. This seems to get bigger each time - this year the only way I could get in or out the room was through the window. Not being able to fit a string section or drum-kit in, I played some very acoustic versions of some of the songs from ‘Believer’ with my indispensable bass player Christian Dunham. We also played some very new songs I’ve written in the last few months which I guess will end up on the next record. Thanks to everyone who came from near and far to hear us play – it was a great night.

The next morning the first single from my new album, a song called 'Lighthouse Man', was played on Radio 2. It's a great moment, going from hearing a song in the studio to hearing it on radio for the first time. Thanks to Aled Jones for playing it - he was the first Radio 2 DJ to play my songs on his 'Good Morning Sunday' show 2 years ago and has give me amazing support ever since.

New gigs dates are now being confirmed – keeping checking the website or join my mailing list and I’ll send you an email. I’ll also let you know when ‘Believer’ is out.

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
A bit about the songs
[10.07.09]
 
I’ve put a couple of new songs up on MySpace – one called ‘The Borderline’ from my first album ‘Stranger Place’ and one called ‘Someday’ from my last album ‘Keep Walking’ – so I thought I’d tell you a bit about all the songs you can hear and where they came from.

‘Keep Walking’ is a song about perseverance I wrote while stuck in London one long winter waiting for Australian immigration to decide whether to let me back in the country. I am eternally grateful to them for eventually giving me a visa, teaching me a bit of patience, and giving me the opportunity to write a song that ended up on the Radio 2 playlist.

‘Falling on my Feet’ I wrote in a hospital in north London where I played endless Bob Marley songs in the smoking room and wrote this song which turned out to be a kind of premonition – a few months later I was on a plane to Australia and happiness in a shack in the Obi Obi valley.

‘Someday’ was inspired by the Isle of Purbeck on the south coast of England, a place I’ve known and loved all my life. It was the only place I really missed when I went to live in the Australian bush 5 years ago.

Writing ‘Back Home’ I was thinking about reincarnation and how life could be like the rain cycle – from sea to cloud to rain to river back to sea again, and so on, round and round.

‘The Borderline’ I wrote after a long period of writer’s block. I’d been to see my Buddhist teacher Lama Jampa Thaye in Manchester and he told me to write first thing every morning after my meditation practice. The next morning I got up and wrote ‘The Borderline’. It’s one of those songs that seemed to come through me rather than from me.

I still write every morning after my practice. Sometimes songs come easily, sometimes they don’t. This week my life’s been turned upside down again but I take comfort in knowing that where there’s heartache, there’ll be a new song to express how I feel, make me feel better, and hopefully make you feel something too.

xx
____________________________________
On the road & Radio 2
[28.06.09]
 
Armed with my guitar, keyboard and bass player Christian, I headed down to Cornwall to do a gig in a crazy little village called St Agnes. I’ve never really seen Cornwall before – only Newquay on a very grey day - so this was a bit of a revelation. The coast down there is gorgeous – very like the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset which is a place very dear to my heart. Thanks to Tim at The Taphouse for the Sambuca and the local cops for turning up when it was time for bed.

Then last week we went back to the Acoustic Club at Bishops Stortford where we played a couple of years ago. It’s a fantastic open-mike night with a guest spot at the end which they gave us at very short notice. Lovely club, lovely people. Thanks to Keef and Annie for having us back – I hope the Eukele convention went well…

After that we did a gig at CB2 in Cambridge in a tiny basement with US country singer Rachel Harrington and Jenni Alpert. Another great audience - some who’d seen us play at Bush Hall last year and seemed to enjoy the more intimate surroundings! Rachel sang ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ which made my night plus I got to see some very old friends who turned up out of the blue.

So now I have the bug back. I still don’t know when my new record’s coming out so in the meantime I’m going to get back on the road and play gigs of all shapes and sizes to as many people in as many places as possible. If you’re on my mailing list I’ll keep you posted on where and when - otherwise keep checking my gig guide.

By the way, this morning Aled Jones played my cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ on his Radio 2 show. I recorded it back in 2004 for an audio-installation called ‘Electric Storm’ on London’s South Bank. You can hear it over the next 7 days at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006wqvh (scroll to 00:45mins).

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
Back on stage again
[10.06.09]
 
Leaving my string section, lead guitarist and drummer at home, I’ve been doing some intimate acoustic warm-up gigs to showcase some of the songs from my new album. It feels so great to be out of the studio and playing live again - and I’m playing some songs on piano which I’ve never done at gigs before.

With just my bass player Christian, we did the first gig in Bristol at The Prom Bar. It’s a great venue we played a couple of years ago just before our tour with Don McLean. Thanks to all the fans who came down to support us including all our friends from the Sakya Buddhist centre which is just up the road from the venue, and friends who came from the other side of the country. It was great to see you all there.

The next gig was at another great venue - the Guildhall in Gloucester where Al Biernacki has been promoting his ‘Acoustica’ night for the past 5 years. We opened for Iain Archer who used to be in Snow Patrol and is now a great solo singer-songwriter. I always love playing at the Gloucester Guildhall - the staff are so friendly and it’s such a fantastic venue for acoustic music. I hope the new management team there realise what a gem Acoustica is and keep it going. Big love and thanks to Nick the sound engineer for another great gig and to everyone who came to support us.

Next up is The Taphouse in Cornwall tomorrow night then a couple of very intimate acoustic clubs in East Anglia next week. Dates are up on my website at www.emilymaguire.com and on myspace. If you can make it, it’d be great to see you there.

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
Warm-up gigs
[31.05.09]
 
I’m doing some intimate warm-up gigs next month to showcase some of the songs from my new album. If you’re around, it’d be great to see you there. Check my gig guide for dates. First one is tomorrow night at the Prom Bar in Bristol.

xx
____________________________________
New song on Radio 2, March 29th
[26.03.09]
 
I’ve been taking some time out after finishing my new album and we’ve been back to Australia to make sure our shack is still standing after all this time away and to spend some time with family and friends on that side of the world.

