The fun in the sun continues at Willows Park as part of the ongoing Oak Bay Summer Concert in the Park series, this time featuring local musician Fintan O’Brien and his band.
Having played twice previously in Oak Bay (once with his family, the O’Brien Family Band, and second time with a full band) this time he performs as a three-piece band; himself on vocals and guitar, possibly keyboard, his brother on drums and his friend on guitar.
“Every time (I played in Oak Bay) it’s been in different iterations … it’s exciting because I never played it with this trio before. It’s the perfect way to play this gig,” O’Brien said.
Having moved to Victoria from his hometown of Birmingham, England, O’Brien continued his passion for writing music which began at the tender age of 10. Since then, his songs have entertained audiences from the streets of Victoria to the Vancouver Island Music Festival.
He also released his own five-track EP (simply known as Fintan O’Brien) with Grammy award-winning producer Joby Baker. On his personal website, O’Brien describes his album as a short collection of songs that capture a moment in time in his life, which, when he listens to them, feels “like a kind of scrapbook.”
“The songs tell the story of a relationship that was very special to me – it’s difficult sometimes to share so publicly songs that feel so personal, but I think maybe that’s when you know you’re writing the right songs,” he said. “This recording has also made me feel grateful to the people around me who helped so much … my best friend for taking the trips over to Vancouver with me, my bandmates for sharing their gifts with me, and the team of people who help me in every step of this learning process.”
Come September, O’Brien heads on a European solo to tour in Germany, Ireland and possibly England.
Along the way in his journey, he will meet with his dad, and perform concerts together.
In addition to his big trip, O’Brien’s second EP is coming out in the fall, and a third EP is written and looking for producers.
“Hopefully we can get all three EP’s done this year,” he said, adding he plans to have a bigger show either end of this year or early next year.
The Fintan O’Brien Band performs at Willows Beach Park on Thursday (Aug. 3) from 6:30 to 8 p.m. And, if you miss him at Willows, you can always catch the trio performing at the Mint, every Monday at 8 p.m. July throughout the month of August.