Americana / Soul / Alternative Country artist John Francis O’Mara is poised to release his third LP entitled ‘Forbidden Hymns’. Produced by Grammy Award winning producer Ken Coomer (drummer for Wilco, Uncle Tupelo), the forthcoming album also features Kenny Vaughan (Lucinda Williams, Emmy Lou Harris, Marty Stuart), and Dave Roe (Johnny Cash, Ray Lamontagne, Dwight Yoakam).

JF is the recipient of two national songwriting awards from ASCAP. He has performed upon invitation for the United Nations summit toward eradicating poverty. He has given concerts in stadiums and in subway stations, in cathedrals and pubs, at protests and in prisons. Performing in some of the most prestigious listening rooms in the US and Europe, JF has played an average of 250 dates per year for over 10 years. JF played along with George Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Roseanne Cash, etc for the inaugural Johnny Cash Music Festival at the University of Arkansas Stadium. He also was one of the headliners for the Johnny Cash Flower Picking Festival in Starkville, Mississippi.

JF’s first national full-length album, ‘The Better Angels’(Dualtone), was produced by Grammy Award recipient, John Carter Cash (son of Johnny and June Carter) in the fabled Cash Cabin Studio, where Johnny Cash recorded much of the ‘American Recordings.’ The single ‘Johnny Cash on the Radio’ climbed to number 19 on the Americana Music Charts in the US. The Swiss single, ‘Miracle’, from his forthcoming album, was released exclusively exclusively in Switzerland, where it received widespread national radio attention and was featured as ‘Single of the Week’ on Radiozürisee.

JF tours extensively in the US and Europe, especially in Ireland (his beloved ancestral homeland), and in Switzerland where his songs have gained widespread radio play. JF has shared stages with Loretta Lynn, Kris Kristofferson, George Jones, Mavis Staples, Odetta, Suzanne Vega, Sturgill Simpson, Tommy Emmanuel, Ray Lamontagne, Amos Lee, Rosanne Cash, Josh Ritter, Langhorne Slim, Rickie Lee Jones, Tom Paxton, Rachael Yamagata, Mary Gauthier, James McMurtry, Rufus Wainwright, Justin Townes Earle, Steve Earle, Indigo Girls, M.Ward, Glen Hansard, Old 97’s, Over the Rhine, Sinead O’Connor, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Garth Hudson (The Band).

John Francis O’Mara is also a theological scholar and an Episcopalian Priest. He received his Master’s of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2017, and a Master’s of Sacred Theology from The General Seminary in New York City, 2018. He was ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests in December of 2018 and he currently serves in the Diocese of New Jersey.

“Think Johnny Cash meets Jeff Buckley” ~ Sean Timmons (Music Promoter/Radio DJ - Craic Radio)

“Like the best story songs from Springsteen, the tale and telling haunt the listener.” ~ Sojourners Magazine

“John Francis’ performance rises to the challenge time and again; his voice like a young Robert Plant.” ~ Michael Tearson, SingOut! Magazine

“John Francis O’Mara is a poet; a provocateur of dreams and an instigator of movements. Listen, and be inspired to do something daring with your life” ~ Shane Claiborne (Author / Activist).

“Ripe with the kind of honest questions we used to count on guys like Bob Dylan and John Prine to serve up” ~ The Philadelphia Inquirer

“John Francis’ voice destroys cities” ~ Derick Brown (Poet)

“I noticed how often John Francis (O’Mara) comes up on my iPod when I am playing my favorites. He must be doing something right with only two albums released!” ~ Wim Wenders (Filmmaker)

“John Francis O’Mara brings a gun to a knife fight” ~ Tara Murtha (Author, Music Writer)

“A writer of great songs about real stuff. Rare enough to find these days” ~ Arlo Guthrie

“Gritty impassioned songs about the tottering American Empire”

~ Nashville Scene

“Think Johnny Cash meets Jeff Buckley” ~ Philadelphia Inquirer

“One of the most prophetic voices of his generation” ~ Wild Goose Festival

“Madman genius; full of heart” ~ Sue Devine (Former Head of TV/Film ASCAP)