Now we’re back in the UK and looking forward with great excitement to the release of the new album which I hope will be very soon. If you want to be one of the first to know the release date, join my mailing list and I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, you can get a sneak preview on Radio 2 on Sunday morning (29 March) when one of the songs is given its first airplay on Aled Jones’ show ‘Good Morning Sunday’ (7am-9am). The song is called ‘Start Over Again’ and it’s an acoustic ballad that will be the final track on my new album. I hope you like it. If you miss the show you'll be able to hear it on BBC iPlayer for the next week or so.


Hope all's well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
Going home
[25.01.09]
 
The album's done. Big love and thanks to Christian Dunham, Philip Tennant, George Apsion, Geoff Dugmore, Luke Potash and Jae Yoo for making my songs come to life.

Now, after 18 months away, we're going home. In July 2007 we left our shack in the Australian bush with a bag of CDs and our guitars, thinking we'd be home in 12 weeks to start making goats cheese again to pay for my next album and our next UK tour. Instead, mainly thanks to Aled Jones at Radio 2, we've ended up spending the past year and a half touring the UK and promoting my last album 'Keep Walking'.

It's been brilliant but we've been homesick too. Getting burgled in London on New Year's Eve makes you long for a home where there's not even a lock on the door. So tomorrow night we'll be on a plane to Brisbane, then we'll drive north up into the hills behind the Sunshine Coast to the farm. All the dogs will be there and the goats. I can't wait to see them. It's summertime and there'll be snakes around but I don’t mind.

But the main thing we want to see, aside from the shack and the animals and the huge blue sky and the green hills, are the people we love and miss. Australia is a long way from London, but to us it's still home.

xx
 
____________________________________
YouTube video of us in the studio
[20.01.09]
 

I’ve spent the past 4 weeks in a studio in London recording my third album, living on caffeine and ready meals and developing a secret addiction to American Idol (I don’t normally get to watch Sky so this is truly a revelation).

We’ve had some great days working with guitarist Luke Potash, drummer Geoff Dugmore and violinist Jae Yoo. You can see us all in a video posted on my website by my bass player Christian Dunham with footage of our recording sessions and rehearsals. Make sure you check out the final scenes with our trusty engineer George Apsion and his faithful assistant Tariq dancing to what might be the first single, a song called ‘I’d Rather Be’. Click here to watch it on YouTube.

All the new songs for this album are now recorded including ‘Lighthouse Man’, ‘Anything You Do’ and ‘A Bit of Blue’ which you might recognise from recent shows, as well as brand new songs including ‘I’d Rather Be’, ‘Believer’, ‘Free’ and more. We’re now in the final stages of mixing with the wonderful George and working all hours because we have to finish the album by the end of this week. I'm excited...

Hope all's well in your world.

xx

____________________________________
Recording a new album
[21.12.08]
 
I love this time of year. Maybe it's the winter solstice or the Christmas lights or just something in the air, but I always get a bit emotional in December - in a good way - and now more than ever cos we're now halfway through recording my third album at a very lovely studio in west London.

Awesome drummer Geoff Dugmore has been in to lay down the grooves with bass player Christian Dunham, I’ve finished most of the vocal and acoustic guitar parts and after a break for Christmas we start recording again in the new year with a string section and guitarist Luke Potash. The songs are starting to come to life and while trying to remain calm at all times, I am really, really excited about this record.

We finish in the studio at the end of January. If you want me to let you know when the new album’s out, join my mailing list and I’ll keep you posted.

I hope all’s well in your world - wishing you a very happy Christmas and New Year.

xx
____________________________________
Hope and pray
[03.11.08]
 
I'm watching the news and wondering how I'm going to sleep tonight I'm so excited about what's happening across the Atlantic, waiting to see if Obama is going to make it to the White House, feeling like if he does the world could change tomorrow, for the better. A thought which helps when I'm also watching people in Congo walking for miles in bare feet looking for food and shelter from the fighting.

Here in my safe house I've had dinner and I'm listening to a song we've been working on today. It's called 'Believer' and it's going to be on the album I'm recording next month in London. This is my favourite part of music-making - when it's all open and unknown and anything could happen. Kind of like the American election. Fingers crossed for tomorrow...

xx
____________________________________
Tours & tales from the shack
[01.11.08]
 
Photos of my Bush Hall gig in London are now up on my website – you can see them by clicking the link on the news page. I've just finished a UK tour with Glenn Tilbrook from Squeeze and his very lovely band called the Fluffers, and I had this idea I was going to put my feet up for a week or so before starting work on a new album, but apparently there is no rest for the wicked so we're back on the road again, this time with Roddy Frame, the man from Aztec Camera.

I'm really looking forward to this tour cos we're going back to venues I've played before and really enjoyed - particularly The Sage in Gateshead, The Stables in Milton Keynes and Cadogan Hall in London. I've also got the privilege of playing the first note on the opening night of the brand-new Komedia venue in Bath.

But right now I'm feeling a bit homesick again cos today I spoke to my good friend Aki who is housesitting for us in our shack back in Australia. While I'm looking out the window at freezing cold clouds and rain-soaked streets, she's enjoying spring sunshine on the farm. Aside from a snake in her printer and a large, blue-tongued lizard that seems to think it owns the bed, all seems to be well. The shack survived a huge hailstorm last week. The goats are not missing me (bastards).

Ah well, I guess if I was there I'd be up at dawn making goats cheese again rather than singing my songs at The Sage. Suddenly this feels like the right side of the world to be on ;).

xx
____________________________________
Love and thanks
[19.10.08]
 
Last Thursday night, I played my first proper headline show at Bush Hall in London.

I know in rock'n'roll you're supposed to be cool about things like that but sorry, I'll be cool as fuck when I'm reborn as a polar bear, but til then I'm a very warm-blooded human being and right now I'm full of boundless love and gratitude for the players who were there onstage with me and all the punters who were there to hear us. I sang new songs that are going to be on my next album, and old favourites from my first two albums, some with string arrangements for the first time. It was the most amazing night for me - we performed my songs as they were recorded, as I'd always wanted them to sound.

