Michael O'Shea

Michael Oliver O'Shea (11 July 1947 – 23 December 1991) was an Irish musician who played a zither-like instrument of his own making, and released a self-titled album in 1982. Biography Born in Newry, the son of a policeman, O'Shea left school at 16 and soon afterwards joined the British Army. He went absent without leave, was court-martialled and jailed, and on his release lived in London where he played harmonica and mixed with folk musicians such as Peggy Seeger. He undertook a wide range of jobs and activities over the years, which by his own account included "barman, waiter, soldier, labourer, packer, wireman, hippie, factory worker, salesman, hobo, manager, leather craftsman, odd job man, clerical worker, reconciliation relief worker, social worker, sculptor, designer, collector, joker, transvestite, inventor, psychonaut, actor, catalyst, community worker, musician, traveller, instrument maker...". In the mid-1970s, he travelled to Bangladesh as a volunteer relief worker, returning with serious illnesses and a sitar, which he learned to play while convalescing. He then travelled to France, other parts of Europe and the Middle East, making a living as a street musician. He constructed his own instrument, Mo Cara, and later wrote: The instrument 'Mo Cara' (Gaelic for 'My friend') is a combination of at least three instruments. The basic dulcimer shape was taken from an instrument designed and made by an Algerian musician, Kris Hosylan Harpo, who accompanied me on his 'Zelochord' when I was playing Indian sitar in France during the summer of '78. Having sold my sitar in Germany and being desperate for money to travel to Turkey I conceived the idea of combining both sitar and Zelochord. The first Mo Cara was born, taken from the middle of a door which was rescued from a skip in Munchen, Germany. ... Three days later I was playing Mo Cara Mk. I in Greece for a living. The second and most important development began when I returned to the UK in '79 and made Mk. II. Keeping the original Zelochord/sitar sound I added the sound from another instrument which I had invented, the 'Black Hole Space Echo Box', and to finish the new Mo Cara I added amplification and electronics. The result was a sound that pleased and fascinated me... He busked in Covent Garden and the London Underground, with his Mo Cara, a 17-stringed instrument which he played using paintbrushes or (in some reports) chopsticks.