I have been away too long.
My Patreon tab has been open in my browser for months. I’ve started more than fifty blogs and closed every one of them. Not because I didn’t have anything to say — I had too much, and I didn’t know whether it was appropriate to share it. Or fair. Or helpful. Or too heavy.
The truth is, coming back to content creation now requires real structural changes in my life. It’s on my heart constantly.
So this is me beginning anyway.
What Happened
About eighteen months ago, a sexual harassment situation I had been managing quietly reached critical mass.
Unfortunately, this kind of thing has been common in my life, as it has been common in the lives of many women. In the past, I’ve handled such things privately. This time, I couldn’t. I went to the police.
They believed me. They took action. The harassment from him stopped. I haven’t heard from him since.
But the fallout in my wider community was immense.
The town split. People I had worked alongside for years chose sides. I am now banned (functionally, not formally) from some music venues and community groups I once collaborated with. That part was life-changing. It has taken me this long to process the grief and disorientation of that — even while knowing, deeply, that I am better off without people and spaces that would not stand with me on something like this.
I am blessed. I am happy. I am well.
And I have also been profoundly changed.
Grief, New Life, and Daycare Bugs
Around the same time, my sister’s husband passed away suddenly.
Her world imploded. Since then, she and her children have packed up their lives in the US and come to live with Micky and I here in Aotearoa.
I love being a full-time auntie. It has been one of the most meaningful shifts of my life. It has also required a complete reorientation of my time, energy, and priorities.
And because my niblings are two and four, I have also managed to be sick for roughly four of the past eight months. Daycare bugs are ruthless.
We also purchased and moved into our first home together — our new little whānau. It is beautiful. I feel wildly privileged. My life is fuller than it has ever been.
And busier.
The Quiet Productivity
Somehow, this has still been one of the most productive eras of my life.
I’ve continued playing shows. I’ve recorded them, out of habit. The vault is overflowing with performances and more that I haven’t processed or shared.
I’ve produced a 3 day, 38 artist folk festival.
Co-produced a week long, 40-event Consent Festival.
Began working with local council to build the regions first music community centre & music advocacy entity — a project I’ll be overseeing for the next five or so years.
From the outside, I guess it looks like expansion.
From the inside, it has felt like a desperate grasp at agency and control under the immense weight of community-wide problems that I can see but can’t solve even as I try.
I haven’t had the bandwidth to shape the raw content of this into something consumable. I’m not someone who processes things overnight. This is all still very much unfolding.
Why I’ve Hesitated
In the small pockets of free time I’ve had, I’ve been writing.
Not just about what happened to me — but about how what happens in our broader systems shows up interpersonally. How community dynamics mirror political ones. How power operates the same way in a town as it does in a nation. How grief, hierarchy, gender, belief, and fear play out at every scale.
It’s heavy.
And given how heavy many of us already feel about what’s happening in the world right now, I’ve hesitated to share those reflections. I don’t want to add to the weight.
But they are the majority of what I’m producing right now.
So I’m at a crossroads: either I keep waiting until I feel light enough to return to pre-life changing event style posts — or I accept that this is what I have to offer in this season.
Please Enjoy: Blue Skies
In the spirit of opening the floodgates and looking forward to blue skies ahead — please enjoy this cover of Irving Berlin’s Blue Skies, a one take lovingly captured between student lessons a couple weeks ago and promptly forgotten until I was writing this blog.
My iPhone 11’s sound quality is rapidly deteriorating, which lends itself beautifully to the retro vibe of this song. You know how I particularly enjoy when imperfection is part of the charm.
What Comes Next
I don’t yet know exactly.
But I do know this: if I’m to return with any regularity, I have to feel free to share what’s actually on my mind — whether it’s heavy or not.
Some of you may welcome it. Some of you may not. That’s okay.
You are the people who have invested in me holistically — not just as a performer on a stage, but as the human being who creates that work. And that deserves honesty and consistency.
There is music in the vault.
There are essays unpolished, but written.