Big love and thanks to all the friends, family and fans who were there, to my stunning string trio Jae Yoo, Jenny Ames and Lucy Railton who played my songs so beautifully, and to my fantastic Aussie rhythm section - Damon Wilson on drums and Christian Dunham on bass. Big thank you to Paul Charles and the totally indispensable Philip Tennant for putting it all together. I'm looking forward to the next time... and the one after that.

In the meantime, I've got a tour to finish and an album to record... I'll keep you posted.

em xx
____________________________________
London gig 16th Oct 2008
[26.09.08]
 

Just spent 2 blissful days in the mountains after 3 weeks locked away writing string arrangements for my first headline show in London next month. Looking forward to singing my songs backed by a stunning string trio and a butt-kicking rhythm section that includes the drummer from The Waterboys. The gig is on Thursday 16th October at Bush Hall in London (nearest tube Shepherds Bush) and tickets are available online at www.bookingsdirect.com or the Box Office on 08700 600 100 or 0870 735 5000 (24 hours).

Hope all's well in your world.

xx

____________________________________
New fibromyalgia information website
[15.09.08]
 
I just did an interview with the founder of FibroAction - an information website for people suffering from Fibromyalgia Pain Syndrome. I was disabled with Fibromyalgia for 10 years - it's why I ended up teaching myself the guitar and started writing songs to pass the time while I was stuck at home. If you know someone who has it, this is a great website for them: www.fibroaction.org. You can read the interview here.

xx
____________________________________
First headline gig in London
[11.08.08]
 
Lots of things have made me very happy recently: getting a viola and a new piano keyboard, discovering Lee Child (yes I am now a Reacher creature), drinking Guinness in Galway, spending time with my sister and her kids, playing a gig at the Square & Compass Inn in the Isle of Purbeck, finding a 125 year old copy of Mendelssohn’s ‘Songs Without Words’ for 6 quid in Oxfam and, last but not least, having my first headline gig confirmed.

I’m playing Bush Hall in London on Thursday 16th October. Bush Hall is a beautiful old venue in Shepherds Bush with a very intimate atmosphere. Together with string players and a rhythm section, I’ll be performing songs from both my albums and some new songs that will be on my next album. Tickets are limited so book early if you want to be there – check the gigs page for booking info.

In the meantime, we’re back in the studio this week recording a new single. I’ll keep you posted…

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
Find me on Facebook
[11.08.08]
 
If you do a search on my name on Facebook you’ll find a fan page and a group (The Music Of Emily Maguire) set up for me by a lovely lady from Canada called Christine.
____________________________________
Leaving home
[03.07.08]
 
It’s a year ago today that we left Australia with a suitcase of CDs and our guitars, leaving behind all our worldly possessions to gather dust in our shack on a goat farm up in the hills behind the Sunshine Coast.

We thought we’d be gone for 3 months, back in time to start making goats cheese again to pay for the next UK tour, or the next album. Instead here we are a year later on the other side of the world, where it’s now summertime, and the shack seems a million miles away.

Here we have TV and heating when we need it, and no giant hairy spiders or deadly snakes to slide in under the door when we’re not looking. But home is where the heart is, and however much I’m enjoying CSI and the lack of wildlife, my heart still lies on a sunlit hillside 18,000 miles away.

I miss the goats, our dogs, even Dudley our resident carpet snake. I miss the sound of the dingos howling in the hills at night, the kookaburras laughing in the trees in the morning, the cocks crowing, the goats fighting, the kangaroos hopping round the paddocks, the bulls bellowing across the valley, and the Milky Way sprayed across the black night sky like my own private planetarium.

But at the end of the day, as someone once said, it’s all about the music. This last year has been the most wonderful of my life so far, as I’ve been given the chance to play my songs to people all across the UK and Ireland. Last weekend we played the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury. Next week I’m performing at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with The Blue Nile. I’ll get back to the shack someday but in the meantime, I’m happy to stay on the road…
____________________________________
On the road with Eric Bibb
[23.06.08]
 
These last few weeks I've been touring the UK and Ireland with American troubadour Eric Bibb. We've played in Dublin, Belfast, Birmingham, Sheffield, Southampton, Newcastle, London, Milton Keynes, Bath, Edinburgh... I've met so many great people and had such a good time I'm wishing we could do it all again next month. Eric and his band – Trevor Hutchinson on bass, Larry Crockett on drums, backing vocalist Yana Bibb plus his tour manager Sari - are some of the loveliest people you could wish to be around.

The last gig with Eric is this Thursday at Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry, then I'm off to Glastonbury Festival with my bass player Christian Dunham where we'll be joined by drummer Geoff Dugmore to play the Acoustic Stage on Saturday. After nearly a year of touring as a duo, I can't wait to hear some beats behind the songs again. If you're going to be there, come and see us.

xx
____________________________________
Seeing the Dalai Lama
[23.05.08]
 
Last year, just before I left Australia to tour the UK, I saw His Holiness the Dalai Lama give a public talk in Brisbane. Yesterday along with thousands of other people, I went to the Royal Albert Hall in London to see him again.

He talked about his main aims - to promote global responsibility, human value and religious tolerance. He said that people who practice compassion and altruism seem to be happier than those that don't, however much material wealth they have.

And afterwards I was thinking, what is it that we love so much about the Dalai Lama? And I thought that maybe in this age of celebrity, where you can be famous for playing football or being rich or doing drugs, the Dalai Lama is famous for being a good man. And smiling a lot.

And just for being like that, he has touched the lives of millions of people round the world. As he said, "If you think small things don't make a difference, try spending a night in a room with a mosquito".

xx
____________________________________
'Keep Walking' on Radio 2 playlist
[14.05.08]
 
I've just heard that the single mix of my song 'Keep Walking' has been playlisted on Radio 2. It will be released here in the UK on 16/06/08.

xx
____________________________________
Barack Obama
[06.05.08]
 
Last week I finished reading Barack Obama's book 'The Audacity of Hope'. I thought it was brilliant. He comes across as intelligent, kind, confident and humble - a rare combination. If he manages to stay that way, I think the world could be an infinitely better place with him as President of the USA.
____________________________________
Playing Glastonbury
[02.05.08]
 
I'm very happy to say that I'm playing the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury on Saturday 28th June. I'm touring in May and June with American singer-songwriter Eric Bibb, playing as a duo with my Aussie bass player Christian Dunham, then we'll be joined by drummer Geoff Dugmore for the festival. Can't wait!

