Ray O´Sullivan

I was born in Cork in Ireland, raised in Durrow, Co. Laois at 12 years of age began playing bass with the local school band, “Bitter Victory”. At 14, I began gigging weekends with the late legend Martin Morrissey and “The Spanners in the Works”, covering classic rock covers around the Irish midlands circuit in the early 1990s. Moving to Dublin, I grooved with numerous bands including “Lebensraum” with Mike Curran and the Bill Tracey band supporting Aslan. A Dublin Northside outfit “Duffel”, took me through some old classic venues in Dublin such as Whelans, Slatterys, Temple Bar Music Centre, among others.

 In 1999 with Owen Corrigan, Niall Brophy from The Spanners in The Works and Pat O’Sullivan from Cork, “Project X” evolved. Playing more gigs in Cork, I soon teamed with “Eclipse”(Brian Dempsey, Keith Watkins and Brendan Neville) and then helped form a 6 piece progressive funky hip-hop outfit called “The Lunar Sea”. I collaborated with the writing and recording of our original album “Outside Amnesia”, playing venues such as De Barras in Clonakilty and The Half Moon club in Cork City.

 I then took a leap of faith, started including Irish traditional music in my set list and moved to Belgium in 2002. From there, I started accoustic solo gigs throughout the Irish Pub circuit. While in Belgium, I had the pleasure to gig and record the album “Water From The Well” with fellow Corkborn Joe Mullen. I jammed many gigs with Bai Kamara Jr. (Universal Records). Meeting Finbar Coady and “The Celtic Ninja Construction”, I then recorded bass and voicals on the album “Happy Days” in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Back in Belgium, I helped record and produce the band and their self-titled “Funktional Family” album.

 Continuing solo gigs throughout Scandinavia, Holland and Spain, while gigging in the south of France, I met the charismatic Malcolm Wray (“Quilty” in the 1970s) from Northern Ireland and together created the traditional dynamic album “Soak `em Up”. While on the road, I teamed with various artists such as Marke Foxworthy (USA) “Treasure Chest”, Martin Cohen (Amsterdam) and Monika Bigum (Denmark).

A collection of solo material developed into the album “Deep Within” mirroring some personal experiences, showing a variety of styles, which reflect my musical background. Some of the above artists can be heard on this album.

 I‘ve been living in Germany since 2006. Some of my new songs can be heard through Fáinne. I feel playing music with Fáinne keeps me connected to my roots and ancient call of the Celtic soul.