About
Meet the people behind Magy's Farm
A unique experience for performers and audiences alike
Jazz veteran Linley Hamilton and his wife Maggie have been hosting jazz gigs here since 2019 and have featured most of the top players in the industry globally including Eddie Henderson, Larry Goldings with Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart, Jason Rebello and Tim Garland, Liane Carroll, Enemy, Trio Grande, Jim Mullen, Ant Law with Alex Hitchcock, Kit Downes and a host of Irish performers like Hugh Buckley, Derek O'Connor, Kevin Brady, Paul Dunlea, Christine Toibin and many more.
The Magy's Farm experience is quite unique for performers and audiences alike. The bands are treated as guests in the home of Linley and Maggie, staying overnight and having meals provided with opportunities to walk in the spectacular landscape and meet the animals including two donkeys who live on the farm. The audiences are invited to join the hosts and performers for a casual drink in the farmhouse kitchen before the show starts and may also meet the musicians after the show for a drink and a snack.
World class jazz in a rural area
The atmosphere is welcoming, warm and inclusive with Linley reminding everyone that great musicianship is about playing 'for and with' the audience rather than 'to and at'. New generation jazz artists are encouraged to attend and perform short opening sets for the main acts and to take the opportunity to have one to one discussions about their musicianship and aspirations.
Regular attendees enjoy the connections and friendships forged at these jazz evenings and, of course, the opportunity to hear world class jazz in a rural area where there are limited opportunities to experience the art form outside the cities.
Meet the founders
Maggie Doyle
Maggie is an award winning radio producer and former Editor of Music Programmes at BBC Radio Ulster where she worked for many years before taking early retirement in 2019. She graduated with an MA in Creative Writing with distinction from Queen's University Belfast in 2021 and published her first book 'Mountain Notes - A Nature Diary' in December 2021. She is currently taking a Diploma in Poetry course at Queen's University Belfast and plans to release her first collection in 2024.
She has co-written a song called 'Serenita' with Jude Johnstone which was included in Jude's last album 'Living Room' and she co-wrote an instrumental called 'Carmel' (a tribute to her sister) which Linley included on his album 'Making Other Arrangements'.
She also presents and produces a podcast called 'The Mountain Gate' about nature and the creative arts in her local area. You can listen to the podcast series here.
She is committed to supporting the growth of music on Magy's Farm and firmly believes in the power of music to provide joy and well being in people's lives.
Meet the founders
Linley Hamilton
Linley has been a part of the Irish music scene for over thirty years and since then he has juggled a career as a trumpet player with being a BBC Jazz Broadcaster and an educator. There have been many career highlights in the past with significant performances or recordings with Paul Brady, Van Morrison, Foy Vance, Jacqui Dankworth, ASIWYFA, Oppenheimer and Gareth Dunlop to name a few, but he is working just as hard as ever these days and is celebrating success with his own recent albums 'Taylor Made' and 'In Transition', which he recorded with his quintet of Johnny Taylor piano, Julien Colarossi guitar, Damien Evans bass and Dominic Mullen drums.
The last ten years has seen a concerted effort to reroute himself back to Jazz, and in 2009 he graduated from DIT Dublin with a 1st Class Masters in Jazz Performance and the celebrated Student Academic Medal. Since then he has completed his PhD in Jazz Performance at Ulster University Magee, and is now as such, 'Dr Jazz!' His radio show 'Jazz World' on BBC Radio Ulster was shortlisted twice for the Irish Radio Awards
In February 2014, Jazz UK dedicated 3 pages of their magazine to profiling him and his continued work in the UK. Since then, he has been a featured Soloist with the Ulster Orchestra, playing tunes from his latest albums at Derry Jazz Festival, and taking up a full-time Lecturing post at Ulster University. 'Making Other Arrangements', was recorded and released in March 2018. It features Linley as the Soloist with his own 21-piece band - full rhythm section, woodwind and a 12-piece String section. Arrangements were by Cian Boylan with tracks including 'Here's to Life', 'After the Love Has Gone' and 'What are You Doing the Rest of Your Life'...heady times indeed... His album 'For the Record' was released and toured in March 2020 just before the lockdown, an album of original material that saw Linley joined by Adam Nussbaum drums, Mark Egan bass, Cian Boylan piano and Derek 'DOC' O'Connor sax. His new album 'Ginger's Hollow' will be released in May 2023 and Linley will be touring with the same band.
Visit Linley's website at linleyhamilton.com
Magy's Farm merchandise is here!
We've got Magy's Farm t-shirts and tote bags available to order.
Pricing & ordering
T-shirts: £15 / Tote bags: £10
Email info@magysfarm.co.uk to order, or get them at one of our shows!