In the meantime, my song 'Keep Walking' has been remixed and is being released as a single in the UK and across Europe next month. I hope you'll be hearing it on your radio before too long. It's a song about persevering, which feels very apt right now.

Hope all's well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
Free Tibet rally
[05.04.08]
 
Tomorrow (Sunday 6th April) at 2.30pm, Argyle Square, London...

So we were there, with thousands of other people standing in the freezing cold in Argyle Square with banners and flags, listening to songs and speeches in support of Tibet. And though it didn’t make the news (no violence, no dramatic pictures), it happened. People in London, in Athens, in Paris, in San Francisco - all over the world, people are protesting, making a stand. I think China getting the Olympics is the best thing that could have happened. Suddenly the spotlight is on them - on Tibet - and suddenly human rights, not war or money, is in the headlines.

xx
 
____________________________________
Singing in the snow
[23.03.08]
 
It's Easter Sunday and I'm sitting beside a window in a house on a green hillside, playing my guitar and watching the sun go down across the valley. It's snowing and there's a blackbird on the wall outside singing its heart out. It's moments like this that make me glad to be.

Hope all's well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
What's happening in Tibet
[16.03.08]
 
Have you turned on the news today? If you are anywhere in the world except China, you’ll hear about an uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule. Peaceful protests started by Buddhist monks a few days ago have turned bloody and now tanks are rolling into Lhasa. Demonstrators have been given until Monday night to surrender. If they do, they will be treated ’leniently’. Considering the average jail sentence for Tibetan political prisoners is 10 years and 11 months, and considering China executes more than 1,000 of its own people every year, I wonder what their idea of leniency is.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama no longer asks for his country back. He asks for Tibet to become a peace zone, to have some autonomy in its own affairs within the People’s Republic of China, for his people to be allowed the freedom to practice their Buddhist religion without fear or censorship. Here in the West, the Dalai Lama is regarded as a symbol of compassion and peace, a living example of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King’s legacy of non-violent resistance. In Tibet, people cannot own a picture of him or even mention his name without risking being thrown in jail.

There is no democracy or human rights in Tibet - or in China for that matter. But that won’t stop hundreds of runners and jumpers going for gold in Beijing, just like our business leaders and governments who in the name of ’freedom’ drop bombs on one country and do business with another. My heart goes out to the Tibetans, and the Chinese soldiers shooting at them. In the words of another Buddha, they know not what they do.

Om mani padme hum.

____________________________________
An anniversary
[10.03.08]
 
Sometimes life is stranger than fiction. This is my story.

Five years ago today I got a phone call out of the blue that changed my life. I had this friend, an Australian guy I'd met in London years ago. He'd got me into playing guitar and we were good mates. He had a lot of shit going on in his life and eventually I helped him get out of London and back on a plane to Australia. A few months later I got an email with a postal address so I could send him some of my song demos. After that I heard nothing more. His email address stopped working.

A few years later I was in a bad way. Heartbroken, just out of hospital, I didn't know where to turn or what to do with my life. My sister suggested a change of scene – she said try and find your old friend in Australia. On 10th March 2003, I sat down to write a letter to the old address he'd given me. I'd just written the words "I don't know if this letter will find you cos it's been so long" when my phone started ringing. It was him, after 3 years of no contact, calling me from his shack in the Australian bush.

Sometimes signs are subtle, sometimes they're a bolt from the blue. I got on a plane and didn't look back.

One thing's for sure, you never know what's going to happen next :).

xx
____________________________________
London showcase
[07.03.08]
 
i did a London media showcase on Wednesday night at the Buddhist Temple at Oxford Circus, the first time I've ever played with a live string section. I can't tell you how exciting it was to hear my arrangements performed live (on both my albums I recorded all the string parts one by one in a serious labour of love!).

Big thanks to all the string players from the Royal Academy - Jae Yoo, Robert Ames, William Burrows and Colin Alexander - plus acoustic guitarist Phil Hudson and my bass player Christian Dunham for a fantastic performance.

Thanks also to everyone from my mailing list who responded to our invitation and came down to the gig - it was great to see you there and your support was much appreciated. I look forward to seeing you at the Royal Festival Hall in May if not before... I'll keep you posted.

xx
____________________________________
'Keep Walking' on GMS compilation
[28.02.08]
 
The title track of my album 'Keep Walking' has been included on an album of 'spiritually uplifting music' chosen by Aled Jones, presenter of 'Good Morning Sunday' on BBC Radio 2.

Aled plays the most fantastic, eclectic music on his radio show and this double-CD includes tracks by Eva Cassidy, Sarah McLachlan, Aretha Franklin, Jeff Buckley, Bill Withers and Eric Bibb to name but a few.

A fan sent Aled one of my CDs last year and he started playing my songs on Radio 2. The Don McLean tour and a licensing deal followed and my life has changed completely. So I may be completely biased but he really is just as lovely in person as he sounds on the radio.

'Good Morning Sunday' is released on 10th March - check it out.

xx
 
____________________________________
Royal Festival Hall & other gig dates
[18.02.08]
 
Just confirmed: I'm playing the Royal Festival Hall in London at the end of May supporting Irish singer-songwriter Paul Brady, followed by a month's tour of the UK and Ireland with American bluesman Eric Bibb. I can't wait to be back on the road again.

The sun's been shining here in London - nothing like a clear blue sky on a winter's day. I've been busy doing radio interviews for the BBC and writing out parts for the string quartet who are playing with me at a showcase next month.

My current tour schedule is up on myspace and on my website. More gig dates, including festivals, will be confirmed soon - if you want me to keep you posted, just join my mailing list.

