LONG TIME...

About the album

Margret RoadKnight is a legend of Australian blues, folk and jazz. Celebrating her 80th birthday in 2023, she also celebrates 60 years as a performer, playing her first gig at the Emerald Hill Theatre in 1963 at the invitation of folk icon Glen Tomasetti.

Long Time is an overview of the second act of Margret RoadKnight's storied career, spanning recordings from 1988-2023. In the 70s and early 80s, Margret released a series of acclaimed albums mostly via Festival Records, including her 1975 hit single Girls In Our Town, still her best-remembered song.

From the late 80s onwards, she took ownership of her music and released albums Moving Target (1988, reissued with newly recorded material in 2002), Fringe Benefits (1993), and An Audience with Margret RoadKnight (1988, reissued with newly recorded material in 1998). Long Time compiles tracks from these releases and adds unreleased material recorded as recently as this year.

The album includes Margret's magical 1990s update of Girls In Our Town, complete with children's recorder chorus. It features a host of guest appearances by the likes of Judy Bailey, Phil Manning, Jeannie Lewis, Judy Jacques and Marian Henderson.

Always an interpreter of others' songwriting rather than a songwriter herself, Margret tackles classics like Imagine, Stormy Weather and Goin' Home and makes them her own, alongside songs by Loudon Wainwright III, Malvina Reynolds and Chris Smither. She also champions undeservedly lesser-known Australian songwriters such as John Shortis, Graham Lowndes, and Frank Jones.

Described by Margret as her final album, Long Time emphasises the strength, wit and consummate artistry of one Australia's most compelling and idiosyncratic performers.