Tasmanian devils The Dead Maggies are back with a new album recorded last year in Indonesia while on tour.
Stories of tragic Tasmanian folklore swashbuckling adventures of bush pirates and convict rebels set to upbeat toe-tapping thigh-slapping Cowpunk Folk-Punk, exploring the links between the past and present in their music and lyrics.
They followed that album up with 2015’s Well Hanged and again the past is presented up to us. Twelve tracks exploring the lives, battles, deaths and loves of ordinary people. The people whose history is being written out of the books and just the kind of history that children don’t learn at school but should do. The album was extremely well received featuring in all of that year’s end of year Best Of polls reaching #7 on our Best Of, #12 for Paddy Rock Radio (USA) and #18 for McSlons Irish Pub Radio.
In among these releases were extensive tours of Europe including a visit to these shores which took them from one end to the other in a ramshackle tour culminating in one hell of a night at Tottenham Chances in 2014. They made a great compilation video of the tour that features some footage from that hot and sweaty night in North London and if you look closely you’ll spot some familiar faces in the crowd too. They continued their prolific output in 2017 with two EP’s released in quick succession with Wild Dogs And Flannies coming out in April and The Wild Folk in June both again focusing on stories set in the early days of Tasmania. They would return to these shores later that year with a couple of London dates sandwiched in between appearances at two of Britain’s largest festivals, Outcider and Boomtown. One of the scenes (they prefer to call themselves Folk-Punk) most traveled bands that became, as far as I know, the first Western Celtic/Folk-Punk band to tour Vietnam and then Indonesia. A country well known for its love of Irish music and Celtic-Punk. Whilst there they played with some of that country’s best bands (watch this space for The Cloves And The Tobacco’s new EP!) and also took the opportunity to record and mix More Than Just Ghosts. A truly international effort across the 5,566 km between Bandung, Java and Hobart, Tasmania.

The Dead Maggies left to right: Hannah Morrell – Fiddle * Teresa Dixon – Banjo, Mando, Flute, Vocals * Gruf Mongrel – Guitar, Clarinet, Vocals * Mark Downie – Double Bass, Vocals * Sam Wellings- Drums
The album came out just as the Covid clampdown started to bite meaning The Maggies had to cancel four months of touring and festivals all booked up. Rest assured though they will be rescheduling so keep an eye on things for new dates when all ‘this’ is over. For the first time here on More Than Just Ghosts the Maggies, more famous for writing their own material, have included traditional songs in among their original hard hitting Folk-Punk kicking off with the the trad ‘Mad Tom Of Bedlam’. Dating from early 17th Century England Bedlam in the title is the notorious London insane asylum Bethlam Royal Hospital. Told in three parts through the album its acapello re-telling is reminiscent of The Dreadnoughts. ‘Lacey’s Redemption’ follows directly on from the song ‘Matthew Brady’ as featured on Well Hanged and tells of George Lacey who betrayed Brady and carried the burden of guilt for the rest of his days seeking redemption by campaigning to close Sarah Island, Van Diemen’s Lands most notorious concentration camp or penal colony as it was known at the time.
“Oh life on the road rarely ends well but if you can’t be rich have a story to tell”
“This is the man who made the dash, who bashed the fash to save his lass, yes this is the man who dodged the lash, this is the tale of Martin Cash.”
“And some shores just see more pain than most; Port Arthur is haunted by more than just ghosts”
“I led the outlaw community, but makes it hard when they double your bounty”
“Building ships to transport logs, putting trust in convict dogs. They stole the ship they’re sailing away, what should we make the semaphore say? Fire on the ship! But the semaphore’s manned by convicts too, we’re trusting the dogs with a job to do, to our disgust, to our dismay, guess what they made, the semaphore say? There’s no fire on the ship!”

In a human being’s short stint on this earth, no one should have time for death. But it fascinates us, draws us to it. It calls to us, begs us to enter its cold embrace. We worship death in sleep each night, and our band pays homage to it in our songs, as just another aspect of the cult of death.
(you can stream or download More Than Just Ghosts from the Bandcamp player below)
Buy More Than Just Ghosts FolkTilYaPunkRecords
Contact The Dead Maggies WebSite Facebook Bandcamp
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