Today is World Mental Health Day and to celebrate mental health awareness I’ve recorded a video of me singing at home my song ‘Start Over Again’ which you can see on my Instagram reels.

I wrote ‘Start Over Again’ years ago when I was living in the Australian bush and at gigs I’d always play it as the encore saying “this is the story of my life in 3 and a half minutes”.  I guess now I’d have to add another 52 verses for it to really be the story of my life but anyway, the verses don’t really matter, it’s the chorus that’s important.

Because this is a song about recovery, something I’ve had to do time and time again after each bipolar episode, to pick myself up off the floor and start over again.  I couldn’t have done it on my own – I’ve been immensely blessed to have the helping hand of my family, friends and kind people in mental health services.

But still I’ve had to ultimately decide myself to choose life, to take every positive action I can to turn things around.  And things are turning round now – slowly but surely, I am coming out of the black hole of depression and back into the sunlight.  New songs will follow, they always do.  And I will realise this time has been another blessing, another reason to be thankful.  That no matter how deep the hole, how dark it’s been, things will always change and I’ll have another chance in this precious life to start over again.

My latest secret song I’ve just sent to my Patreon members is very close to my heart because I wrote it about my mum.  She has been there to hold my hand through every bipolar high and low since my first breakdown when I was 16, including the most recent depressive episode I am struggling with 35 years later.  She has the most extraordinary patience and kindness of anyone I have ever met.

I wrote and recorded this song for her 70th birthday at the height of the pandemic in January 2021 when I was stuck in Australia with the border shut.  I hadn’t realised when I’d said goodbye to her at Heathrow Airport in October 2019 that I wouldn’t see her again for the next 2½ years.  When my marriage split up and I returned to the UK completely broken in April 2023 she spent the next 2 years helping me put my life back together again.  And now since I broke my arm this year and had another bipolar relapse she has been there for me again every step of the way.  So ‘Guiding Light’ is a song of immense love and gratitude.

If you would like to hear it and my other secret songs, you can join my Patreon group here.

I have disappeared again down the rabbit hole that is bipolar depression.  Medication is helping but the rest of my gigs for this year have been cancelled as my arms are still not better and I’m just not mentally up to performing.

I will resurface, I always do.  In the meantime, I want to say a huge thank you to all my fans for their incredibly lovely messages of support, especially Geoff, Rebecca, Stan and Paul who actually sent me beautiful flowers and gifts that was such a wonderful surprise and made my day.  And Marion and Tony who offered to send me a bottle of wine.  You are all amazing, thank you so much.

The gigs I have cancelled will hopefully all be rearranged for next year so please join my mailing list if you’re not already on it so I can let you know dates as and when they are confirmed.

My beloved cello teacher Bruno Schrecker died today just 4 days short of his 98th birthday.  I have known Bruno since I was 12 years old, when I met him at a chamber music course called Pro Corda.  Bruno was teaching one of the quartets I was in and we were playing a particularly beautiful piece by Borodin which has a lovely cello part.

I didn’t see him again until 7 years later when he walked into my room at the Royal Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath with my consultant rheumatologist.  Somehow he had found out I was there being treated for fibromyalgia pain syndrome.

Then I didn’t see him again until our doorbell in Bath rang 20 years later and there was Bruno with his son, come to see my husband Christian for hypnotherapy.  From then on I saw him pretty much every week until we moved back to Australia in 2019.  In 2015-2016 I recorded over 7 hours of interviews with him talking about his extraordinary life (which you can read about in the obituaries in The Guardian and The Telegraph).

Since coming back to the UK in 2023 I have seen a lot of Bruno, having cello lessons and meditating together on his sofa, usually with a cat between us.  In his later years, we talked a lot about Buddhism which he said made the most sense to him as a philosophy.

I feel immensely privileged to have spent so much time with him, and benefitted so much from his passion for the cello.  He was much loved and is much missed.

I am trying to keep my spirits up after having to cancel 8 gigs due to breaking my right arm in a fall (I slipped on some wet cobblestones in Bath). Apologies to everyone who was going to come and see me perform and to the promoters for all their hard work. I hope to reschedule the gigs at some point in the future.

On the upside, I am working with renowned producer David Lord on my new album which will be out next year. There are 12 tracks in all and I can’t wait for you to hear them. I’ll be launching a crowdfunding campaign in the autumn as I’ll need to raise the funds to release it. All support will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to everyone who joined my Patreon membership group recently – I’ve been really enjoying choosing my secret songs to share with you. If you haven’t joined but are interested, please visit www.patreon.com/EmilyMaguire.

I was so gutted to have to cancel my gigs in Orpington and Devon after I’d slipped on some wet cobblestones in Bath and fractured my right arm.  I’m so sorry to have disappointed you if you were planning to come.  It was my right arm which is tricky as I’m right handed but I was very lucky not to put an eye out as I broke my glasses when I fell!

Now I’ve just posted my new secret song to my Patreon membership group,  This is another song I wrote during a bipolar manic episode that had been triggered by the lockdown in Australia in May 2020.  I arranged the song at the time, writing a string arrangement and programming the drums and bass.  It is called ‘All There Is’ and the lyrics reflect my abiding preoccupation with Buddhist philosophy, psychology and practice that has been the backbone of my life since meeting my teacher Lama Jampa Thaye in 1999.

If you would like to hear and download my monthly secret songs and support my music, you can become one of my Patreon members for £3 per month when you sign up at https://www.patreon.com/EmilyMaguire.

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.