Artist description rootsy singer/songwriter in Austin, Texas

Artist History On his 10th birthday, Ray O'Hara got his first guitar from Sears. Six months later he was playing Neil Young songs for his older sisters and their friends. Those "performances" led to more serious gigs with rock bands during his high school and college years. And later as an acoustic solo artist in pubs around the Chicago Wrigleyville/Lincoln park area. "As a kid, I idolized my older brothers because they all played guitar and I wanted to be like them," says the 32-year-old singer/songwriter. "But there was also something more. I loved music, good music and good songwriting. I wanted to experience what it would be like to be that person playing guitar and writing songs." Ray was named after his grandfather, a piano player and orchestra leader turned booking agent. Mr. O'Hara was definitely Ray's first musical influence. "He used to tell us stories about his bands back in the '20s and '30s on the west side of Chicago. Once he retrieved Louis Armstrong from an illegal dice game upstairs from the ballroom he was performing in. He also gave Benny Goodman his first break in show business." Following his grandfather's tradition, Ray formed the Orange Hunters, a jam-rock band. Over a five-year span, the Orange Hunters toured the Midwest performing 200 shows per year. The band opened for national acts like the Bo Deans, Freddy Jones Band and Poi Dog Pondering in venues seating 2000-6000. The Orange Hunters released three CDs (selling a cumulative 6000 copies from shows and the back of their van) and enjoyed critical success from their tours: From Dave Tianen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Opening for the Bo Deans was the Orange Hunters. Semisonic had been announced, but this change of plans turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The Hunters have their own rootsy appeal, though it's far more Macon, Georgia, than North Woods." Others: "...dual lead vocals and acoustic and electric guitars pumping out meaty, catchy tunes." Marie Lammel, Illinois Entertainer; "...a cool sound with a great pop feel" Todd Kasten, Metro/Chicago. The group performed live and received airplay on several major-market Chicago rock radio stations (they were favorite, regular guests on the Kevin Matthews show) and were featured on two Fox network television specials. When the Orange Hunters disbanded, Ray put his guitar away for a year. But when he moved to Austin in the spring of 2000, he picked it up again: "The main reason I moved to Austin from Chicago was the music scene. But when I got here I was just blown away. Rock, folk, blues and country, those are the main elements of my music style. And it was all around me. Since I was a kid, some of my favorite songwriters were Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Robert Johnson, Hank Williams and Willie Nelson." And certainly Ray's rootsy sound fits in well with Austin's music scene. So well that in the spring of 2002, he placed 3rd in the ASCAP Texas Songwriting Competition. "Sometimes I wake up in the morning and a song pops out of me. I have no idea where it comes from. I've written about current events, a broken heart, good love, bad love and a train that used to roll through my front yard. I'm working on becoming a better storyteller and have a couple of co-writers now--one here in Austin and one in Seattle. I feel lucky to be living in Austin, there are so many great musicians and songwriters, and it's inspiring me to become a better player and writer." We look forward to his first solo CD, to be released around the summer of 2003.

Location Austin, TX - USA

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