Thanks for your support - I really appreciate it.

xx

____________________________________
Radio 2 interview tomorrow
[19.01.08]
 
If you're up early tomorrow morning, you can hear me on BBC Radio 2 talking to Aled Jones on his show 'Good Morning Sunday'. I'll be on around 7.30am.

xx
____________________________________
4 star album review
[15.01.08]
 
My new album 'Keep Walking' was given a 4-star review in the Financial Times last weekend. You can read it here.

xx
____________________________________
Clouds with silver linings
[10.01.08]
 
There's a old Hindu saying: if you don't worry about a misfortune, within 3 years it will become a blessing.

Armed with a new minidisc recorder (yes I am old-fashioned and I like it that way) and my guitar, I've spent the past 10 days sitting on my bed with songs pouring out of my head like I never lost all those ideas, just made space for new ones. So right now I'm in a state of solemn gratitude for this strange and wonderful life that gives us all these clouds with silver linings.

Hope all's well in your world.

xx
 
____________________________________
Cops & robbers
[04.01.08]
 
We celebrated our first cold Christmas in years by eating and drinking as much as possible and were still in festive mood when we came back to London to find our room completely ransacked. Everything of any value was gone, except our guitars. They even took my ancient minidisc recorder with all the songs I've been working on these past few months - now no doubt in a dustbin somewhere in London. I'm gutted. But I also feel sorry for those 2 robbers - they obviously haven't heard of karma. You can lose the police but you can't run from your own shadow.

xx

____________________________________
With love & thanks
[19.12.07]
 

This week I was interviewed on 'Woman's Hour' on BBC Radio 4 and performed my song 'Falling On My Feet'.

I was really touched by the reaction of some people who were listening and got in touch with me through my website or myspace. It was also great to hear from some long lost friends who also happened to be listening that day.

It's been an amazing year. Thanks so much to all the people who've heard my songs and let me know what it means to them – it makes it all worthwhile.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and New Year.

em xx

____________________________________
The shack menagerie
[10.12.07]
 
It's Monday morning and I'm sitting in a studio in London doing a radio edit on 'All That You Wanted'. It's a beautiful clean studio. The only creatures here are human.

On the other side of the world the shack menagerie is growing. In our absence the bat that lives in our live recording room has had a family. Dudley's returned and taken up residence in the ceiling and now a new snake has appeared - a small brown tree-snake with a big attitude. Apparently he investigated every corner of the shack and tried to frighten a jumper lying on the floor before retiring under the fridge.

The best news is Dudley hasn't eaten the Bills after all and they are still happily living in the toilet cistern. I'm hoping they'll still be there when we return.

xx
 
____________________________________
Reasons to love London
[30.11.07]
 
As I've said, I've been feeling a bit homesick. Sometimes it's like I'm living on another planet a million miles away from our Australian bush.

But sometimes I love London. Yesterday I was sitting in a cafe at Victoria Station and this pigeon marched in like it owned the place, taking no notice whatsoever of anyone and carrying out what looked like a military inspection of the premises.

Then I went to Soho and sat in my favourite cafe drinking cups of chai and watching night fall and the city light up like a Christmas tree. Someone smiled at me. Then we went to St Martins-in-the-Fields at Trafalgar Square to listen to some Bach by candlelight.

And just when I was thinking my day couldn't get much better, sitting opposite on the tube on the way back was a man with a paper bag and a big red rose sticking out of it.

These are some of the things that make me happy - animals, people, hot drinks, lights, music and flowers. On either side of the world.

xx
____________________________________
New songs on myspace
[19.11.07]
 
I've put up 2 more of my songs on myspace today - thanks to Cate for reminding me.

xx
____________________________________
Wishing I was home
[18.11.07]
 
I don't know if it's the frost on the ground or the darkness in the afternoons but right now I would gladly sit for 3 days on a plane to be driving up that dirt track through the trees with the sun on my face and the sounds of the bush in my ears. I wouldn't even mind if Dudley was still lying in state on the sitting room table when I got home.

Talking of giant snakes, I just heard he's left our shack after spending the last 2 days there wrapped around the bottom of the toilet. According to my dear friend Aki who is shack-sitting for us, this made going to the loo 'interesting'. Ummm...

The good news is we've just signed a UK/European licensing deal for both my albums which is a good enough reason to stay on this side of the world for the time being. And I'm looking forward to a cold Christmas (it's just not the same in 42 degrees) with TV and turkey. Ahh, I'm feeling more cheerful already.

Hope all's well in your world.

xx
____________________________________
Live session on Radio 2
[04.11.07]
 
Last night I did a live session for the Bob Harris show on BBC Radio 2, playing 3 songs ('Stranger Place', 'Anything You Do' and 'All That You Wanted') with my Aussie bass player Christian Dunham. Presenter Gideon Coe was standing in for Bob Harris. He finished the session by playing the title track from my new album 'Keep Walking'. You can hear the show at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/listen/.
____________________________________
Hypnosis
[01.11.07]
 
I've always had a phobia of snakes. Couldn't look at them on TV or even in books. Singing my songs on stage at pubs and folk clubs held similar heart-palpitating fear at first which I managed to get over with large glasses of red wine and a swig of brandy.

Then this summer I was offered the chance to tour with Don McLean and play some of the biggest concert halls in the country. Instead of 50 people in an audience there would be 2,000. For days I went around in a dazed state of complete terror. But by the time I came to walk out on stage at the first gig, instead of bottling it, I loved every minute of it.

And the main credit for that goes to an amazing man called Stuart Taylor. Stuart is a clinical hypnotherapist based in Bristol, England who cures people of their fears, phobias, addictions and anxiety attacks. If you have any of them, I highly recommend you go and see him.

http://www.taylorhypnotherapy.co.uk

xx
____________________________________
Radio 2 interview today
[28.10.07]
 
This morning I was interviewed by Aled Jones on his Radio 2 show 'Good Morning Sunday' and he was as lovely in person as he sounds on the radio.
____________________________________
Playing the Royal Albert Hall, 26th Oct 2007
[27.10.07]
 
Last night I stood on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall and sang 7 of my songs to a crowd of about 4,000 people and part of me was thinking maybe I'm dreaming this, but don't wake me up! Big love to all the family, friends and fans who were there. It was one of the best nights of my life.

em xx
 
____________________________________
Big snakes and stages... the Royal Albert Hall
[25.10.07]
 
I should be back on our farm in Australia making cheese right now but instead tomorrow night I'm playing the Royal Albert Hall in London. It's surreal to think that 4 weeks ago I was playing a folk club in Bishops Stortford.

