NEW Tune! NEW Video!

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A NEW TUNE & VIDEO

I am pleased to present the Mad Maggies’ latest single: “Un Jaguar en el Agua” –  a dance groove with a good dose of Californiana.
 
I wrote the tune inspired by the strength and beauty of the largest wild cat in the Western Hemisphere.

The imagery is inspired by the joy-filled skeletons of el Dia de Los Muertos. These calacas – a colloquial Mexican word for skeleton – are whimsical celebrations of those on the “other side”.

Listen to it in hi-fi quality at our BandCamp.

Kick off your shoes and get ready to shake your self-isolating booty!

 


 

Watch on YouTube, give it a like, share it far and wide and be sure to click the subscribe button.

Creating this video is what’s been keeping me busy these last few months.

My ability to draw is in strong inverse proportion to my songwriting talent. I can see how I want a story to look but even stick figures are a struggle. Happily illustrator Dale Horstman was up for working with us again. Dale illustrated our albums “Skull & Magpies” and “Shake Those Bones“. The man has got talent galore.

His drawings for “Un Jaguar en el Agua” are perfectly quirky.

To be able to create a good story with the 2D images and have some fun with effects, I had to get up to speed on a non-linear video editor. DaVinci Resolve 16 has a free version that is very powerful. I recommend it if you have an interest in going beyond simple apps like iMovie.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to our YouTube channel so you’ll know what we’re up to, especially now. We plan on bringing you more musical treats … from a safe physical distance.

Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhaoibh!

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🍀💚🍀💚🍀💚 Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! 🍀💚🍀💚🍀💚

Stay safe. Stay at home, if you can!

We will all be singing and dancing together again. Just not for the next few pandemic weeks.

Scott Renfort, 1952-2019

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Our friend and musical colleague Scott died yesterday, November 26.

He was an exceptionally gifted fiddler, dedicated to the Irish/Celtic traditional music community.
We met him many years ago through our mutual friend Roxanne Oliva, who was his musical partner and, as time passed, his longtime caregiver.

The best way I can think of to honor him is by sharing his playing.

Here is a set of hornpipes and reels from the album ” 水精 Water Spirit ” which he recorded with Junji Sirota (guitar) and Robin Petrie (hammered dulcimer).

Walsh’s – The Knotted Cord – Green Groves Of Erin – The Flowers Of Redhill

 

Go mbeidh neart ceoil ann cibé áit a bhfuil tú anois, ár gcara.
(May there be plenty of music wherever you are now, our friend.)

Scott Renfort

Bare Bones

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Mags is busy writing music and working on band promotion, so I am stepping in to share with you this “bare bones” celebration of me, Death, on my favorite holiday of the year.

¡Feliz Día de los Muertos!

— Death

In parts of Mexico, cleaning your families bones is a loving tradition

Now, imagine cleaning 40,000 sets of bones!

But, wait! There’s more!

BONE HOUSES A Definitive Guide to the World’s Ossuaries. 40 different collections of bones. Wow!

All Together Put ‘Em:

A quick anatomy refresher. 3D views of all the BONES of the human body.

Now, Shake Those Bones!

 

Featured image by artist Aaron Kuehn

New Mad Maggies single: Blue Ska

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Happy Spring!

We have just released a new single. ☠️🎶☠️🎶☠️🎶

 

“Blue Ska” is our version of an early Ska classic from Jamaica. We recorded and mixed the tune at Wally Sound in Oakland, California.

Listen to it for free on our BandCamp page. Throw in a dollar and you can download your own hi-fi file.

This is a very danceable groove that will surely please your endocannabinoid system. 😉

That’s right. Researchers have discovered that when we’re in motion, we release Anandamide the body’s naturally occurring cannabinoid that is similar to THC. This clever neurotransmitter (aren’t they all?) relieves anxiety.

So, lifting your legs will definitely lift your spirits. And, like the good musicians we are, we’re here to help.

Cue up “Blue Ska”, picture a warm beach with blue skies and start shaking that booty.

Ceol do Lá Fhéile Pádraig 🍀🎶

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🍀🎶💚🍀🎶💚🍀🎶💚🍀🎶💚

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!
Bain sult as na foinn seo agus tú ag caitheamh siar ar Éirinn.

Happy St. Patricks Day!
Enjoy these tunes while tipping one back for Ireland.

 

🍀🎶💚🍀🎶💚🍀🎶💚🍀🎶💚

Drunken Sailor’s Hornpipe

Teach Tábhairne Mhaillí Ní Dhuibh – Molly Black’s Tavern

Musical Priest S

Morning Star

Sleepy Maggie

#Gaeilge #StPatrickDay #theMadMaggies

15 years for the Mad Maggies

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February 14, 2019 was the band’s 15th anniversary of making beautiful music together.

We celebrated by releasing a new single. “All in a Day” is light-hearted polka, perfect for lifting one’s spirits in heavy times.

Crank up the tune, grab a partner and dance around the house with wild abandon!

You can listen to it here on this player. If you drop a buck in the hat at BandCamp you can download a hi-res audio file.

 

Why crystal?

Well, according to those who know these kinds of things, the traditional anniversary gift at 15 years is crystal to represent sturdiness and clarity.

And, Death thinks crystal skulls are really cool. So there’s that, too.


(This crystal skull is from a collection of the British Museum in London.)

28 Years of Love

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28 years ago tonight, Gary came over to my pad after work to hang out. That night was also a Tuesday — Mardi Gras actually.

After much talking and drinking of pots of Lemon Mist tea, we finally kissed and then connected “in the biblical sense”. We spent the night together –the first of approximately 10,220 nights that we’ve spent together.

We’ve only slept apart maybe 20 nights in 28 years. That’s a 99.8% uptime of downtime. 😉

Love is grand!

New Video: Blue Ska

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The Mad Maggies have another new video. This time it’s something blue for blues waves and the blue skies ahead. Let’s dance and celebrate a little.

Enjoy our live version of the ska classic “Blue Ska” on YouTube now.

“Blue Ska” was recorded by the Cavaliers most likely in the mid-60s. The 45s I’ve seen on YouTube list J. Willacey as the writer. I can’t find much about him except that he was trained in the Alpha Boys School, a catholic educational institution in Kingston which produced some of Jamaica’s finest musicians. Willacey recorded with Lester Sterling, the Jamaican saxophonist and trumpet player best known as one of the founding members of the Skatalites.

When I first heard the tune, I loved its simple but infectious hook and its irresistible dance beat. I arranged it for us making sure we were true to the original groove and giving plenty of room for the horns to strut their stuff.

Videographer Mira Stenger caught us live at Lagunitas Beer Sanctuary. The live show audio was impressively good. Add some B-roll from our Cotati Accordion Festival show (thanks to Jeff Stafford) and other bits and I was able to edit together an authentic taste of a Mad Ms performance.

We’ve also recorded “Blue Ska” at Wally Sound and will be releasing that studio version soon.

 

My Fav 4-Letter Word

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Plenty of four letter words have come to my mind over the last months with all the craziness going on in the world.

The word one I like the best is…
.
.
.
.
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VOTE

Enjoy and share the Mad Maggies’ latest video. It’s a gentle nudge to just do it.