There are reflections on community, power, grief, joy, and building new structures while old ones fall apart or resist.
There are stories about being an auntie. About building a home. About losing spaces and creating new ones.
And, of course, there is music.
This season is complex. It is productive and fraught. It is grief-soaked and deeply joyful. It is political and intimate at once. And it is right for now.
Thank you for being here as lovers of music, as friends, as comrades, as witnesses.
🌿 Updates & Announcements | March 2026 🌿
🎤 Upcoming Events
🎶 Maggie Cocco Acoustic at Whangarei Quarry Gardens
📍 Whangārei Quarry Gardens
🕝 2:30 – 4:00 PM
💲 $10 per person (includes garden access from 1PM)
👶 Children 12 and under free
🎟 Door sales only
Come along for live music in one of Whangārei’s most atmospheric places. Bring deck chairs and picnic rugs to relax and enjoy the serene surroundings. Parking is limited, so please carpool and park considerately.
This one is especially close to my heart — I organized the music series that this event is a part of as well. Thank you to Creative Northland, The Quarry Gardens, and The Rockshop Whangārei for their support.
🌌 Cave Concert at Waipu Glow Worm Cathedral
📍 Milky Way Glowworm Cave, Starburst Cathedral
📅 Saturday 14th March 2026
🕕 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
🎟 $150 | Limited to 65 seats | Ages 16+
Deep inside the Milky Way Glowworm Cave is the Starburst Cathedral — a vast chamber of crystal formations and thousands of glowworms. The acoustics are extraordinary. Dripping water, ancient stone, subterranean stillness.
I’m honoured to be one of the main performers alongside White Chapel Jak, with rising stars Oscar Curtin and Anabelle Tuato’o, and Carina & Sam deVetter at the cave entrance.
This is a truly once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience.
🍷 Maggie Cocco Acoustic at Botticelli Wine Bar
📍 Botticelli Wine Bar
📅 Sunday March 22nd
🕔 5:00 – 8:00 PM
An intimate evening set in one of my favourite local spaces.
🌈 The Giant Drop-In Choir – PRIDE EDITION
📍 In collaboration with Whangārei PROUD
📅 Every Monday in March | NZ Pride Month
💲 Pay What You Can (Recommended $10–$20)
💡 NOTAFLOF – No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds
The Giant Drop-In Choir is a community singing experience where anyone can take part — no auditions, no experience needed.
This Pride Edition celebrates diversity, self-expression, and belonging through song. We’re inviting the rainbow community and allies to connect, make some noise, and experience the power of many voices becoming one.
📀 Project Updates
Like A Moth remains released on CD and vinyl only, available for immediate listening and purchase at Diggers Factory. With the current war-mongering nature of leadership behind many streaming platforms, I am reticent to release digitally until I am satisfied that I can do so in a way that doesn’t risk supporting the war machine. My subconscious is chewing the fat until an answer bursts into my consciousness.
Meanwhile, discussions for the recording of Elodie have begun with co-producer Alex Selman and Harvest Studios.
🎶 Student Sponsorship | Maggie Cocco Music Studio
Maggie Cocco Music Studio currently has four low-income students.
No earnest student is ever turned away due to lack of sponsorship — if sponsorship isn’t secured, I donate my time to ensure they still receive their lessons.
If you would like to help sustain this work and directly support students who are passionate about music but navigating financial constraints, you can:
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Become a paid Patreon supporter
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Make a one-off contribution OR reach out to sponsor a specific student’s weekly lessons
💳 USA Zelle/PayPal: maggiecocco@hotmail.com NZ Bank Transfer: Maggie Cocco Music | 38-9022-0416841-0
Music changes lives. I see it every week.
Thank you for being part of a community that believes access matters. 🤍
🤍 Thank You
If you’re here, you are part of the reason I get to build art and community at the edge of capitalism. Your support has and will always mean the world to me.
More soon.
Floodgates open, blue skies ahead.
Musically yours,
Maggie