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.
Nashville Predators forward Ryan O’Reilly, left, and Irish bluegrass band singer Jamie McKeogh pose in the Southern Ground Studio in Nashville in June 2025, where the hockey player contributed backing vocals on one of the band’s songs
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.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Predators’ Ryan O’Reilly records with bluegrass band