Sligo singer Tommy Fleming will give a concert in Leisureland on February 20 as part of a nationwide tour which has seen him sell out venues such as Belfast’s Ulster Hall, the National Concert Hall in Dublin and Portlaoise’s Heritage Hotel.

The tour follows the release of his latest album, Song for a Winter’s Night in December.

Tommy, who is one of Ireland’s biggest selling solo artists, has built up a hugely successful career at home and abroad since he first caught the ear of singer-songwriter Phil Coulter in the early 1990s, while playing with a local band. Shortly afterwards Coulter invited him to become a guest singer on the Derry man’s tours, which he did, taking in venues from the Cork Opera House to Carnegie Hall.

Tommy then spent three years with Galway based trad group de Dannan before leaving to pursue a solo career. His first solo album, Different Side of Life was released in 1996, followed by Restless Spirit on the Dara label in 1998. Despite a huge set back when he broke his neck in a car crash that same year Tommy has enjoyed great success since then.

A year after the accident he started working on The Contender, which saw him focus on songs by Irish writers, But, he wasn’t content to be slotted into one genre and followed on with Sand and Water, featuring work from such varied talents as Tom Waits, Dan Fogelberg, Callum McCall and John Hurley.

Tommy is famous for his own arrangements of Danny Boy, Isle of Innisfree and Hard Times. He also covers songs from different genres, such as You Raise Me Up to Bridge over Troubled Waters, Summer in Dublin and Something Inside so Strong. Basically, as he says himself, he is interested in focusing on songs “that tell a good story”

He has described singing “as an extension of myself. I sing everywhere, even when I'm not getting paid to sing”.

Tommy’s Voice of Hope album, recorded at Knock Basilica in 2004, was the Number 1 selling CD and Number 2 selling DVD in Ireland during 2005 and 2006. It stayed in the album charts for 26 weeks after its release in October 2005 and re-appeared there in November 2006. This album continues to sell and was Tommy’s most successful release ever.

Last December, the singer returned to the Knock Basilica for a special concert to mark the fifth anniversary of the first staging of this event.

A Journey Home, meanwhile, which was recorded at the INEC, Killarney in 2007 went on to be one of the biggest Irish releases of 2007/08. The DVD was Number 1 for 10 weeks and the CD reached multi-platinum status after a few short weeks of sale. This album and DVD continue to sell all over the world.

Tommy spent much of last year touring other parts of the world, and along with selling 150,000 concert seats in Ireland, he also sold-out a 20 date Australian tour, finishing with a three-night run in Sydney. A return visit and a further tour to Australia are now planned for October.
Meanwhile, Galway fans of the man with the distinctive soaring voice can catch him in Leisureland on February 20.

Tickets for Tommy’s Leisureland show are available from Zhivago, 091-509960 and Ticketmaster outlets.