The OARS is a contemporary duo featuring songwriter and guitarist Eoin Coughlan and multi instrumentalist Brian Morrissey. Their new album, released last year, was recorded and produced in Louisiana by multi-Grammy winner Dirk Powell who describes: “Listening to The OARS, one gets drawn in first by the infectious rhythms and magnetic musical chemistry. The tunes and grooves are rock solid yet always moving. The songs arrive in the centre of this feeling, full of brave lyrics, vivid imagery, and fearless emotion. Their combination of rawness and finesse is truly rare and instantly engaging”.

A renowned bodhrán/banjo/whistle player and percussionist, Brian is a member of the ground-breaking groups Buille and TarantaCeltica and has performed and recorded with artists such as Donal Lunny, John Spillane, Kevin Crawford, Jimmy Crowley, Nathan Carter, Luka Bloom, and the late, great Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin. Brian has also performed/recorded with many internationa artists including multiple Grammy winners Béla Fleck and Alison Brown. He is the founding director of Cork city’s “Lee Sessions” traditional music trail and is the creator and producer of the critically acclaimed production, Pulses of Tradition. Brian has lectured and tutored in Irish traditional music at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick and at University College Cork.