This tour, Fleming's first major U.S. tour, began last week in New York and will take him along the East Coast and end in Illinois.
It was a world tour in the mid-1990s as lead vocalist with the popular, traditional, Irish band De Danann that "became like an apprenticeship," Fleming says. "It's where I learned my craft."
At the end of his stint with that band, in 1996, Fleming received a record deal and began a solo career that has produced eight albums.
Fleming hasn't had time to write music, but he's planning to change that when he sits down with some other writers to work on a new studio album in 2009.
"It's something different. I'm in that place now that I really want to (write songs)," Fleming says. He will collaborate on some of the songs with experienced songwriters such as well-known Irish songwriters Don Mescall (he's written for Rascal Flatts and Backstreet Boys) and Paul McDonald (he's written for Irish singer Mary Black) as well as American writers like John Gorka (Mary Chapin Carpenter and Maura O'Connell) and Eric Long (Black and O'Connell).
But before he can start work on that album, Fleming will work on his first Christmas album this summer.
Fleming says he'll "probably decorate the studio in Christmas trees to get in the mood."
He plans to record the holiday songs he learned as a child -- "Silent Night," "O Holy Night" and "In the Bleak Midwinter."
"I really want to do that at this stage," Fleming says. "There's something about Christmas songs. They bring you back to your childhood. There's a feel-good factor."
That would be the childhood when he performed at small-town Irish talent shows as a teenager for the prize money, maybe $200 or $500.
Then at 19 he was named entertainer of the year by an Irish radio station and won $1,000.
He used his prize money to take girls out, buy a crappy car and get equipment like a sound system so he could play in bars and get experience and make more money.
"It was a vicious circle," Fleming says. And it got him to where he is today.
If you go ...
WHAT: The Tommy Fleming Band, concert of classic Irish and American songs and contemporary Irish songs
WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, March 15
WHERE: Weinberg Center for the Arts, 20 W. Patrick St., Frederick, Md.
COST: Tickets are $10 to $25
MORE: For tickets or more information, call 301-600-2828 or go to www.weinbergcenter.org.
For more information about Tommy Fleming, go to www.tommyfleming.net.
