Six years after starting a bromance with a bluegrass singer, Preds forward Ryan O’ Reilly jumps on a mic while watching his buddy’s band record an album in a Nashville studio
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In 2019, after winning a Stanley Cup with the blues, O’Reilly walked into a St. Louis Irish bar and struck up a friendship with the band playing that nightO’Reilly and the band’s singer, Jamie McKeogh, have been friends since. O’Reilly has hosted McKeogh for several hockey games.O’Reilly is a longtime music fan who grew up in farm country in Canada. In March, O’Reilly was a guest announcer for the Grand Ole Opry, bringing Vince Gill to the stageO’Reilly, father of four, also is a songwriter and a guitar player who’s making a children’s album
Worlds collide: Nashville Predators star Ryan O’Reilly recorded backing vocals this summer for an Irish bluegrass band called JigJam, the band’s publicist told The Tennessean.
How in the world did that happen, you ask? Well, a six-year bromance between O’Reilly and JigJam’s singer is behind O’Reilly’s spontaneous move to jump behind a mic in June at musician Zach Brown’s Southern Ground studio on Music Row.
In 2019, O’Reilly was playing with the St. Louis when the Blues captured their first NHL championship. O’Reilly wandered into an Irish pub called John D. McGurk’s to celebrate — and on stage that night was JigJam and its singer, Jamie McKeogh.
O’Reilly ended up singing on stage with JigJam that night, and the hockey star and the bluegrass singer launched a friendship. O’Reilly invited McKeogh to several hockey games afterward. And when O’Reilly signed a four-year deal with Nashville in 2023, he invited McKeogh to some Preds games when JigJam was playing or recording in Nashville.
When O’Reilly played his 1,000 NHL game in November 2023, JigJam was the band entertaining at the celebration afterward. And when JigJam started recording its latest album in Nashville earlier this year, O’Reilly got an invitation to hang out in the studio.
When the group started recording a light-hearted song called “The Fisherman,” O’Reilly jumped behind a microphone and started singing backup with the band, the group’s publicist said.
To those who know O’Reilly, that move makes sense.
O’Reilly is a longtime music fan who writes songs and plays guitar. (He served as guest announcer one night at the Grand Ole Opry in March.)The father of four, O’Reilly is making a children’s album with a former hockey player buddy of his.O’Reilly has a grandmother from Ireland, and he has visited the Emerald Isle several times and fallen in love with the music there.
No release date yet for JigJam’s new album or the song “The Fisherman.”
Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com.