 A
long time resident of the Clear Lake, TX (Houston/NASA) area,
McGuire is known for his original ‘gulf coast flavored’ songs
ranging from country to calypso/tropical, folk and rock. His CD
“Redfish Island” was just released in 2000 and contains a collection
of songs he wrote inspired by his sailing experiences in the Bahamas,
Florida Keys, Mexico and on the Texas Gulf coast.
Redfish Island
was an island in Galveston Bay close to the ship channel and until
the last hurricane washed it away, was the favorite anchorage
for all the local boating crowd. There are two songs about Redfish
on the CD thus
the title “Redfish Island”;
one about unrealized dreams and the Redfish Island most of the
world-cruising boats never venture further than, and the sequel,
“Where Did Redfish Go”, a humorous story about trying to find
the now submerged Redfish Island . Other songs such as “Major
Doubts About Waterspouts” relates a true story of a sailing regatta
Kelly raced in from Galveston to Tuxpan, Mexico.
Listening
to his music one notices a Jimmy Buffett influence and Kelly readily
admits, “after hearing Buffett sing about sailing and islands,
I dreamed of getting a boat and writing songs about that whole
lifestyle.” A few years later his dream began to materialize.
Growing
up in Missouri, McGuire soon ended up performing in Dallas after
traveling Oklahoma, New Mexico, Missouri and Canada and bought
his first boat, a Hobie16. He soon traded up to a 24’ sailboat
with a cabin and almost every day, when he wasn’t writing jingles
for a Dallas based advertising company, he spent on his boat
docked at Lake Grapevine just north of DFW airport. Nights he
sang at local clubs, restaurants and a chain of family pizza parlors
called Shotgun Sams. “The pizza business was big-time for singers
in the 70’s and 80’s providing a great alternative to the club
scene. Kids would sit all around the edge of the stage and sing
along with me. Even now I love to get kids up on stage with us
singing and shaking the tambourine and shakers. ”
Kelly
soon made the move to the Clear Lake area after what began as
just a two week engagement at a new Tony Roma’s that had opened
in Houston. While there he discovered Galveston Bay and the Seabrook/Kemah
area and took a job selling yachts and teaching sailing while
living aboard his now larger 32’ boat.
Moving up his dream ladder he was now immersed in the boating
world daytime and sang at the floating and legendary Turtle Club
and Lakewood Yacht Club at night.
The
yacht brokerage business was doing well, so after many years of
performing five and six nights a week, McGuire took a much needed
break from singing to recharge his creative batteries. Within
a year he began to do what he had wanted to do all his life… write
songs. They say ‘write what you know’ and he had an ocean of inspiration
from his cruising trips, islands and boats.
Focusing
mainly on his country songs, he went to Nashville to record them
hoping a major artist would cut one of them. He also took along
a collection of songs about islands and sailing planning to record
them as a novelty to hand out to sailing friends. Everyone involved
in the studio noticed right away that the nautical songs seemed
to ‘come alive’ as they were recorded and the collection became
“Redfish Island”. Kelly says, “ It felt like magic hearing these
songs that had been such a part of me come to life. They were
like my children.” “Redfish Island is sold Nationally through
boating stores and is played on radio stations all across the
US.
"Club
Blonde” & “I Cried For Mama” , which was a special release
for Mothers Day, have been released Nationally as singles to over
2,000 radio stations in the US & Europe. 
Several of those songs have won awards from organizations such
as Austin Songwriters Group, Fort Bend Songwriters Assoc.
and The Nashville Network (TNN). Fan favorites include
“Club Blonde” and “Wasted On The Young” and “The Fairytale” among
others he performs at his shows. Both CDs have great musicians
on them such as Greg Morrow, the drummer on the last two Dixie
Chicks CDs, Wayne Toups, Robby Springfield, co-producer Doug Deforest
and others.
Kelly
is also passionate about art since childhood and paints in oil
and watercolor. Studying with some of the best plein aire painters
in the country he loves the practice of painting on location as
the impressionists did. He also is an avid volleyball player and
enjoys sailing, diving, rollerblading and mountain biking.
Kelly
is a supporter of Galveston Bay Foundation, protecting the coastal
estuaries, and donated a portion from the sale of his CD “Redfish
Island”. He is also an avid supporter of the American Cancer
Society’s ‘Silver Dollar Ball’ in the Bay area, performing
for the last four years with acts such as Jerry Jeff Walker, The
Bellamy Brothers and Asleep At The Wheel to raise funds for cancer
research.
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