{{short description|American violinist and record producer}} '''Billy Oskay''' is an American violinist and record producer.
==Biography== Billy Oskay was born and raised in Kingston, New York, where he first learned to play the violin at the age seven.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|last=Ankeny |first=Jason |title=Billy Oskay |publisher=AllMusic |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/billy-oskay-mn0000769652/biography |accessdate=August 21, 2014}}</ref> In 1970, he began studying under Eugen Prokop at the International Academy of Music in Palma de Mallorca, Spain and in 1971 earned his master's degree in music from Ball State University in Indiana.<ref name="allmusic"/> Oskay was the head of the music department at Oregon's Mt. Angel College, and later joined the swing combo Everything's Jake.<ref name="allmusic"/>
In 1983, he met Irish guitarist Mícheál Ó Domhnaill who was an influential figure in the Irish traditional music scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s, having performed for seven years with The Bothy Band and collaborated for several years with the master fiddler Kevin Burke. Oskay and Ó Domhnaill began to collaborate on a new and innovative music that integrated traditional Irish, jazz, and classical chamber music. They composed and recorded some songs in Oskay's Portland, Oregon home and were pleased with the unique understated sound they had created, which had a "rough but fresh quality that engendered a serene atmosphere". Ó Domhnaill signed a contract with William Ackerman at Windham Hill Records, and the tracks he and Oskay had recorded in Portland were mixed and released in 1984 under the title ''Nightnoise''.
In 1987, Oskay and Ó Domhnaill were joined by Mícheál's sister, Irish pianist and vocalist Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, and Irish-American flutist Brian Dunning to found the musical group Nightnoise. The group toured the world and recorded three additional albums: ''Something of Time'' (1987), ''At the End of the Evening'' (1988), and ''The Parting Tide'' (1990). During that time, Oskay emerged as a prolific session musician appearing on projects by harp guitarist John Doan, bluegrass guitarist Dan Crary, and others.<ref name="allmusic"/> Oskay also produced many albums at his Oskay Recording studio in Portland.<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="brs">{{cite web|title=Billy Oskay |publisher=Big Red Studio |url=http://www.bigredstudio.com/about/ |accessdate=August 21, 2014}}</ref>
In 1992, Oskay left Nightnoise to focus on record production. In 1993, he purchased {{Convert|26|acre}} of land in Corbett, Oregon, where he built the Big Red Studio from 1997 to 2000. The studio's centerpiece was a 1979 Trident TSM console, once owned by José Feliciano.<ref name="omn">{{cite news |last=D'Antoni |first=Tom |title=Big Red Studio's Billy Oskay on a lifetime of recording music |newspaper=Oregon Music News |date=November 26, 2013 |url=http://oregonmusicnews.com/2013/11/26/video-big-red-studios-billy-oskay-lifetime-recording-music/ |accessdate=August 21, 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821184703/http://oregonmusicnews.com/2013/11/26/video-big-red-studios-billy-oskay-lifetime-recording-music/ |archivedate=August 21, 2014 }}</ref> Since 2000 Oskay has produced numerous musical artists at his Big Red Studio in Corbett, including ''Drum Hat Buddha'' (2001) by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, ''Blu di Genova'' (2003) by Beppe Gambetta, and ''Renaissance of the Steel-String Guitar'' (2004) by Dan Crary. He still performs violin occasionally with Seattle-based singer-songwriter Jim Page.<ref name="omn"/>
==Discography== * ''Nightnoise'' (1984) * ''Something of Time'' (1987) * ''At the End of the Evening'' (1988) * ''The Parting Tide'' (1990)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.bigredstudio.com/ Big Red Studio] {{Nightnoise}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oskay, Billy}} Category:Living people Category:Record producers from New York (state) Category:American male violinists Category:Musicians from Portland, Oregon Category:Musicians from Kingston, New York Category:Nightnoise members Category:20th-century American violinists Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:21st-century American violinists Category:21st-century American male musicians Category:Year of birth missing (living people)