The Ancient Greek storyteller, Aesop, is credited with the saying “Union gives Strength”. 

Never has this quote been more appropriate than to describe the debut album “Mr. and Mrs.” by husband and wife duo, O’SHEA. Both literally and figuratively, this album embodies the musical union of the two accomplished singer-songwriters, Jay and Mark O’Shea and pulls from their personal experiences of love, loss, triumph and tragedy.

Jay’s musical journey has seen her tour the globe as a backing singer for superstars such as INXS and Sir Tim Rice and for 10 years her songwriting skills have kept her busy as a staff writer in London, LA and Nashville. Jay’s songs have been cut in the USA, Japan, Australia and have even found their way to the #1 spot on the pop charts in Europe, where her track “Little Miss H” knocked Madonna from the top of the charts and went double platinum for Spanish superstar, Chenoa!

Mark’s career began as a 16 year old school boy from Western Queensland, winning a talent quest at the Gympie Muster. Since then he’s racked up several #1s on the Australian Country Charts both as an artist and a writer, cracked the ARIA Top 20 with his pop/rock band ZINC, opened for everyone from Keith Urban, Sara Evans and Trisha Yearwood to Hanson, John Farnham and Switchfoot.

After meeting in a Balmain pub in 1996 and spending 15 years together as a couple, one may well ask what took them so long to finally make the relatively recent decision to become a duo? 

“I guess we were always scared there would be 2 many Chiefs and not enough Indians,” laughs Mark. 

“But after spending a few years playing a regular gig together in Nashville, we realized how much fun we actually have on stage!” Jay adds. 

The album sees the two performers share the vocals and songwriting duties and begins with the infectious and aptly titled, “SMASH”, co-written with Grammy Award winner, Kim Carnes of Betty Davis Eyes’ fame.

Track 4, “OLD SCHOOL” is a fun up tempo songwriting collaboration between Mark and legendary tunesmith Billy Falcon, who’s no stranger to hit songs with a whopping 17 Bon Jovi cuts under his belt. 

“I’m a sucker for a big night out with the girls and when I sat down to write with Shawn and Josh this one just flew of the page,” says Jay of the quirky, “WHEN THE GIRL’S GET TOGETHER”. 

The “Shawn and Josh” she refers to are none other than Grammy Award winning artist Shawn Colvin (Sunny Came Home) and legendary producer/songwriter Josh Leo (Alabama, Reba, Timothy B. Schmidt, Emerson Drive). 

Addressing the need to stay connected in a relationship, the ballad, “BACK TO ME” showcases Jay’s exquisite vocals and demonstrates the duo’s Country-Soul sensibilities. 

“SAME OLD BRAND NEW”, co-written by Mark, Georgia Middleman and Dave Berg whose credits include, “Stupid Boy”, “If You’re Going Through Hell” and “Moments”, sums up O’SHEA’s thoughts on their 15 year relationship, as the couple sing “Some call it going through the motions or run of the mill, but they can call it what they will, Cause I call it good and I call it right and I pray to God that every night I have the Same old, same thing...coming home to you routine”

The current single “MEANT TO BE” is set to be the wedding song of the year and the music video includes snippets from their own big day. 

“It’s a very personal song for us,” explains Jay “and when it came time for the video, we thought we’d just continue with that honesty and realism and use footage from our own lives”. 

“That’s all very well,” interrupts Mark, “But my hair-do in that wedding video is a little TOO real!” 

At the helm behind the mixing console, was ex-pat and super producer, Mark Moffatt (Tim Finn, Yothu Yindi, The Saints). Moffatt produced Mark O’Shea’s first studio album in 1995 which delivered the hits “World Weary Heart”, “The Dreamer” and “The Swimming Song”. After re-connecting in Nashville in 2007, it wasn’t long before the two old friends were making music together again.

“This whole project has come about so organically and it really shows,” says Moffatt. “These guys have a great touring band, which we pulled into the studio, killer songs, amazing vocals and you can actually hear their chemistry on the CD!” 

The old adage about the ‘the whole being greater than the sum of its parts’ truly applies to this record. Although as individuals, Jay and Mark are more than accomplished, together as a “whole” they have managed to amplify their talents and the resulting, "Mr. and Mrs." is indeed an album destined for greatness.