Late father's poems transformed into Irish folk album 50 years later
Pat O'Shea will enjoy Father's Day fishing with his son in the Florida Keys. At some point when casting his line in hopes of snagging a snook, redfish or triple tail, O'Shea might hum a tune by his band's debut album, "Conversations We Never Had," inspired by poems written 50 years ago by his own father, who died the day Pat began kindergarten.
O'Shea's band, the Irish folk-rock quartet Shades of Green, will perform those heartfelt tunes June 25 at the Havertown Irish Festival in suburban Philadelphia, where he dwells. The show will be livestreamed, so folks in Beaver County, where O'Shea grew up, can watch, too. The album release show this past March also is streamed on the band's website.
The album's back cover shows a lone fisherman, the same image gracing the cover of the "Conversations We Never Had" book O'Shea first published 13 years ago, posthumously featuring his dad's poems.
The Plymouth Meeting resident is certain his dad, a railroad conductor for Conrail at the Conway Yards, would have been thrilled to know his poems would influence an album a half-century after he had written them.
"My dad was not a musician but he loved music," O'Shea said. "His favorite musician was Jim Croce, but he also liked Simon and Garfunkel, Elton John, the Temptations and even Led Zeppelin."
O'Shea and Shades of Green co-founder Scot Silver wrote one of the album tracks, "Star," to have a Croce vibe, in honor of both their deceased dads.
O'Shea learned about his father's passions for music and fishing from his mom's stories and his dad's own writings.
His father, Patrick O'Shea, died at age 24, and while he didn't leave his family much material wealth, he gave the priceless gift of an old suitcase full of hundreds of handwritten poems.
Connecting beyond the grave
Patrick O'Shea and Carolyn Everett met in March 1969 at the Rochester American Legion Dance, a popular weekly event for Beaver County teens on the hunt for a boyfriend or girlfriend. He was from New Brighton − tall, dark and quiet, and she was a Vanport Township girl, petite and brunette. It was love at first sight for the 17-year-olds, who got married a year later.
They had two sons, Pat and Ryan, and settled down in the Van Buren housing development, a short walk from the Ohio River.
The Tuesday after Labor Day 1976, Patrick gave his wife the traditional goodbye kiss and kissed Pat, too, as mom and elder son headed to the bus stop for the first day of afternoon kindergarten. Patrick was working the night shift at the railroad, but needed to pick up his paycheck and run a few other errands, so he climbed into his 1970 Chevy Chevelle, making sure to give his wife a bonus smooch before driving off.
She never saw him alive again.
Patrick died that afternoon in a car crash on Route 51 in Chippewa Township.
Tragedy struck the family again six months later, when the couple's youngest son, Ryan, died after a sudden illness that doctors believed was Reye's syndrome, a rare condition that causes swelling in the brain and liver damage.
Carol sometimes found herself wishing she had died instead, but she knew she needed to stay strong for her son, Pat. Leaning on the unconditional love of her son, parents and her late husband's mom, she carried on, also regularly mustering courage by reading the hundreds of poems Patrick had written longhand on notebook paper kept in the attic.
Pat's fondest memories of his Beaver County upbringing were cruising the night in his ‘78 Firebird with his buddies, hitting local hangouts like Jerry’s Curb Service and Hank's Frozen Custard (both mentioned in his book).
"Also lots of fishing memories at Bradys Run and the Beaver River with my grandfather, Oscar Everett," he said.
Pat, a 1989 Beaver High graduate, knew about his dad's poems, but didn't feel emotionally prepared to read them until around the age of 31, shortly after the birth of his son, Shane. He also has a daughter, Rachael, born one year before.
Pouring through those poems for the first time, he learned volumes about his dad's feelings.
Penning his first poems around age 13, Patrick wrote about nature and walks in the woods, and random quiet time reflections. As he grew into an adult, the poems shifted to musings about the railroad and his dog, Boots. His central theme, though, were simple, poetic love poems to Carolyn.
About six years after reading his dad's verse, Pat decided to publish a book featuring his late father's writing. "Conversations We Never Had" was published in 2008, presented as a father/son conversation, with a poem on each left page written by the father, with the poem on the corresponding right page a response from the son.
Living in Montgomery County, O'Shea, a drummer and music teacher, later befriended seasoned guitarist Silver, and joined his suburban Philly jazz-rock group Shades of Silver.
"We actually recorded a full jazz-funk album in 2014 that recently got some radio play," O'Shea said. "Scot and I have played many styles together, from 80’s rock to straight-ahead jazz to flamenco guitar with hand drums. Shades of Green became our Irish variation of the band every year around St Patrick’s Day."
The more they talked about "Conversations We Never Had," the more O'Shea and Silver realized it would make great source material for a concept album mixing Irish-folk rock and Americana.
The completed album arrived this past St. Patrick's Day.
"The concept is what really sets this album apart, and friends have been really excited about listening to the songs with the story in mind," O'Shea said. "We dedicated the album to our fathers, and hope that it helps people realize their lost loved one’s are never truly gone.
"On a lighter note, we hope people have a sip of Jameson and just enjoy the music."
Dad's words become songs
A penny whistle, acoustic guitar and propulsive Irish percussion power "Down The Line," an album track merging Patrick's ruminations on both the soul-enriching and soul-crushing toils of blue-collar, manual labor, with the latter part of the song bearing praise from his grateful son for "a job well done."
"We are really promoting 'Down the Line' for Father’s Day, and have a lyric video posted soon," Pat said.
The track "In My Mind" uses the father's poem "I'm Gonna Build Me a Castle" with his son's poetic response "I'm Gonna Build Me a Cabin."
"Rock The Caboose" rides a Bo Diddly beat, while "Star," features a line from an early 1970s Patrick poem: “An old man sits with a string guitar though he never made it as a star,” recast musically as an ode to creatives compelled to pursue their craft.
The funky, jangly guitar-driven "Just to Be Myself" wishes everyone inner strength, and the raucous leadoff track "I'm Irish" would be welcome at any Irish pub.
O'Shea's family, including his dad's mother and his brothers in New Brighton, and his mother in Rochester, are pleased with how Patrick's poems have taken on a new life, ready to inspire others via book and now album.
"My mother was overjoyed with the book and even more excited about the album because she knows how much my dad loved music," Pat said.
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See Shades of Green
June 25 at Havertown Irish Day, Havertown, Pa. The band goes on around 11:15 a.m., right after opening ceremonies. Free admission, but donations are suggested.
"Conversations We Never Had," the book and CD, are available at the Hostess Gift Shoppe, Beaver. The book is sold via Amazon.
Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: New Brighton dad's poems inspire folk album 46 years after his passing
