Massive fights ... Husband and wife country music duo Mark and Jay O'Shea require a co-writer to referee their songwriting sessions. Picture Cameron Richardson Source: News Limited
MARK and Jay O’Shea have some explaining to do to fans, thanks to some of the lyrics about cheating husbands on their new album.
Each time husband and wife country act O’Shea perform Sorry I Was Right, Mark is subjected to disgusted glares from the female members of their audience.
The song is a classic country lament about a cheating husband and while Mark and Jay usually draw from their lives for their songs, this one is a cover.
“There’s always a moment when we perform that song and everyone turns and looks at me. It’s quite awkward and we have to address it at almost every gig. I didn’t do it!” Mark said.
Jay added “If he did, he would be dead and I would be in jail.”
The Nashville-based pair are back home to launch their new record The Famine and the Feast at the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival and catch up with family and friends.
The record also features a new version of The Truth Walks Slowly, a song written by Midnight Oil’s Rob Hirst for his solo album.
Family band ... Jay’s birth father Rob Hirst may join them on stage to perform their collaboration The Truth Walks Slowly. Picture: Jay O'Shea Source: Supplied
Jay discovered Hirst was her biological father about four years ago after trying to unlock the secrets of her birth parents for half her life.
The musician and his then girlfriend were teenagers when Jay was born and she was adopted by a loving family in Adelaide.
The O’Sheas hope to perform the song with him during their upcoming Australian tour.
Mark said that the married couple require a co-writer if they are going to compose a song together.
“We never used to be able to write together because it would end up in a massive fight,” he said.
“So when we write together, we need a third person.
Jay added: “We affectionately call them the referee.”
The pair, who have two daughters Finley, 3 and August, 18 months, have joined a growing community of Australian musicians and songwriters who live and work in Nashville, including Keith Urban, Tommy Emmanuel and former Oils bassist Bones Hillman.
Nashville natives ... The O’Sheas have become fast friends with the Australians living in America’s country music capital. Picture Cameron Richardson. Source: News Limited
They also star in their own television series for the influential CMC network in the US.
The Famine and The Feast is their third record as a duo after they spent several years pursuing their respective solo careers, which for Jay included a stint as a backing singer for INXS.
Their take on country music isn’t chained to the genre’s cliches — although the lyrics dwell on the themes of “falling in and out of love”, according to Jay.
But Mark said their country music bona fides are rooted in their lifestyle rather than how much banjo is on the album. And he loves the banjo.
“I have been with the same woman for 18 years, I grew up in a country town in Queensland, family is incredibly important to me, I love a drink, I go to church every Sunday, and to me that all says country,” he said.
“Not having banjo on a track doesn’t make it any less country and you could say the same about half of the top 20 songs on the country charts right now.”
The Famine and the Feast is released today and they kick off their national tour at the Capitol theatre in Tamworth on January 23. For all tour dates, therealoshea.com.
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