Jay O’Shea is putting on a Wiggles DVD for her daughter Finley as we chat.
It’s a busy time for Jay with another baby on the way and just having toured with her husband Mark as the ‘O’Shea’s, supporting Sir Cliff Richard on his recent Australian tour. Such has been the success of the tour that Cliff has said next time he is in Australia he wants the O’Shea’s to be his support act again! Jay and Mark were impressed with Cliff’s energy and ability to treat everyone, from band members to the cleaner, with the same amount of interest and respect.
Jay has only been to Tasmania once when she and Mark supported Shannon Noll in Launceston. The couple had planned to have their honeymoon in Tasmanian but due to it clashing with the Sydney Hobart yacht race Tassie was just too busy to accommodate them.
Before coming part of the successful O’Shea’s husband and wife had their separate careers and Jay’s was very eclectic.
After finishing high school Jay was in a dance drill group that toured the UK including taking part in the Edinburgh military tattoo.
Jay also had one of her songs translated into Spanish for Spanish idol winner Chenoa.
With Jay spending time in London and Mark in LA the husband and wife finally got together in a performance capacity in Nashville and although at first they were a bit apprehensive about performing together that was what eventuated.
In Nashville both were performing in The Blue Bar. The coming together arose out of necessity. Jay didn’t have a guitar so needed Mark and Mark needed a lead singer and Jay came to the rescue and so O’Shea was born.
The couple are now based in Nashville where Jay has done some staff writing(the method of song writers collaborating for a selected period of time perhaps 9 to 5 to write songs), first not seeing it as the perfect environment for creativity, but has since come around to its advantages.
Jay describes it as like taking a rod to the lake to catch fish, if you do this, nine out of ten times you are bound to catch something, similarly being brought together to talk with other great writers the chances are you are bound to write some wonderful songs.
Jay and Mark have also branched out into television in the US taking part in a reality TV show called ‘Can you duet’. Their agent suggested it as a way of giving them valuable exposure and Jay also believes it was a great learning curve. Jay and Mark reached the top twenty and by doing so where invited to stay at the Gaylord Opryland Resort hotel, touted as the largest in the northern hemisphere.
The O’Shea’s are also being kept busy working as travel ambassadors for Australia alongside other famous Australian’s like the Wiggles, ironically Finley is attempting to put the latter’s DVD in the CD machine or vice versa!
Another project of the O’Shea’s is working as TV presenters on one of the country music channels. Jay says she and Mark prefer to keep their job of presenters as real as possible, talking as though they would in their home together with a friendly banter.
Today Jay and I are also talking about the new single ‘Thank you Angels’ the title of which was taken from Jay’s mantra; she would repeat when Mark underwent heart surgery for a congenital heart problem. The single is being used for HeartKids, a charity helping children through the same health issues as Mark. Jay tells me to make the whole situation of Mark’s ordeal a little lighter ,that when she mentioned thank you angels to Mark he quipped, tubes and all, it would make a great song!
While the inspiration for the song was Mark, the O’Shea’s stress they dedicate the song as a thank you to all people in the community who help and work thanklessly for others.
You can read more about HeartKids here:
http://www.heartkidsqld.org.au/
The O’Shea’s new album ‘One + One’
Paula Xiberras
