I was shocked and saddened to hear about the death of Dennis Locorriere of Dr Hook fame.  I first met Dennis in 2011 and did over 50 shows supporting him on his UK tour that year.  He was touring on his own and so I got to spend a lot of time with him backstage after soundcheck.  He loved talking (and I love listening!) and was always greatly entertaining.  We stayed in touch in the years since then – the last time I heard from him was when I was in Australia.  He never mentioned his illness.  He was a great songwriter and musician and I’m sure will be much missed by his family and friends.

I’ve just posted a new ‘secret song’ for my Patreon membership group.  This one is called ‘All In Your Mind’.  I wrote it in May 2017 when I was living in Bath with my husband Christian just after the release of my fifth album ‘A Bit Of Blue’.   I then arranged and orchestrated it when we were back living in the Australian bush a couple of years later.  I had a lot of fun with the string arrangement as I love pizzicato strings.  This is one of those strange songs with quite sad lyrics but happy music and so it’s always felt kind of uplifting to me.  I hope you agree!  You can hear a clip on my Instagram feed.

Joining my Patreon membership group costs £3 per month ($4.50 in US dollars).  If you’re interested or would like to gift membership to a friend, please visit my Patreon site at patreon.com/EmilyMaguire.

Thanks to everyone who came to my recent gigs at Green Note in London and at Letcombe Bassett Village Hall last weekend.  Both gigs were with my violinist Sue Lord and we had such a great time performing together.  Thanks to Graham Smallwood from Folk & Roots and to Tony and Astrid Haupt from Thatchcombe B&B for promoting these events.  I’ve just posted some photos on Facebook and Instagram.

In May we are doing a couple of private house concerts then in June we are doing 2 gigs back to back in Orpington.  At the start of July I’m very much looking forward to a return visit to the beautiful Hatch Court in south Devon.  Payment is by cash donation on the door – to reserve your place, please contact Mark on 07730 921192 or email him at wheelwrightmark@gmail.com.

I’ve just sent my second ‘secret song’ to my Patreon membership group – a song that has never been released on an album or performed in public.

Some songs fall out of my head in a day, others don’t get completed for years. I started this song in January 2008 but didn’t finish it until April 2020 when we were back living in the Australian bush and the world was in lockdown. The fear and anxiety I shared with millions of others triggered a bipolar manic episode during which I wrote 32 new songs (some of which ended up on my album ‘A Light To Follow’ and the new album I’m currently working on). Suddenly the initial words I’d written for this song all those years ago made sense to me and I was able to finish the rest of the lyrics. I then arranged and orchestrated it at home (writing string arrangements for my songs is one of my favourite things to do).

If you would like to hear and download my secret songs, please visit www.patreon.com/EmilyMaguire to subscribe to my Patreon membership.  It costs just £3 a month (or $4.50 – it is an American site) for a new secret song in your inbox each month.  You can also gift membership to family or friends.  Your support of my music would be much appreciated.

I had a fantastic time playing Sandy Hill Arts in Corfe Castle last weekend.  It was sold out and there were some wonderfully familiar faces in the crowd.  Jody Prewett played a great set (he has a new album coming out very soon).  Thanks to Melissa Viney and her team for organising the gig and to Buzz (pictured) for the lovely sound.  You can watch a video of me singing my song ‘Dreaming’ on the night here.

Next up is the Red Lion Folk Club in Kings Heath, Birmingham on Wednesday 1 April then a matinee show in Camden Town with violinist Sue Lord on Saturday 11 April.  More info and tickets for all my upcoming gigs can be found on my gigs page.