The Fortunate Ones are on their way back to Saskatchewan.
The Newfoundland team of Catherine Allan and Andrew James O鈥橞rien enjoyed nine shows during the first leg of their Organization of Saskatchewan Art Councils tour.
They will now be back for the second leg with a show in Humboldt on April 5.
O鈥橞rien says that they got to see amazing places with lots of history and amazing people who were excited to hear new music.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure it will be the same on the next leg.鈥�
It is always a tough decision on who to bring to the OSAC鈥檚 Star鈥檚 for Saskatchewan tour but Humboldt and District Museum and Gallery Director, Jennifer Fitzpatrick says the passion, storytelling, and harmony of the Fortunate Ones made them stand out among the 15 performances they had to choose from at the OSAC Showcase.
鈥淭he fact that we have a Juno nominee is really exciting for us,鈥� says Fitzpatrick. 鈥淧eople will be really pleased at the high caliber of the performance.鈥�
Both O鈥橞rien and Allan come from musical families which made for very influential upbringings.
鈥淲e were lucky by the time we came together,鈥� says O鈥橞rien. 鈥淲e already had this great history lesson in great music and we brought it together.鈥�
O鈥橞rien started off playing solo but heard Allan singing one night with her brother who just happened to be rehearsing with O鈥橞rien.
鈥淥nce I heard (Allan) sing...I just thought, 鈥榯hat will make everything better if she sings with me.鈥欌��
That was in 2010 with the Fortunate Ones being formed three years later.
O鈥橞rien could not imagine doing anything else after he started singing with Allan. It was the most obvious and natural thing to do, he says.
鈥淚t just seemed like overnight when she came on board everything just got bigger and it鈥檚 been growing rapidly until then.鈥�
Discovering what to name themselves involved a long list of possibilities, says O鈥橞rien but looking at their career so far, they really are fortunate to be handed this amazing opportunity to play and create music, he says.
鈥淭he response has been great. We鈥檝e just been honoured and lucky to do what we do for a living.鈥�
Meeting new people and sharing their music is exactly what they want to bring to Humboldt, along with some crowd surfing, laughs O鈥橞rien.
For them, the concert is a great way to put away whatever baggage they have from the day and just share in this, 鈥渃ommunal聽 musical experience,鈥� he says.
鈥淲e want to make them feel they are sitting at our kitchen table.鈥�
Just like the east coast, everyone O鈥橞rien has met has been humble and kind and that makes them want to come back, he says.
This will be the last performance of the OSAC鈥檚 Star鈥檚 for Saskatchewan four part concert series.
The positive reaction from people after every performance has been overwhelming, says Fitzpatrick and they hope to bring the same level of high caliber performance to the next concert series starting in the fall of 2017.