Since then I've been touring the UK and Ireland with Don McLean, playing my songs to 2000 people a night instead of 50, standing on the stage of some of the biggest concert halls across the country, listening backstage to the band from Nashville playing 'American Pie'... does it get better than this? Huge thanks to Aled Jones at Radio 2 and his producer Hilary Robinson for giving me the break that made it all happen.

And then amid all this excitement we get a call from Australia to say that a giant snake has decided to squat our shack. Dudley's been quite happy for years scaring the shit out of people like me up in the goat shed but I guess he fancied a change of scene. We've been absent for 4 months now so he obviously thinks we're not coming back and it's fine to get his feet under the table (metaphorically speaking) and knock over lampshades and eat all the mice in the piano.

Unfortunately he can't be evicted until 2 strong snake-friendly people can heave him off the sitting room table and out into the paddock. Fortunately I'm on the other side of the world so one of those people isn't going to be me :).

Hope all's well in your world.

em xx
____________________________________
Touring with Don McLean
[29.09.07]
 
I was supposed to be flying back home to Australia this week after playing 32 UK gigs in 3 months on the road, but now I've cancelled my plane ticket and am heading off to Ireland to play the first of 16 dates supporting Don McLean on his UK & Ireland tour. I might miss the shack and the sunshine, but I don't mind staying for that.

Tickets will sell out fast, so check out www.don-mclean.com and book early.

em xx
____________________________________
Live gig video
[11.09.07]
 
A few weeks ago I did a gig at the infamous Square & Compass Inn on the Isle of Purbeck. It was one of the highlights of my 32-date UK tour. Click here to see a video.

em xx
 
____________________________________
BBC Radio 2 airplay
[09.09.07]
 
This morning I was profiled on BBC Radio 2 as the Sunday Spotlight for Aled Jones' show 'Good Morning Sunday'. He played my song 'Back Home' (which you can hear on myspace). Check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/goodmorningsun/ontheshow.shtml. Big thanks to Andy Cole for contacting the show about me.

I'm doing interviews with BBC Radio Cambs, Swindon, Birmingham and Bristol this week, and performing in Cheltenham, Swindon, Bristol and Gloucester before my last London gig of this tour at The Troubadour in Earls Court on Thursday 20 September. All gig details are on myspace or my website - if you can make it, it'd be great to see you there.

em xx
____________________________________
On the road... part 2
[09.08.07]
 
After the Secret Garden Party festival, we have a few days off in the wilds of Cambridgeshire, consuming more cider and the infamous brown soup in the Queens Head pub in Newton (aside from the Square & Compass in Worth Matravers, possibly my favourite pub in the world).

Tour bus finally fixed, we head south to the Half Moon pub in Bishop's Stortford for a gig at the Acoustic Club, playing the showcase at the end of their open mike night. I've always loved going to open mike nights and this one is just brilliant. It's on every Monday night so if you're ever in Hertfordshire, go check it out.

The next night we do a gig in the oldest pub in England – St Anne's Castle in Great Leighs, Essex - built in 1147 or something. It has low ceilings and a resident ghost who apparently likes to ring bells in the night. The ghost keeps a low profile while we're there and the lovely Hutton brothers and some fans from the night before turn up to see us play. 24 songs and several hours later we find ourselves on an empty M25 (ahh, heaven eh?) heading towards the southern suburbs of London.

After a few hours sleep we're on the road to Brighton for the Lewes Guitar Festival, where we perform outside in beautiful gardens under a boiling hot sun for an hour and 15 minutes (I am eternally grateful to the lady who gave me some sunscreen!). After the set, I do an interview with a local TV station which you can watch at http://www.itvlocal.com/meridian/locallife/?void=87046. There's also some footage on YouTube - do a search on my name at www.youtube.com. An old friend turns up out of the blue to make my day.

Next day we're back in London playing at the Barfly in Camden Town, and that evening I'm falling asleep into my bowl of pasta, despite having decided that coffee, cider and sandwiches don't substitute for a hot meal. Only another 19 gigs to go before we get back on a plane to Australia again. Next up is a chapel in Suffolk and a club in Brighton… I'll keep you posted.

em xx
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On the road... [UK]
[30.07.07]
 
So I packed my bags, said goodbye to the frogs and spiders in our shack, and left the farm and bush behind as we headed for Brisbane airport.

Oh joy, 22 hours in a plane… again. This time I stopped overnight in Japan where despite spending hours at the back of every queue in the airport, once I actually got to the hotel everything was great – a bed, a hot shower, the best spaghetti bolognaise I've ever had (bizarrely enough), and the Teachings of Buddha next to the Gideon Bible. What more could you ask for?

So I get to Heathrow the next day and there's my bass player who's somehow made it through customs despite his haircut, and we head off into the bus station with our guitars and bags and coffees in hand.

First off to the lovely Larmer Tree Festival near Salisbury, where it's raining. Rain is something we are really short of in Australia but here in England it's summertime so it's pissing down. Fortunately at the festival the tent stayed dry, we did our first gig and I had my first pint of cider in years. Ahhhh… this was something of a revelation! Apparently though cider is now cool here so I find myself being fashionable which is worrying but I can't help it for now. Cider is definitely the drink of this tour.

We do gigs in London, Cambridge, Hayling Island and Lymington, before turning up at the Cambridge Folk Festival, again to a small welcoming monsoon. By this time I'm half wishing I'd brought my wellies with me from Australia but they have been known to contain tarantulas so I thought best not. We open the festival, meet Paddy the sound-man who I haven't seen for years, and play in the Festival session accompanied by Heather Downie, a very talented young harp player from Scotland.

