Boyle born banjo player and singer Maggie Carty is proud to announce the release of her highly anticipated debut solo album, Ebb and Flow, available worldwide on all major streaming platforms. The album was officially launched with a live event in Melbourne, Australia recently and attended by a number of Boyle people living in the city.
Born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Maggie is a fourth-generation musician deeply rooted in Irish tradition and the legacy of her father, John Carty. Now based in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia, she brings a fresh female perspective to traditional Irish music, blending evocative vocals and driving banjo rhythms with influences from American and Australian folk and contemporary folk artists.
Ebb and Flow explores stories of emigration, identity, and the Irish diaspora through the eyes of a modern Irish woman living abroad. The album honours iconic female voices such as Margaret Barry, Dolores Keane, and Mary O’Hara, while reimagining traditional melodies with new arrangements featuring double bass, didgeridoo, and percussion.
Speaking to Boyletoday.com Maggie said: “The album design was created by Emma Kelly from Boyle (her parents run Better Buys/Surprises Giftware). It was a great success and we had lots of Boyle people in attendance – Jenny Jessop (nee O’Dowd), Arlene Regan and my extended Brennan diaspora now living in Australia whose parents came from Lissadrea, Boyle.)”
“There’s a track on the album Far Away In Australia, which is dedicated to my grandparents. My grandfather Ted Brennan was from Lissadrea, and left Ireland in the 50s to seek employment. He went to the UK but soon had a ticket for Australia. It was a 10 pound scheme to encourage migrants to relocate there. Long story short he had met my grandmother (from Manorhamilton Co.Leitrim) in a dancehall before he left and they kept in touch writing letters for 5 years. Eventually he had saved up enough money and bought a house in Melbourne. She travelled alone by boat for 12 weeks and joined him. They were married, had kids, my Mum being one of them. The song is almost their story and I love to think of them when I sing it and the big journey they made, which now means I can be here in Australia surrounded by extended family”.
Since relocating to Australia in 2017, Maggie has become a leading figure in the Irish traditional scene down under, performing at prestigious festivals including Port Fairy, Woodford, and The National Folk Festival, as well as internationally at the Milwaukee Irish Festival and Denmark’s Tønder Festival. In 2023, she made history by founding the Melbourne Céilí Band, the first Australian group to compete in the All-Ireland Céilí Band Competition.
Through Ebb and Flow, Maggie Carty invites Irish audiences to experience the enduring power of traditional music alive, evolving, and connecting the global Irish community today.
Maggie’s album is available on all streaming services, however if you would like to listen to Ebb and Flow guilt free, you can purchase it here and support the artist:
