In 1972 Mick Hipkiss was running the Skillet Pot folk club in the center of
Birmingham. The club was a magnet for singers and musicians with many, now
famous names visiting the club on a regular basis. Mick, when not singing
unaccompanied ballads, was usually backed by a guitarist. One Sunday
evening Clive turned up with a double bass and asked if he could join in, the
answer was yes and the beginnings of a band emerged. The usual guitarist
didn't appear one night and Pete, who was a regular at the club, just
 happened to have a guitar with him and offered to stand in.

This combination worked well. Soon a fiddle player came along and then Keith
 Kerans who was (and is) a very talented multi instrumentalist, specializing in
five string banjo, teamed up with, what was at the time, an informal group of
 musicians enjoying themselves. Dave Phillips, a fine vocalist, guitarist and
 stalwart of Birmingham's folk scene completed the line up.

The group played together for several weeks at the Skillet Pot and it wasn't
long before people started asking about the possibility of appearing at other
venues. Mick had always had it in the back of his mind that if he formed a
group he would call it Drowsy Maggie after one of his favorite traditional Irish
reels, and so it was that Drowsy Maggie made their first appearance outside
the Skillet Pot at the Barrels Folk club in Nottingham.

Since then there have been several line up changes, But Mick, Clive and Pete
 are still performing with the group today.