In between times, our very reliable and trustworthy tour bus has broken down with an as-yet-undiagnosed-but-possibly-terminal case of paralysis. This is where touring gets interesting. We hire a car, weeks old with an MP3 player and coffee holder (I am easily pleased), and head off to the Secret Garden Party festival for a gig on the last night. This is like turning up sober to the end of an office party, but once again cider comes to the rescue - despite being cider that looks the EXACT colour of piss, it tastes lovely and makes me feel much better about everything, including the sight of the toilets.

We've got a few days off now before we head into deepest, darkest East Anglia for gigs in Hertfordshire and Essex. If you're in the UK, check out my tour dates and come hear us play. Cider donations will be gratefully received.

Hope all's well in your world.

em xx

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Bed hats & blessings [at home in Australia]
[22.06.07]
 
Last night I went to bed in my hat. No this wasn't a bipolar symptom but just the fact that shacks made from wood, tin and potato sacks are not very warm in the arctic temperatures we've been having here in the Australian bush.

And now I'm sitting here, still wearing the hat, typing this on our terminally erratic computer with a brown cow outside the door threatening to munch the power line, and Tom Waits on the stereo singing one of my all-time favourite albums, and I'm counting my blessings of the past month.

Starting with the Dalai Lama, who came to Australia and gave a public talk in Brisbane. I can't tell you how amazing it was to actually be in the same room as His Holiness, even if the room was the size of a football pitch. I was in tears. He talked about how important it is to teach our children 'warmheartedness' – compassion - and how he hopes this century will be one of dialogue rather than force. He talked about forgiveness - how to separate the person from the action - and how he applies this personally to the Chinese and their actions in Tibet. It was just wonderful - I felt so privileged to have been there.

And then yesterday I met Tariq Ali. He was here on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, being interviewed by ABC Radio and I'd been asked along to sing some of my songs. In case you're wondering, Tariq Ali is a novelist, political campaigner and bit of a revolutionary figure back in the day. Mick Jagger wrote a song for him, Marlon Brando invited him to dinner, Henry Kissinger lost a war of words with him. Like the Dalai Lama, he is one of the sane voices in the world. And I got to shake his hand!

And on top of all that, 3 weeks ago my life changed completely and forever. Everything is the same and yet something happened involving two very small words that I never thought would make such a difference - but it has and I have never been happier :).

xx
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Rain and romance
[12.05.07]
 
Today it rained. Here in the Australian bush, we've just had our wet season pass by with barely a drop. I come from the UK, a country where rain is 'miserable'. Here, rain is a miracle. There are kids out west who have never seen water fall from the sky. But now for once the clouds aren't just taunting us but pouring rain into our water tanks and dams. The dust is damped down, the brown grass is a bit greener, and we've got drinking water again on the farm.

But I wasn't going to write about water, I was going to write about Robert James Waller. I read The Bridges of Madison County years ago. It was the only book apart from Watership Down and The Color Purple that made me cry (yes I'm Piscean and a terminal romantic in case you're wondering). I sat on the sofa in my London flat with a box of tissues and bawled my way through the last 20 pages. It was fucking great in that way tears can be sometimes.

Anyway, I found another book of his - Old Songs in a New Café - in a charity shop here in Australia. It's a collection of his autobiographical stories from the 1980s and his compassion, wisdom and love of life shine through every page. I loved it. It reminded me that alongside the arms dealers and despots, there are lots of Robert James Wallers in the world as well.

And where would we be without rain and romance?
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The joys of new technology
[01.05.07]
 
There are apparently good and bad sides to most things, but for me as an independent artist, the internet is a complete blessing. It makes my whole life possible.

Picture this: I'm sitting here in a shack in the middle of Australian bush. The walls are made of potato sacks, the roof is tin, the floor is a concrete slab. Outside are trees and hills and creeks, dingos, kangaroos, snakes, spiders and a billion other creatures. We have no heating and no TV but in one corner there's recording equipment and in another is this computer and a wireless modem.

Which means you can read this, wherever you are, in a city on the other side of the world, in another timezone, another season even. I can write and record my song here, and you can listen to it there, with not one A&R man to come between us. I don't know about you, but that cheers me up no end ;).
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Lyrics
[22.04.07]
 
All the songs from both my albums 'Keep Walking' and 'Stranger Place' are now available on iTunes, so I've finally got round to putting all the lyrics up on my website. Check out the music page at www.emilymaguire.com. I've illustrated them with some of my own photos from here in the Australian bush (and beyond). You can also hear clips from all the songs there too.

We've just confirmed a gig at the Secret Garden Party festival in the UK. I'm also playing the Cambridge Folk Festival, Larmer Tree Festival and a festival at the Inn On The Beach on Hayling Island near Southampton, as well as about 20 other dates in pubs and clubs across the UK between July and September 2007.

Can't wait to be back on the road, playing guitar for 3 months instead of making cheese here on the farm. I'm sure the spiders will miss me :). It will be spring here when we return so we'll have to search the shack carefully to make sure we don't have an eastern brown for a flatmate. Harry and Harriet will no doubt have had a zillion babies by then. Ah well, so it goes... the big question is, will it rain?

em xx
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Meeting Harriet & the blues
[13.04.07]
 
So a month has gone by, and my head's done years of time inside itself. The sky's still blue, the hills still green, everything is as it was and yet nothing's the same. Buddha said your mind creates this world. I'd like to see through his eyes.

One interesting thing that's happened, aside from my mental gymnastics, is the appearance of a huge rainforest spider called Harriet in our toilet (this is south-east Queensland in case you're wondering). Harriet is the girlfriend of Harry (the Huntsman Spider) who likes to scare the shit out of me by absailing from the top of our fridge as I'm opening the door. Harry is about the size of my hand.

