STEPHEN MAGUIRE

Yorkton This Week - September 3, 2008

Irish singer has strong Yorkton ties
By Calvin Daniels
Staff Writer

Stephen Maguire was born in Ireland where he learned Irish traditional music which he know blends with rhythm and blues for his own unique sound.

A sound Maguire will be bringing to The Spot in Yorkton tomorrow (Thursday).

Maguire said music has always been part of his life, so much so that he really can't define when his career began.

“Music has always been in my life... so I don't see it so much as a start but a continuation,” he said in an email interview with Yorkton This Week.

The start in, and the love of, music began with Maguire's father.

“I was strongly influenced by what my dad played to me when I was younger,” said Maguire. “He would play songs from artists like from Van Morrison, who he played in a band with; The Mamas & Papas; The Beach Boys; various blues artists and various Irish traditional artists. So quite an eclectic mix in all.”

It was that eclectic mix which helped Maguire fashion is current sound.

“To be honest, I'd probably have to say it's a fusion of all the above and a wee bit of Stephen Maguire thrown in,” he said.

The combined stylistic approach has been one which has allowed Maguire to tour extensively. He said he has performed “right across the UK and Ireland,” adding “I am now currently enjoying touring Canada and in November I head to Paris for shows at EuroDisney.”

Maguire said a definite career highlight to-date was performing at supporting Westlife at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.

“Over the 12 nights, we performed to over 120,000 people,” he said, adding he has also performed at “the Turning on of the Christmas Tree Lights at Belfast City Centre to over 40,000, singing my Christmas song 'Message from the Heart' which will be available throughout Saskatchewan this Christmas.”

And most recently for Maguire a highlight has been “finishing my self-titled album, and just getting to meet people across the prairies... hearing their story and hoping they enjoy mine.”

The new CD has a definite Yorkton connection said Maguire noting, “it was recorded in Freedom Sound Recording with John Anaka. It was a very relaxed process and the whole time just seemed to flow nicely.”

The material on the CD covers more than a decade of writing for Maguire.

“Some of the songs have been with me for over 10 years, some kind of wrote themselves,” he said. “I would describe it as a real organic process. I just don't sit down and say today I will write a song. It kind of happens to me naturally. Like in Amsterdam, I wrote Citylife in a hotel room, as I people-watched from the window.”

The finished product is one Maguire is happy with noting he is “very happy with the finished project. I always wanted to record a solo album that had a live feel. And yes, in the not so distant future, you will be hearing my music on the radio in Canada.”

Recording the CD in Yorkton was a natural for Maguire since his wife Tera (formerly Schneider) grew up in the city, finally moving away to college in 1999.

Tera Maguire explained that after university her career choices took her to Ireland, where she was involved in hockey, and where she met her future husband.

“Following university, graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in marketing, I was really wanting to get into sport marketing. I applied to this World Sport Management Internship Program and was one of six Canadians selected to go over to the UK to work in their pro hockey league,” he said. “Two of us were placed in Belfast, doing everything from marketing and PR to answering phones and responding to emails.

“It was an amazing experience, professionally and culturally, and of course meeting Stephen.

“The majority of our team were from Canada, some having had stints in the NHL or drafted earlier in their careers. The year after I was there, Theo Fleury became a Belfast Giant.”

As for meeting Stephen, Tera explained it was something of a chance happening.

“I actually knew Stephen's sisters first. One of his sisters is a dance teacher and choreographer and we
started up cheerleaders for the team,” she said. “His other sister managed Stephen's band that had done appearances at Giants games. We were trying to get them to perform at an upcoming game and she said to come check them at one of their shows. Myself and the other intern went, but it wasn't until a month later that we met! One of the hockey players invited us all on a night out, Stephen and I ended up sitting next to each other, and the rest is history ...”

However, Tera was soon back in Canada, which was good in terms of her career, but hard on a relationship.

“After being with the Giants, I was offered a job doing media relations and communications with the U of S Huskies in Saskatoon,” she said. “It was the exact reason I went over to Belfast. It was really hard being away from each other, but Stephen was getting over every couple months. And when we were apart, we would just focus on our careers; Stephen touring all over, and I got to be part of some amazing national and international sporting events, dealing with media from all over the country.

“There were some hard times, but now coming out the other side of it, we wouldn't change it at all.”

Married last summer in Yorkton, Tera is now managing her husband's career. She said so far it has worked well.

“Well, I haven't been fired yet,” she said, adding a smile to the email text.

“Seriously though, things are going really well. My background and expertise in marketing and PR, and Stephen's knowledge of the music industry, has been a really good fit. It's been a lot of work, but the shows make it all worth it.”

Stephen Maguire began his career in Ireland, but is now concentrating on Canada. He said the music scenes in both countries share commonalities.

“The music scene in Ireland is and always has been very vibrant. There is talent on every corner,” he said.

“Since I've been here in Canada, I've found it's been very similar. Everyone comes out to the shows, everyone's up for having a great time.”

Looking down the road Stephen has his career focused on performing in the short term, and taking what comes down the road musically.

“The most important thing to me in the immediate future is the CIBC Run for the Cure, for breast cancer research, that I'm performing at, and I would encourage the people of Yorkton to make the trip to Saskatoon for this very worthwhile cause,” he said. “I'm looking forward to going to Paris to perform at EuroDisney for five nights and spending Christmas with my family in Ireland. As far as the next year goes, you will just have to keep locked to stephenmaguirelive.com because you never know where I'm going to show up next.”

As for the gig at The Spot in Yorkton, Tera said it was a natural given her connection to the community.

“My mom and dad (Ken and Violet Schneider) still live there, and Yorkton will always be home to me,” she said. “We had our wedding in Yorkton, and it holds a special place with Stephen too. When we decided he'd be touring the prairies, we really wanted to have that be a stop. I went to school with Brennan (Wiens) and Mackenzie (Unyi), and Aaron (Kienle) is the other owner of The Spot, and they've been great to work with. We're really looking forward to the show.”