//// Biography

WILLY CLEARY’S sound has garnered him notoriety as a fresh and exciting development in positive rock music. With a fun and energetic personality, this Cleveland native has become more of a household name through appearances on television, radio, and the national stage. Cleary has shared the stage with national acts from Jeremy Camp to John Reuben and performed at prestigious festivals including The Alive Festival and The FEST. Off stage, Willy is the creator and host of a syndicated positive rock and hip hop radio show, called AlternaFISH Radio, heard locally on 95.5 the FISH in Cleveland and online 24/7 at alternafishradio.com.

// WILLY TELLS HIS STORY

I should not be trusted to tell you the biography of my life. I’m far too scatter-brained for the task. I recognize that it would make better sense to have someone else write my bio, but we’ve reached an awkward moment with you waiting to read my story. So, I’ll fill the silence the best way I know how – by talking too much.

I grew up in a small suburb of Cleveland, Ohio called Hudson. I was the youngest member of a very musical family of boys. Dad was a lawyer and mom was a professor, so they taught me to use my words. My three brothers and I each made music our own. I was influenced most by my mom and my second oldest brother, Matt. Mom used to canter at church every Sunday and I can still remember playing hopscotch on the air vents while she practiced. My brother Matt was a true rock star. He used to play in the old 80’s hair band, Warrant. The balance of church influence and rock star set the tone for the rest of my life.

FUN FACT: The first three albums I ever owned were Michael Jackson – Dangerous, Green Day – Dookie, and Dave Matthews – Under the Table and Dreaming. Ironically, I think it says a lot about how I write today.

Throughout grade school and high school I sang, danced and played music anywhere I could. From swing choirs to steel drum bands, I did it all. At the age of 16, I started to dive deeper into my faith and joined the local church worship team. When I was 18, I picked up a guitar for the first time. By 20, I was leading worship and writing acoustic singer/songwriter tunes. The following year, I recorded an album in my apartment called ‘The Acou-Schtic Sessions’ for my friends to listen to. I performed around the Kent State scene and continued to work in ministry until I graduated from college. In the summer of 2006, I found myself working in radio at Cleveland’s hit country station, WGAR. But within 2 years, I felt God tug.

This is where the story gets interesting.

At the age of 24, I decided to quit my job and go to Europe for 6 months in order to let God hit the reset button. I saw 11 countries and countless cities, and when I came home I knew exactly what I was called to do. Within a month of returning from Europe, I formed the Cleary band, started working at 95.5 the FISH in Cleveland and began working on a youth directed show called AlternaFISH Radio. I felt called to two missions. (Mission #1) is to help unite the Church and encourage others to set aside theological differences in order to (Mission #2) reach those who may have never heard a positive message in their life. Within 3 weeks of starting the Cleary band, we opened for Jeremy Camp, recorded an EP and performed as the musical guest on TBN. God was movin’! In January of 2009, I opened my own company in order to operate my radio show and music. I called my company Shamrockstar, Inc. for two reasons. The first is to pay homage to my brother, Matt, since I am a sham of a rock star in comparison to him. The second reason is that we Clearys are proud of our Irish heritage and I always loved the concept that the shamrock is how the trinity was explained to early Irish Christians.

Fast forward to February, 2011. I took my drummer down to Nashville in order to record some drum tracks and one of the staff members at the FISH station in Cleveland told me that if I was bored in Nashville, I should stop by the FISH station there and see if anyone would be interested in grabbing lunch. Turns out, when I walked in, they had been having a meeting that week about how to implement a youth-directed show like AlternaFISH. Call it luck, call it what you want. God was movin’… again! So, now I’m living and working in Nashville, hoping to go wherever I’m called. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I feel that it’s my calling to share that hope with the world.

//// The Music

//// Download the FREE EP

In 2009, Willy Cleary recorded and EP and you can have it for FREE! But before you download the record, we’d like you to hold your hand up and say the following pledge out loud:

”I, (state your name), do solemnly swear to give this music to all of my friends for free. I promise to pay real human money when the full album is available. Amen.”

- Thanks!

	TUESDAYS		Download EP
	HERE WE GO		Download EP
	HIDE & SEEK		Download EP
	PERFECT		Download EP

//// The Band

www.willycleary.com

The story of the band is truly a reality show waiting to happen. It all started after I had returned from a 5 month tour of Europe. I had seen Mike Forfia’s bass talents at an open mic night in an Akron jazz club. I asked him to help me start a new blues project. As luck would have it, blues wasn’t in the cards for me. Mike knew of a multifaceted drummer named Brandon Austin, who had plenty of touring experience and some Berklee training to boot.

