There are forces, as there have always been, that would take away our joy. I say, don’t make it easy for them!
Our joy is priceless. It can’t be bought.
This is the inspiration for our latest tune “Beer Can Hats (the Rhythm of Life)”. It doesn’t take much to have a good time, a few fine friends and some rhythm and rhyme. Collective joy is powerful.
So, as an act of resistance, or for the sheer heck of it, don a beer or soda can hat, and find a “mosh pit of joy”. We’re in this together.
Enjoy this horn rich, bass forward, guitar sparkled, accordion laced instrumental with a sweet celebratory and exultant feel.
Guitar: Gary “GDub” Wium
Bass: Paul Olguin
Drums: Ian Luke
Trumpet & Fluegelhorn: Mark Nemoyten
Trombone: Ned Stone
Tuba: Johny Blood
and yours madly on Accordion
I embroidered this for a gift for a friend in the mid 1970s. I had forgotten about it until the man’s daughter wrote to me after he had died about 15 years ago. He had kept the piece all those years moving from Marin County, California to Kauai, Hawaii. In a super sweet gesture, she sent it back to me. A flash from the past for real.
I had never finished it completely, probably running out of time before I needed to present it. So onto my “to do” list it went.
The first task of refreshing the piece entailed opening up the frame, removing the piece and hand washing it – it needed it. Amazingly, the DMC brand Pearl Cotton threads washed up as bright as new.
Next, I had to fill in the spaces to complete the design. It had been decades since I embroidered anything but some skills just don’t fade. The majority of the stitches are “french knots” which are labor intensive and use a LOT of thread. Whatever possessed me to fill a 10″ circle with french knots is a wonder unto itself.
The frame was dinged and whatever gold leaf had corroded – humidity in Hawaii is a thing. I opted for buying a slightly larger frame so the new, now completed border stitches would have some space around them. I then sewed a loose running stitch on the outer edges of the fabric and pulled it to gather up the excess as I stretched it over a stiff paper board and placed the piece back into the frame. I didn’t use glass (there are differing opinions in needlework circles about covering embroidery). It came out nicely.
The sentiment that “Wonders Never Cease” is one I’ve had all my life. This piece of art making its way back to me definitely affirms that.
As I was writing California Love, I kept “hearing” a harp version. I asked fab multi-instrumentalist and longtime friend Roxanne Oliva if she’d like to do it and happily she said yes.
She recorded her tracks at her home studio, playing her Celtic harp, a 22 string Stoney End. She sent the tracks to me and I added parts. Next step was to Wally Sound for mixing and mastering mix. The result is a lovely instrumental, a movie soundtrack.
To listen and/or download a hi-fi version, go to our BandCamp.
I had oodles of fun playing with the theme of “hearts coming together” in the music video.
Roxanne and I have known each other since the mid 1980s, having met at Sonoma State University. We performed together in Mixed Company, a mixed-media theater company I formed with choreographer/director Diana Keener. (I must say, the shows we produced were waaaay before their time.)
We have criss-crossed in the musical world ever since.
I particularly love that neither one of has stopped making music. Can’t keep a dedicated artist down!
Check out Roxanne’s BandCamp.
“However Improbable” is a confection of ska, border polka, country, dance and brass band. The tune, written by yours madly, is a perfect example of the Mad Maggies “Hard to Describe, Easy to Love” style.
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
-– Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, stated by Sherlock Holmes
After so much warm, humid here in Montréal, it is hard to believe that the streets were covered in snow just a few months ago.
Enjoy a very snowy, wintry trip through the streets of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Montreal, Quebec while listening to The Mad Maggies’ release Groove d’Hiver* (Winter Groove), a dub-infused instrumental.
Listen to a high quality audio file on our BandCamp.
The Streets of Montreal. I had big fun filming the hood during snow storms. Each shot had to have snow falling.
The streets I wandered looking for video shots for Groove d’Hiver are specifically the streets of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve (Ho-Ma) and Viauville, two neighbourhoods on the eastern side of the island of Montréal which border the St. Lawrence River.
Before the Europeans came, Iroquois inhabited the area. By the early 1800s, it was a rural village, then a working class slum, then a busy manufacturing district. By the 1980s, the manufacturing sector had shrank and the economic decline hit the area hard. There is some rebound now because of the affordability of the real estate.
All this history makes the area’s urban landscape a hodgepodge of blight and gentrification. There’s Beaux Arts architecture from its glory days, remnants of factories, blocks of condos, empty storefronts and plenty of graffiti. Alleyways thread through the backs of most streets, some rough and ignored, some family friendly and “greened”. Copper-clad church steeples are everywhere.
I haven’t been letting a pesky pandemic stop me from writing and producing music. 🙂
We — the Mad Maggies — have been recording tracks remotely and sending them to Wally Sound in Oakland, CA for mixing.
In December ’21, we released “Within the Wyrd“, a cool groove with shades of first wave ska.
Enjoy the danceable, retro feel. Kick off your shoes, turn up the volume and shake what you got.
Mixed and Mastered by Wally Sound at the Wally Sound, Oakland, California
Johny Blood: tuba
Ray Fernandez: saxophone
Ian Luke: drums
Maggie “Mags” Martin: accordionist, composer/arranger
Mark Nemoyten: trumpet
Tim Sarter: bass
Ned Stone: trombone
Gary “GDub” Wium: guitar
Why Wyrd?
In Norse mythology, under the huge tree of life, Yggdrasil, there is a well. This well is called the Well of Wyrd (Well of Urðr). Three Norns tend to Yggdrasil every day by bringing water from the well to the tree to keep it green and healthy.
These beings of time, Urðr (what was), Verðandi (what is) and Skuld (what will be) are said to spin our destinies.
I think of the “Wyrd” as the twists and turns of our lives, a weaving of experiences — some ordinary, some extraordinary. We’re all in this tapestry of life together.
Music from everywhere flows around and through us. It flows from the past to the future. In Within the Wyrd, the sounds flow from the Caribbean to the Northern realms to the west coast of California.
I named the tune for the main character in the wonderful Swedish movie “Border”. This fantastical tale of self-discovery by director Ali Abbasi is a must-see.
Over the last ten years, my love Gary and I have crossed the North American continent twice by train and over 7 times by car, besides several times by plane.
I especially love the open road and videotaped many stretches along the way.
You can see some of that footage in the 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”.
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.