IT HAS been 20 years of highs and lows for Anthony McBrien, and tomorrow (Wednesday February 20), at the Enniskillen Hotel, the country music man will be celebrating each and every moment of his long career.
From Derrylin, and the youngest in a family of 14, Anthony has been a popular figure since he first broke through almost two decades ago.
And with a soundtrack at home that included the likes of Big Tom, Philomena Begley and Susan McCann – it seemed that his destiny had already been written.
“I grew up at the start with a lot of music in our house,” said Anthony this week.
“Probably the first thing I ever wanted to do was play drums. I remember having drumsticks and banging them on the leather sofa!”
He also remembered how his used to see cars lined up at Derrylin Hall, as a country star rolled into town.
“When I was younger, I used to look through the glass in the room of the hallway.
“And I remember being 14 or 15 years of age, and see a light – the buzz – and the cars parked out along the street. And I thought to myself, ‘I would love if that was me someday’.”
Close to 15 years ago, with a band intact, that was him.
“That dream came true for me. I played Derrylin Hall. I went down to my fathers for tea, and by then the cars were parked along the street. The hall was packed. And I’ll never forget that. That was a fulfilment for me.”
But before that, it was at a party in Blake’s in Derrylin, that Anthony first took to the stage.
He’d been asked to get up and do a few songs, and not long after, he was on the road for the first time. “I got confidence in myself – I’d go down to the floor. I’d say it was the entertainment factor that people got out of me.
“We got bookings all over the place.”
The band lasted for around seven years, before another was formed at the turn of the century.
“We’d an album on radio, and a band on the road. With that, I thought we were going to pack places. But it wasn’t like that at all.
“After two years, I began to think: This is not easy.
“Any money I had was paying bands. I had no money.”
He then quit music as a whole, playing his last gig in the Allingham in Bundoran in the early 2000s.
“The place was packed. I didn’t let people know beforehand. I announced at the end of the night that this was my last gig – and there was genuine sadness. I’ve tried something here, and it hadn’t worked out like I thought it would.”
It was short-lived, however, and three months later he took the original band back on the road.
“There is no point in saying that I didn’t cry tears – I was never as down in my life as when I’d quit music.”
Anthony then joined with Francie Smith, who he spent seven years with. He is continuing on the road, while also performing on Glor Tire on TG4.
And in the Enniskillen Hotel tomorrow (Wednesday), Anthony will perform along with Robert Mizzell, Susan McCann, John Garrity, Karl Kirkpatrick, and many others, while the doors open at 8.30pm.
With a fifth album in the works, and two DVDs out there, Anthony summed up his twenty years on the road:
“You get paid for a job you do, but every night I go out – and I can’t say I don’t enjoy it.”