One of the joys of being bipolar is the immense relief and gratitude you feel when you come out of a depressive episode. I find myself feeling that it was all somehow worth it, just for that feeling of coming out of the darkness into the light. I’ve now managed to record the last vocals for my new album (I can’t sing when I’m depressed) so after months we’ve been able to take down the huge mattress tardis in the middle of our living room (you can see a video in my Facebook Community Group).

I’m in charge of the chickens on the farm who are now free range. Thankfully the dogs don’t seem to be interested in them (having been completely obsessed when the chooks were behind a wire fence). So every afternoon I go to feed the chickens and say hello to the goats who bleat pitifully at me despite having been fed five minutes earlier. Dusk is my favourite moment of the day. I sit on the veranda watching the sunset across the valley and listening to the birds as they fly home to roost. Last night a huge flock of black cockatoos were the last to disappear before it went dark.

Tickets for my Sunshine Coast Hinterland tour in September are now on sale. I can’t wait to be back on stage with Christian and two amazing string players, the violinist Sarah King and her sister, the cellist Louise King. We’ll be performing at Eudlo Hall (11 Sept), Maleny Community Centre (18 Sept) and The Majestic Theatre in Pomona (25 Sept). Places are limited so please book early if you would like to come. Here’s a booking link with a live video of us performing with Sarah and Louise last year:

https://emilymaguire.com/hinterland-tour-2021/

Please share this link with any local friends or family you think might like to come – I’d be so grateful if you can help us spread the word.

In the meantime, this Saturday (26 June) I’m performing with Christian on the deck at the beautiful permaculture commune Crystal Waters where no pets are allowed so kangaroos wander around all over the place. Tickets are $15 on the door. And I’m looking forward very much to hearing acapella group The Daisy Chain Trio when I perform at Brisbane Unplugged Gigs (The BUg) next Tuesday. Tickets are $10 available on the door. Here is all the info: .

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx

I am delighted to say that if you wish you can now follow me on Bandcamp. It is a home for independent artists like me who would like the opportunity to make a living from their music. My five studio albums are up now on my Bandcamp site and I’ve written new liner notes about each one.  You can download individual tracks, albums or my whole digital discography.

Here is the link if you would like to follow me on Bandcamp: https://emilymaguire.bandcamp.com/

And please spread the word if you have friends you think might like my songs.  Thanks so much for your support.

We are now halfway through recording the vocals for my new album.  Endless cups of lemon, ginger and honey, waiting for planes overhead to pass, waiting for cars on the dirt track to disappear…

And actually, surprisingly, considering I am basically recording in a stand-up coffin, I am really enjoying it!  There’s something about the enclosed space, the black sides, the total lack of anything to look at, which is really focusing my mind on the song in my ears.

Christian, who is engineering, has the patience of a saint.  ‘Again’ is the word most used in any of our recording sessions – we are both perfectionists.  And this is the first time I’ve heard the strings we recorded months ago with Sarah King on violin and viola and me on cello.  They sound so lovely.

I am getting very excited about this record!  Can’t wait for you to hear it…

You can see a video of our recording ‘tardis’ in my Facebook Community Group.

I am back in the habit of writing a poem every morning after my meditation practice.  These poems are basically automatic writing – I don’t know where they come from, they just fall out of my head as I’m drinking a coffee.  This is the one I wrote this morning:

‘Song’

It’s running dry
I need a good rain
To soak the ground
Startle the seeds
Into growing
Growing something big
Something beautiful
That I could write
And you could read
And the words
Would dance
On the page
Like a dervish
On solstice night
And you would be
Lifted up
And out
Leaving the hole
Far behind
Suddenly elevated
In the air
With nothing but
The sun and
A single soft cloud
To come between
And you would
Know everything
You would be
The wisest of us all
You would understand
The colours
Of the rainbow
And why
The wind blows
You would touch
The stars
With your fingertips
Hold the moon
In your arms
Knowing there is
Nothing we need
We don’t already have
In our hearts
In our minds
That life is a song
A song we’ve been
Singing since
Beginningless time.

Today is World Bipolar Day so I’ve made a short video to mark the occasion, talking a bit about my own experience of living with bipolar disorder and singing a brand new song called ‘Stay’ (lyrics below).  The video is on my YouTube channel – here’s the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46VZes0S6IU&t=2s

If you like it, please share it with your friends.

Here are the lyrics:

stay/elm/jan 2020

Life is never easy
Life is like a game
I was never good at playing
At staying sane

But I don’t care
I’m not scared anymore
Cos I’ve been there
I’ve been pinned against the wall
So I was hoping you’d stay

Cos I was going nowhere
Faster than a plane
Everybody’s lonely
In the pouring rain

But I don’t care
I’m not scared anymore
Cos I’ve been there
I’ve been pinned against the wall
So I was hoping you’d stay

Here come the demons
Calling out my name
There’s nothing like the feeling
Of being sane

But I don’t care
I’m not scared anymore
Cos I’ve been there
I’ve been pinned against the wall
So I was hoping, I was hoping
I was hoping you’d stay