Harriet is not much smaller and has clearly taken a liking to our toilet bowl, please don't ask me why. You can see her legs sticking out from under the rim (is this too much information?). We tried to extract her with flushing and coat hanger but to no avail - she simply stalks back up the pipe and into the cistern. This somehow dulls the excitement of actually having a flush toilet in our bathroom which works but no-one now wants to use.

Anyway, apart from trying to evict Harriet from the toilet, I've written a new song (you've got to have the cloud to have the silver lining), made lots of cheese and booked lots of gigs for the UK where I'm doing an 'unplugged' acoustic tour this northern summer with my bass player Christian. If you're around for any of the dates, come and say hello.

Hope all's well in your world.

em xx
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Happy days...
[18.03.07]
 
Today I managed to get tickets to hear His Holiness the Dalai Lama give a public talk in Brisbane. To a Buddhist, this is a bit like a Christian going to see Jesus, so as you can imagine I am ecstatic.

So much so, I don't even mind the fact that I've just discovered a big pile of snake poo on the bathroom floor, which means there was a snake in the shack last night while I was in bed happily dreaming about hot water and a flush toilet...

yes I'm afraid, being human, after two whole weeks of intense gratitude and appreciation of our new hot tap, I now want MORE (a flush toilet would truly transform our shack into part of civilized society!).

... but then I don't suppose the snakes would care - they'd still go on the floor. Actually the poo is a good sign cos it means they're about to go into hibernation for winter, so I can stop walking around the farm with my eyes glued to my feet and going face-first into a spider's web. Ahhh, I love it here...

Hope all's well in your world.

em xx
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Radio, wellies and a huge spider
[12.03.07]
 

This morning I was making goats cheese up at the dairy and my partner Christian comes up to tell me that my song 'Keep Walking' has been put on the national playlist for ABC Radio. Our local station ABC Coast FM has been playing it for the past 6 months, but now it will be played on all 60 ABC radio stations across Australia.

Naturally I tried to remain calm and dignified (as dignified as you can be wearing white wellies, rubber gloves and a shower cap), but this is the best news I've had all year (apart from hot water in the shack) so instead I squealed and squeaked and bounced up and down in my wellies like the eight-year-old I really am inside (aren't we all? she says hopefully). In case you're wondering, wellies are gumboots - I live in Oz but I'm still a Brit.

Anyway, it's 38 degrees in the shade up here in the hills and I've just spotted a fucking huge spider heading for my shopping bags. There's no way it's coming to the supermarket with us today - frogs are one thing, but this could give the check-out lady a full coronary and we'd be permanently banned from Nambour Plaza. This would be a devastating blow as I am terminally addicted to the stationery department in Big W... is this too much information?

Ah well, while I've been writing this, the spider has disappeared... but which bag?

em xx

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Back Home (new song)
[09.03.07]
 
I've put up another song on myspace from my new album 'Keep Walking'. It's called 'Back Home'. To me it's a song about reincarnation and the rain cycle. To you it's about whatever you want it to be - all my favourite songs by other artists are about me, not them.

em xx
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Back to the shack
[01.03.07]
 
After 20 hours of head-splitting sinus agony on the plane from London, followed by 2 days glued to the sofa in a jetlag semi-coma (yes I'm playing this down), it's now a week since I arrived back home to our farm in the Australian bush. My eyes have adjusted to the sunlight, the dirt-encrusted floor, the spiders on the walls, and the possibility of a snake in every nook and cranny. Little Bill the bullfrog is alive and well, and I am feeling happy again.

And today I am positively RADIANT, with the momentous development of hot water in the kitchen sink. With matching taps! Being human, in about a week's time I'll be taking this completely for granted but the time being I am in a state of divine appreciation.

Hope all's well in your world.

em xx
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Album review
[14.02.07]
 

Still in London but just 5 days to go til I'm on a plane back to civilisation in the Australian bush...

Making me feel it's all been worth it, just got the first review for my new album 'Keep Walking' from IndepenDisc in New York. [Read reviews here]

xx

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Gigs in New York
[06.02.07]
 
Back in London after 5 fantastic days in New York doing my US debut gig at Mo Pitkins, and launching my new album 'Keep Walking' at Pianos NYC.

Despite freezing -10c temperatures outside (I thought my Aussie rhythm section might never breathe again), we rocked... so much so that I managed to break a string, which gave my bass player the perfect opportunity to grab the mic (he's been waiting for years) and do his Aussie accent… photos, video and audio will all be up on my website at www.emilymaguire.com very soon.

And the best thing of all? All that time I've been sitting in a tin shack in the middle of the Australian bush making friends on myspace and then I finally get to New York with my band and there they are – real people, real faces, come to see us play. Micki, Bryan, Steve, Pete, Gary… thank you all so much for coming down, and everyone else who was there on the night to support us. We really appreciated it.

Finally, big love & thanks to promoter Lena Chen of Chilen Music for organising the whole trip – and for generally being such an inspiration and motivation to us. Being an independent artist is great at times, and fucking hard at others… people like you are priceless. It was such a pleasure to meet at last after being friends for so long… can't wait til the next time.

We'll be back soon...

em xx
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London gig
[24.01.07]
 
First London gig of this tour tomorrow night at The Troubadour on Old Brompton Road. I can't wait. I've got new boots, which always help a girl get up on stage, even if The Troubadour has pretty big boots to fill… Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, even Jimi Hendrix have all played there.

I'll be headlining with my Aussie bass player Christian and drummer Shane, singing songs from my new album 'Keep Walking'. If you're on this side of the world tomorrow night, somewhere near Earls Court in London, come down and see us – it'd be great to meet you in person.

em xx
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Beam me up
[08.01.07]
 
Standing in the supermarket, strip-lighting glaring down on my tear-filled eyes, people everywhere, like ants, rain falling in the darkness outside... I'm standing holding an empty shopping basket, my soul shrivelling up inside me, wishing with every ounce of my being that I was back home on that green and sunlit hillside 18,000 miles away.

I have no skin, no barrier between me and the mass of humanity that is Kilburn High Road. It takes a day or 2 to grow a shell, to grow comfortable inside it, to become a Londoner again. Guess I'll just keep walking...
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