We met at a place called David’s House, which I later learned was a church. I showed up late to rehearsal after a trip to Chicago and the guitarist whom I recommended for the group simply said, “These guys are insane. They’re just too good.” On the same day of our first rehearsal, Brandon suggested that we invite Vinnie Mansfield, who had led the music ministry at David’s House and had a laundry list of professional experience under his belt.

So there we were; a bunch of music ministers rehearsing in a church. I started to play my singer/songwriter music and the band ran with it like gangbusters. It sounded like Dave Matthews with distortion, or a rock version of Justin Timberlake. I loved it. At the end of rehearsal, Vinnie prophetically said, “We should prepare for rain,” and he couldn’t have been more right.

//// AlternaFISH Radio

www.alternafishradio.com

Three months after I returned from my tour of Europe, I was hired by Salem Communications, the largest provider of Christian media in the country, to work for 95.5 the FISH. During my interview, Len Howser, who was in charge of hiring, remembered seeing me perform at the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame a year earlier.

I was originally hired as the promotions coordinator, but by January of 2009, I was in talks with the powers that be about starting Cleveland’s first positive rock and hip hop show. The show is called The AlternaFISH and it airs on 95.5 the FISH. Until now, Salem had not offered a show like this virtually anywhere in the country, making this a groundbreaking opportunity.

It made sense for me to host the show because I’m an artist who writes for this genre. Artists like me have normally never had a place on radio before. We are usually too hard for mainstream Christian stations, and too positive for some of the mainstream secular stations. Sure, acts like The Fray and Switchfoot have made it, but there are so many other great acts that will never see the light of day without shows like this.

FUN FACT: I produce all of the extra music in the radio show. If you listen carefully, you can hear my songs playing underneath me while I talk.

This job is as much a ministry as it is a radio show. I’m helping others get their positive message out to the masses and that means more to me than getting my name out there. I’m honored to have the opportunity to create and host a radio show on such an amazing station. I suppose that’s the moral of my story. I’m an ordinary person who has had extraordinary opportunities and I ran with them. I think we all get those chances and I just hope the rest of the world learns to take them.

//// Bio My Girlfriend Wrote

Who better to tell the story of Willy Cleary than the girl who’s bothered to hang around him for these past couple years?

For as long as I’ve known Willy, he’s retained three important qualities: he is the most honest person I know because he’ll tell you anything about his life, he hasn’t read a book cover to cover since he was in high school, and he lives every day for God. Willy is also a very social person, so much that over 50 people would probably call him their closest friend. He has his high school buddies who joke about how his body hasn’t changed since he was fifteen; his college friends associate him with the youth ministry he helped lead at the age of 18; his friends from his time abroad in Europe laugh at his antics of walking on his hands across Abbey Road and swimming in Loch Ness in the middle of winter.

Many of you might know the long story behind all Willy’s done: He was born, went to school, worked in radio, quit his job to move to Europe, started a band, created a radio show, and moved to Nashville. However, I think the more interesting facts about Willy are things not many people know. He loves Europe with all his heart and one day hopes to move to England and become a professor. His body is made up of 70% Snyder’s pretzel nibblers and Naked Juice Blue Machine since that’s all he eats. He watches shows on the History channel because he likes learning about Jack the Ripper and unsolved phenomena of the past. On July 7, 2007, he skydived out of an airplane because he is superstitious and believed it was such a lucky day that nothing bad could happen. But as important as it is for him to go out and be the face of AlternaFISH and his band, Willy loves the simple joys probably more than most. One of our favorite things to do is make spaghetti for dinner and relax on the couch.

I’ve known Willy Cleary for several years now, and it’s funny to think that in that short amount of time, he’s completely changed my concepts of faith and diligence. When he was trying to record his album and things became complicated, he lifted up his troubles to God and prayed for guidance. More times than not, things changed almost immediately in his favor, and I believe it’s all because he trusted that if it was the ministry he was meant to do, God would find a way to make it work. Most recently, this happened when Willy visited a friend in Nashville and randomly stopped at 94FM the FISH to tour the radio station. By the time he walked out of there, he had shaken hands with the most important people in the office and a month later, he was offered a full-time job to work there as a Promotions Director. It’s amazing how God has worked in Willy’s life, and I think this is because he surrenders to God every day.

I hope this ‘behind the scenes’ exposure has given you a better picture of Willy Cleary. Now you can revel in the fact that you know intimate details about the man behind the radio show and the band. But don’t get too excited. He’s mine :)