The Irish TV host who rocks

Rieteard O Deorian/Photo provided by Risteard O Deorian

Most locals would recognize Risteard O Deorian as that everyday TV host or as the best cross-talk comedian in the expat community. But to music fans, his name is now attached to something else: Low Bow, the name he uses while playing blues-rock.

Born in 1976, O Deorian came to China in 1998. Two years later, he came under the tutelage of Ding Guangquan, one of the most reputable cross-talk actors in China, and soon found himself thrust onto the scene.

O Deorian was just a novelty at first – an Irishman performing an ancient Chinese pastime – but he improved over time. Capitalizing on his exposure, he became TV host of an English-language children’s program on CCTV-10 and host of a news program on China Radio International.

Last year, O Deorian created his Low Bow persona while on a business trip. He brought his guitar on the road and decided to create a one-man band. With a three-string electric guitar, a few petals, a bass drum and hit-hat for creating sound effects, O Deorian fused garage music with traditional blues in a very simple but powerful way.

“John Lee Cooker, Son House, Jack White … such artists had a great influence on me,” O Deorian said. “I like music that is raw and makes you feel it’s incomplete. I used to watch artists who play their guitar with only three strings – that was fantastic and inspired me, showing me that music can be so direct.”

Low Bow is not his first band in China. Like many Westerners who played in bands in high school and college, O Deorian had the chance to continue making music when he arrived in China. In 2003, he formed a band and played the bass while an American played guitar and German was on the drums. They practiced for two months, until the SARS epidemic, and then  the American went home.