Realty shows winners have a hit or miss record of success with lasting music careers. Artists like Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry flirt with the charts every time they release an album, while those like Fantasia Barrino and Adam Lambert have a cult following they have been able to transform into a more ephemeral type of celebrity. Country music has been a bit easier for reality stars to crack, offering success to such divergent artists as Carrie Underwood, Chris Young and Miranda Lambert. Country music also has a long standing history of duos. While vocal collaborations often exist on nearly every other track in the pop and hip hop worlds, true duos are often one off vanity projects for lead singers looking to raise their profiles or band members looking to stretch their creative wings. The history of country music is filled with such legendary twosomes as The Judds, The Kendalls and Brooks and Dunn. Its makes sense then that country music was the target for the show Can You Duet. And so far it has been a good decision. First season winners Caitlin and Will have charted, as have second season winners Steel Magnolia. Joey + Rory, third place runners up from the first season, have released two top ten albums. Looking to match that level of success come O’Shea with their debut Mr. and Mrs. It is a polished slice of country pop sure to please any fan of Thompson Square and Lady Antebellum.

The album has an obvious ear towards mainstream airplay, which is good for its ballads and bad for some other tracks. The lead single “Old School” is a strong summer song, up beat and replete with 80’s rock references. It comes across at the mainstream country answer to The Script’s “For the First Time.” “When the Girls Get Together” unfortunately melds a fantasy collection of historical and fictional women for a collection of one-off quips like “Ann Boleyn tells Marilyn ‘Girl, heads are gonna roll’.” This makes it fun on first listen, but leaves it lacking the warmth, raunch, depth and half-told private jokes of some real women who really know each other. “Same Old Brand New” and “Everyday Is a Good Day” use familiar plays on words to cover well worn subjects, but manage to stay fairly enjoyable. O’Shea uses their ballads sparingly, but to good effect. “Back to Me” hits a power punch with its tag line “I need to believe , I can can love you back to me.” It is more pop than country, but may appeal to older country fans by drawing from the same 70’s R&B roots as Reba and Barbara Mandrell. “Meant To Be” begs to be the soundtrack of a hundred weddings, and it well deserves to be with its traded vocals and subtle, interwoven harmonies. The album’s stand out track is “Amen,” pitting the dark of life against the light of love. Jay O’Shea unfurls her voice to its fullest and most compelling, and Mark slips in with subtle, yet haunting, harmonies. All told, it is an album of songs that leave the listener looking towards the future.

Mr. and Mrs. is definitely a mainstream album, and the biggest problem is that the mainstream is currently going through a moment of flux. O’Shea does manage to avoid the worst excesses of the past few years. There are no watered down attempts to be political, no songs glorifying small town life, and no drinkin’ and partyin’ songs that come off less rebellion than mid-life crises. The songs are good, for what they are, but sound a bit dated with their nods towards 90’s pop country. In an era of country music lead by Miranda Lambert, they might fall by the way side. And this is unfortunate, because Jay and Mark O’Shea have the talent to make a really good country music, to be the Rosanne Cash to Miranda Lambert’s Ricky Skaggs. Mark has a delicate voice reminiscent of the best of Chris Thile while Jay comes across as a Rebecca Lynn Howard with better range. Together they can create layered harmonies that rage from gentle to soaring. Mr. and Mrs. is a solid album full of solid songs, from a band that country music would do well to hear more from in the future.

Buy: Amazon mp3 | O'Shea Website ( for where to get the CD)

Relate O'Shea Content:

"Old School" Music Video

"Meant To Be" Music Video

"Smash" Music Video