About
Irish Country Music recording artists Thomas Maguire & Fhiona Ennis tour Ireland & the UK as a self contained professional duo performing at Dances, Social Dances, Weddings, Concerts & Parties.
Make an enquiry
Our story
Fhiona Ennis
Fhiona who hails from Ballymurn in County Wexford comes from a family of six children and Country music has been instilled into her from a very early age resulting in her genuine love for it and a dream to one day record her own album.
Fhiona is no stranger to the recording studio having already performed on Michael English's September 11th Fundraising single "We'll All Stand Together" in 2001. She has also shared the stage with Declan Nerney, Mick Flavin and Jimmy Buckley who have encouraged her along the way to fulfil her dream and commit her voice to tape. Mary Duff has also been an inspiration for Fhiona and has indeed honoured Fhiona by way of giving her the award for "Most Promising Newcomer" at two of her yearly award ceremony's held at her Newtown Country Club in County Meath.
Prior to joining forces with Thomas in 2005, Fhiona Ennis from Ballymurn, Co Wexford has enjoyed great solo success having toured with USA singer/songwriter legend Leona Williams and Moe Bandy as part of their Irish schedules. Fhiona also joined Leona in Nashville for some concerts during the CMA festival 2005 including a live broadcast on the legendary Ernest Tubb's Midnight Jamboree Radio Show. Fhiona was voted "Best Female Newcomer" at the 2005 "Country & Irish Entertainment Magazine" award show.
Thomas Maguire
Thomas Maguire was born in Irvinestown in the beautiful Lakeland county of Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. He is one of a family of ten. From an early age Thomas showed a keen interest in music and one of his first great achievements was being announced overall winner at the Lady Of The Lake Festival talent competition held in his native Fermanagh. His first musical stint came at the age of fourteen when he volunteered to stand in for his brother Nigel who was playing drums in a local duo at the time and didn't turn in one Saturday night due to his preference for a pint that particular night! This was to be the start of band life for Thomas as he replaced his brother as the drummer in the band and following that moved on to play in local groups "Memphis" and "Chantilly Lace" before moving on to play guitar in a band called "Footsteps". Love led Thomas to London when his girlfriend moved across the water to study. By day he worked as an electrical quantity surveyor and by night he played music. He soon built up a good reputation around the local pub and club scene as a solo artist and became busier and busier with his music. The 5th of June 1995 was to be a sad day in Thomas' life and also an important turning point. On this day his father Tommy passed away and shortly after that Thomas made the big decision to concentrate on what was truly important in his life. This was to be his music and so he said goodbye to the financial security of his nine to five employment and made music his full time occupation. At this time Thomas enrolled in "The London School Of Singing" where he had his voice trained and at the same time furthered his fretboard skills in "The Guitar Institute Of London". This was to prove to be a very wise investment for the future and one which has reaped many rewards. Thomas has a unique voice which is instantly recognisable.
A chain of life events found Thomas facing a break up in his personal relationship. Consequently this led him to put pen to paper and write his very first country song. "Where Did We Go Wrong" was to be another major turning point in Thomas' musical career as it opened doors for him when he released it as the leading track on a 5 track EP released in May 1999. Around this time he also met up with two London based songwriters Gavin Sparks and Kay Shelley who also made a contribution to his first recording with their song "Maisie". Another original title "You're Gonna Need Me" was written by Eamonn McPhilomey.
By this time Thomas had gathered a loyal following of fans in London and as his success as a solo artist grew he yearned for bigger things and made plans to establish a band around him. "Thomas and his Band" had arrived and performed the Country and Irish music scene around London and the Home Counties for over a year and established themselves as one of the leading bands on the local music scene. Their ultimate moment of fame came when Thomas and the band were asked to perform in the famous Galtymore Club in Cricklewood in London where many of Thomas' musical heroes had played. His hard work and determination eventually paid off when in February 2000 Thomas was presented with a crystal award at the Irish World Millennium Awards Ceremony for "Best Act On The London Circuit".
