Emily Maguire has Sheffield date on new tour

A singer, songwriter, composer, poet and multi-instrumentalist, Emily Maguire was classically trained as a child on piano, cello, flute and recorder and only taught herself guitar aged 21 when she found herself stuck at home with fibromyalgia pain syndrome.

She recalled: “I started writing songs and the illness suddenly became a complete blessing in disguise as I had all this time on my hands to write.”

Back on her feet again and fed up with grey skies and concrete, Emily gave up her flat in London for a shack made out of recycled wood, tin and potato sacks on a goat farm in the Australian bush.

Together with Australian bass player and producer Christian Dunham, she financed her first two albums by making and selling goats cheese.

She continued: “Living in the shack was one of the happiest times of my life and, despite being a terrible cook, I was actually a very good cheesemaker.”

Emily and Christian returned from Australia in 2007 to tour with the legendary Don McLean, playing all the major UK concert halls including the Royal Albert Hall.

Her third album Believer, released in 2009, received regular airplay on Radio 2 and won rave reviews in the music press.

All through this, Emily hid her struggles with bipolar disorder until she published her first book, Start Over Again.

Launched on Radio 2 on World Mental Health Day in 2010, it generated a huge response from listeners moved by Emily’s openness and willingness to share her experiences of psychosis and depression.

Emily suffered another setback in 2014 while on tour in Germany when she suffered a bout of chronic tennis elbow that left her unable to play her instruments for 18 months.

The knock-on effect was a deep depression which lasted a year but she was rescued by her fans who regularly sent her messages of support and telling her they wanted her to come back.

In 2017, recovered again, Emily released her fifth album, A Bit Of Blue, to wide critical acclaim, and published collection of poetry, prose and song lyrics called Notes From The North Pole.

Together with Christian, Emily has been touring again has also done many gigs in mental health hospitals, as well as become a patron of the UK mental health charity Restore.

She was invited to perform at the World Congress of Psychiatry in Berlin in 2017 and has recently been in Australia recording her sixth album.

She said: “I can’t wait to be touring again, I’m looking forward to playing some of the new songs that will be on my next album.

Tickets for her Sheffield gig are at www.emilymaguire.com