"I never planned to become a working musician."
Elsie Rigby – one-half of sister folk duo The Maes – admits that while growing up with folk-musician parents was fun, it was never a lifestyle that particularly appealed: life was full, she says, but it didn't look like a good way to work."I always thought I'd do something more academic, more highly paid; just something that looked more like a real job," she laughs.
"But then I had no idea what that was going to be, and at the end of the day I have lived my whole adult life just making these decisions and then almost looking back and realising that all of those decisions have been driven by art and creativity and music, and the good life."
The sisters have been touring together for almost a decade, playing some of the most prestigious blues, folk and roots festivals around the globe.
It was at one of these festivals where the offspring of one of Australia's country legends came across the band.
"We run a community choir and Jem Cassar-Daley [Troy's daughter] came and sang with the choir and she said to us that she'd seen The Maes play at Woodford Folk Festival and it just made her feel so comforted because there was something really deeply soothing about our band," Rigby says.
"That made me think about the connection between growing up in musical families and around the music scene, and I felt really seen by that; just really recognising that kind of commonality and it made me feel really happy that that's how our band felt to her."
The Maes haven't recorded any new music together since their last single, 'Make A Baby', was released in 2021, however Maggie has recently released a solo EP of five tracks that she has entirely self-produced.
"It's been really beautiful to witness that because so much of our musical work has been together – we've been running this band full-time for seven years before the pandemic, and this choir together as well," Rigby says.
"So I think to see Maggie just have that freedom and also kind of challenge to really step into her own space has been beautiful for me to see; and it's something I think she needed to do to get into motion again, it's part of her way of processing the experience of the pandemic and the changes to our musical lives and the music scene in Australia."
The sisters have been working on new music collectively, as well, however for now it's still under wraps.
"I think there's just been unique challenges for every person working in music over the past five years – even before the pandemic – everything changes so quickly, the landscape is changing and I think we've just been trying to re-enter the music space," Rigby explains.
"There's no point just pretending that we can snap our fingers and get back to where we were, and there's really no benefit to that – so we've been taking our time trying to be intentional about what we make now."
The Maes will return to The River Folk Festival (in the Yarra Valley) this December, which Rigby says will be a full-circle moment for the pair.
"We haven't been to The River Folk Festival since the very first year, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how it's developed over the last few festivals, and I can already see a few friends of ours on the line-up, so it's going to be nice to hang out," she says.
"Folk festivals. . . that's like our heartland, that's where we grew up. And to see new ones starting up is so exciting – folk music is always growing and changing and to see new energy going into that space is always good to see, that's what we're about."
Fans of The Maes will hear some deep cuts as well as some sneaky new tunes at the festival, Rigby reveals. "I think we are going to put a couple of new songs in the set, that always keeps it exciting for the band and for the crowd," she says.
"So we might slip a couple of new ones in, but we were also talking about maybe playing a couple of old songs that we haven't played for awhile as well."
The River Folk Festival takes place at various locations in Warburton (Yarra Valley) 1-3 December.
The River Folk Festival 2023 Line-up
The MaesCharles Maimarosia
John Flanagan
Gusto Gusto
The Good Behaviours
Mickey & Michelle
Great Aunt
Jo Davie
Emily-Rose Sarkova
Saije
Apolline
Isabel Rumble
The River Folk Festival 2023 is made possible by the generous support of Yarra Ranges Council, the Community Bank Warburton and Yarra Junction, and numerous Yarra Valley local business sponsors.