During 1999 and 2000 Thomas had three number 1 hits on the London Irish Spectrum Radio Show, all of which were original songs. "Where Did We Go Wrong" spent nine weeks at the coveted number one spot, followed by "Irvinestown My Home" written by Thomas and Irvinestown-born Dan Rowe and finally "A Lifetime's A Long Time" written by Henry McMahon.
Thomas had a lifelong ambition to make music his career and having begun the climb up the ladder of success, he craved more. He had been approached by a couple of managers from Ireland and though he had promoted and managed himself up until now with the help of two good friends, he felt that it was perhaps time to secure a better future for his career.
At this time Henry Mc Mahon from Castleblayney who was one of the original Mainliners approached Thomas and negotiations began and by October 2000 Thomas had made the big decision to relocate back home to Ireland as his new manager Henry wanted to launch his career where the true heart of Country and Irish music lay. Henry carefully auditioned men for the new band and the end result has been astounding; a well experienced group of musicians who have come together to perform a fabulous show wherever they play. To launch the new direction in which Henry was pointing Thomas, Henry wrote a song entitled "A Lifetime's A Long Time" which was released just prior to the launch of Thomas and his new band.
Since October 2000 Thomas' popularity has grown and grown and he has travelled the width and breadth of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales in his dream to bring his music to a wider audience. He has been interviewed extensively on national and local radio stations and is currently receiving airplay in Denmark, Australia and the USA as well as in his homeland and the UK. Thomas has appeared on the popular BBC Ulster TV show "Hugo and Friends" which was transmitted in 2001.
Throughout his short career to date Thomas has performed alongside many of his musical heroes he grew up listening to such as Big Tom, Brian Coll, Larry Cunningham, Gene Stuart and Foster and Allen and the present day favourites Declan Nerney, Eamon McCann, Mick Flavin, Jimmy Buckley and Martin Cuffe to name but a few.
Ireland's ambassador for music Daniel O'Donnell praised Thomas in his Sunday World music column when he wrote "Thomas is set to be one of our big stars of the future".
March 2001 saw the release of Thomas' debut album. "Margie's At The Lincoln Park Inn" is a great mixture of lively jives, waltzes and foxtrots and contains no less than seventeen tracks, many of which are original material. Thomas was thrilled when Fr Brian D'Arcy offered to write the sleeve notes for the album.
In November 2001 K-Mac records released his single "Way Back Then" penned by his manager Henry Mc Mahon. This song showed Thomas' vocal versatility as it strayed from his country roots in the form of a rock and roll/showband type number delivered flawlessly and arguably his most commercial offering to date.
March 2002 saw the release of a double A sided single. "Take Me Home Johnny" an original waltz and "I Want You To Want Me" a pop song from the eighties which has been countrified. This single led to an invitation to appear on RTE Television's Open House and raised Thomas' profile in the music industry even further.
June 19th 2002 saw another first in Thomas? career in the form of his very first televised concert, recorded live in the An Glor Theatre, Ennis ,Co Clare which was screened on TG4 as part of their "Ceol Tire" series.
A new single was released in Sept 2002 entitled "Leona" which was originally recorded by Mel Tillis way back in 1974. "Leona" tells the story of a fun loving young lady who captures the heart of an older man in pursuit of his wealth and ends with an interesting twist to the tale. This song has reached the number one chart position in many local radio stations.
At the Country Music Ireland Awards in Oct 2002, Thomas was voted as "Best Male Artist Of The Year" and to date has picked up many accolades, "Best Young Entertainer Of The Year", "Best Recording Artist", "Best Album" to name but a few. Thomas is well on his way to establishing himself as one of the leading household name's on the Irish country circuit and is set to be around for many years to come.
ALBUMS
Thomas has recorded five Albums to date. "Margie's at the Lincoln Park Inn", "Thomas Maguire sings", "Promised To John" and "We're Still Together" with Fhiona Ennis and their latest album "Solid As A Rock".
