Manus McGuire

Manus McGuire grew up in Sligo in the northwest of Ireland, an area rich in traditional music and one that has produced many of the country's outstanding fiddle players. It was in the early 1980s that the Manus and his brother Seamus formed Buttons and Bows, the seminal Irish group that went on to record three albums and receive rave notices on both sides of the Atlantic. In the early 1990s, Manus helped form Moving Cloud; a County Clare based band that also features Lúnasa's Kevin Crawford. Their self-titled, 1994 release was voted album of the year by the Irish Echo. Foxglove (GLCD1186), their second recording, followed to great acclaim in 1997.

Saffron and Blue (GLCD1206) is Manus McGuire's first solo album. The album encompasses the diverse strands of his musical experiences from Ireland, Scotland, Shetland and French Canada. It further exhibits his recent compositions in the form of waltzes, hornpipes, jigs and reels, all products of his newfound creativity.

Brock McGuire Band(2004)

The Brock - McGuire Band is receiving rave reviews everywhere they go. Here's a quote from Bill Margeson of Liveireland.com:

"Now, down to the business at hand. Brock-McGuire is the best Irish traditional instrumental group in the world, and has----unbelievably---surpassed Moving Cloud. Let us suffer no disagreement here. The album matches the group. This is the deal. Paul Brock is now the pre-eminent button box player in the tradition. Manus McGuire has won our Award for Musician of the Year for his solo album, Saffron and Blue. His fiddle playing is the best Clare has to offer, which is fab. These two masters are joined by equally gifted banjo whiz, Enda Scahill. Lending a family feel is Ferghal Scahill on guitar, bodhran and fiddle. Ferghal has won a number of All-Ireland Championships on rhythm, fiddle and guitar. Enda is the five-time All-Ireland on banjo. He is the best banjo player in traditional music. Period. There is no counting the number of All-Irelands Brock and McGuire won in their days of competition. All-Irelands are hardly the best way to measure these things. Let's drop that now. A real, secret weapon of the group is Ireland's best piano player and one of the great composers, Denis Carey. A stunning musician, gifted in composition as well. Music falls out of this guy. His piano, among 51 other instruments he plays, is perfection. You may have noticed that we are proclaiming these musicians as " the best " on each of their instruments. Yup. That's the point. No group has this concentration of truly gifted heavyweights of this caliber. Trust us."
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