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Charlie Maguire brings a strong background in composition and community engagement to Continental Harmony. He attended Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, graduating in 1970. He served in VISTA teaching English as a second language through singing, working with migrant workers in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming.
He was mentored by Lee Hays, composer of "If I Had A Hammer" for over ten years and was introduced through him to the world of professional folk music, including the work and lives of traditional folk giants Woody Guthrie, Huddie Ledbetter, and Cisco Houston.
Following VISTA, a chance meeting with Garrison Keillor in the fall of 1974 led to 10 years of regular appearances on public radio's ever-popular "A Prairie Home Companion." During that time he wrote and performed some of his most requested songs: "Play Us A Waltz," "Talking Home Improvement," and "Getting In The Cows" which is included on "A Prairie Home Companion's Tenth Anniversary Album."
With some 800 songs (handled by the Harry Fox Agency and Broadcast Music, Inc.) and seven albums to his credit, Maguire has toured coast to coast in the US and Canada. He is a member of AF of M Local 30/73, a founder of AF of M Local 1000, and a founding member of the June Apple Musician's Co-op, Train-on-the-Island Records.
His songs have been featured in two musicals, and on Good Morning America-50 States-One Nation-One Year Tour, as well as The CBS Evening News, Car Talk, Hometime, As It Happens and other national and internationally broadcast programs.
He lives in Minneapolis with his wife of 31 years, Mary Jamin-Maguire, and has 2 children, Elsie Jamin-Maguire, who attends Sarah Lawrence College, and James Jamin-Maguire.
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"DownRiver!" is a fantastic opportunity for my work. The diverse community of people along the Pend Oreille River, and the familiar terrain along the Washington-Idaho border is like going home for me.
On my writing days, I come to the table in my studio at home with only a guitar and a yellow legal pad to start! But after the music and lyrics take shape, the Director, Musical Director, Playwright, and the actors all have a say into what the piece eventually becomes on the stage. Yes, it can be overwhelming! But it can also be some of the best musical and career memories a composer will ever have. I know, because I been lucky enough to have it happen to me!
As a solo folk act, touring the Northwest over the years, I have felt like the central character in "DownRiver!", mapmaker and explorer David Thompson. We both have come to this great part of United States and have been seduced by its rugged beauty and lifestyle. Like David Thompson, I know that success depends on how well I can chart my musical map of the countryside, and with every trip to the Pend Oreille the songs and experiences are flowing like a river!
For the first time on a big project, I am making extensive use of the web so that others can share in the creative process of this world-premiere musical. Please visit http://www.charliemagure.com for up-to-date versions of the songs complete with guitar chords and Mp3 files you can hear, to learn and sing the songs as I sing them, and visit this site at Continental Harmony for additional thoughts and stories from the front row of one of the Northwest's great musical/historical stories.
I'll be in touch!
-Charlie Maguire
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Newport, WA
Newport's Continental Harmony project brings together the citizens of Pend Oreille County through a production of "Downriver!!"-- a fictionalized drama based on the life of David Thompson, the first European to visit the area. A fur trader and cartographer, Thompson first traveled to the area in 1807.
learn more about this project
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