Singer-songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player, Frank O'Hagan has 4 albums to his name and enjoyed a career in the Scottish music scene over the course of five decades. 

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Frank bought his  first electric guitar at 13 years of age. Within a year he had graduated to a Fender Stratocaster and was trying to copy the guitar riffs of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. He was, and still is, a great admirer of Steve Winwood and when he heard him playing Hammond organ around 1965, a new ambition was born. Using months of “gig money” to buy a second hand Hammond organ which Frank has been playing regularly since the late 1960s.

With the Hammond organ playing such a pivotal role in Frank's love of music it is no surprise that the subtle tones of his B3 and C3 weave in and out of many of his tracks.

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Frank was involved in session work with the Hammond throughout the 1970s and 1980s but a combination of family life and academic interests took over for almost thirty years. The release of his first album A Long Way from Home, in 2005 was met with positive reviews and Tom Morton of BBC Scotland commented that...

"Although music has not been Frank O'Hagan's prime

concern all his life, I have to say that this is a really

great album."

Tom Morton, BBC Scotland

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After a sell-out album release at the Pearce Institute Rob Adams covered a short story in the Herald, praising Frank's songwriting skills.

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“O’Hagan may be modest about his talents but given

the quality of songs he’s writing, to suggest a meeting

of John Hiatt and Gerry Rafferty or something from

the Stax/Muscle Shoals school wouldn’t be overstating

matters.”

                                                                                Rob Adams, The Herald

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Although it wasn’t until the early years of the 21st century that Frank started recording his own material it was with the help of the harmonica ace, Fraser Speirs, Ted McKenna of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and bassist Alan Thomson who had worked with the late John Martyn’s band for over twenty years. After several months back in Cava Studios Frank O’Hagan’s first album was released.

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O’Hagan began doing more concerts with Alan Thomson (Bass), Foster Paterson(Keyboards) and Arran Ahmun (Drums) who were John Martyn’s touring band with Glasgow guitarist, Al Brown joining the line-up.

This impressive group of O’Hagan’s favourite musicians formed the basis for recording his second album Another Day which was recorded in Maybank Studios on the Southside of Glasgow, released in 2008 and received considerable critical acclaim.

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Building on the success of his critically acclaimed second album, Frank O’Hagan’s third album promised to take listeners on a moving journey with eclectic songs emanating from his experiences in life, love and loss. Maintaining his roots with raw rhythm and blues and his life-long interest in socio-political issues, Frank created a fascinating and soulful collection of tracks that provided us with the authentic Stax style R&B heard in A Long Way from Home with an edge that is heartfelt and genuinely emotive. Tracks like The Phoenix and The Jasmine Lady celebrate the triumph of human spirit, while Homecoming and Mind, Heart and Soul offer listeners haunting music and thought-provoking lyrics.

 

A few years in the making, O’Hagan’s fourth album, Storms Over Jupiter, has been released. It bring with it a slightly different edge with songs alluding to historical events, The Sit Down Demand and  has Frank's first instrumental piece,  Belchite, written about the fate of the old town during the Spanish civil war.  Love's Old Wishing Star is a departure from Frank's usual style and is one of the five tracks on the album co-written by long time friend and musical colleague, Willie Scanlan who collaborated with Frank on his first album on the track Rain in the Rosses. 

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Engineered by Matt Harvey at Maybank Studios and produced by master bass player and mulit-instrumentalist, Alan Thomson, Storms Over Jupiter features a wealth of musical talent including; Martin Winning on Saxophones, Alistair Douglas on Trumpet, Miles Bould complimenting the percussion of Jim Drummond, Suzie Chunk as a guest vocalist, Henrick "Lazy" Vester on harmonica, Richard Dunn on Hammond and piano, Foss Paterson on keys throughout and Al Brown on guitar.

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