May 22nd A week from today we’ll be waking up in Las Vegas, which is nicely equidistant to Rio Rico, having driven 8-9 hours the day before. I love the image of Maggie carrying her two guitars and her accordion, me my guitar and mandolin, as we head to the front desk of Harrah’s to […]
Singing all these love songs—songs of yearning, joy, loss—can leave one breathless. Literally. As we worked on Robbie Burns’ “My Love is Like a Red Red Rose,” Maggie’s husband, Luke, passing through the living room, suggested that the deep breath of the accordion might sustain an E chord, against which the lyrics could be sung. […]
May 16th Met at my house, once again with Mother, who seems to be moving beyond the sorrow that gets created by the pretty music, and who is beginning to listen to the lyrics. Sometimes she locks her eyes on to mine as I sing something, say, Our days, distilled, were 90 proof; Our nights […]
May 15th Countdown: In two weeks we’ll be driving through Nevada, heading towards the Arizona state line… Today I worked a lot on my garden, which lovely as it is, is not the best thing to do when you’re trying to build up callouses. No matter what kind of gloves you wear, moistness will work […]
May 13th & 14th Maggie, in reference to a little riff I’m offering on the mandolin break on “When The Sun Goes Down in the Sky,” suggested that as I repeat the little waterfall of notes, I think about “what each one is saying.” A useful comment. We were quiet on Mother’s Day, working individually, […]
Sands Hall has been playing guitar and writing songs since she was 14, when, as a birthday present, her father purchased, for $150 from a hard-up student at UC Berkeley, a OOO-18 Martin. This is the battered wonderful guitar she still uses. She also plays a bit of mandolin and has recently begun to study […]
Countdown, 18 Days: Today we gathered in my living room: music stands and guitar stands, Maggie’s glittering accordion and her two guitars—one in standard tuning, the other tuned to a huge open C chord, which sounds gorgeous; and my battered Martin and my mandolin, as well as a violin I keep close in case I […]
Countdown: 19 Days to the Great Water Dragon Southwest Tour Actually, 17 days to take-off, May 28th, when we’ll drive two days to Rio Rico, AZ, where on the 30th we play our first concert in the “Arizona Room” at my sister Tracy’s house. From there we pretty much play a concert every other day, […]
What do dragons, water, cacti, theater, guitars, accordions and mandolins have in common? Two talented women, Sands Hall and Maggie McKaig. Both were born under the Chinese astrological sign of the dragon—specifically, the water dragon. Sands plays guitar and a bit of mandolin; Maggie accordion and guitar and just about anything placed in proximity to her adept fingers. They’re both wordsmiths and singers, and […]
Maggie McKaig’s theater life has involved writing and directing over 60 middle and high school productions, many of them musical, but her main artistic focus has been playing and writing music. When she was 11, she saved up $25, bought her first guitar and wrote her first song; she hasn’t stopped playing and writing since. She’s recorded […]