Bryan Bielanski loves to take his music on the open road and perform for audiences across North America.
The travelling musician will be in Parksville for a show at Mount Arrowsmith Brewing Company on May 10.
He’s only spent one week in his home of Charlotte, N.C., since the beginning of the year, instead he’s road tripping and playing guitar through numerous states. Eventually he will make his way to Vancouver Island.
“I definitely try to get around as much as I can,” said Bielanski, who will be visiting B.C. for the first time. Bielanski likes to meet new people in the different communities he stops in, as well as familiar faces in the cities he plays more frequently.
He’ll be playing plenty of tunes from his latest album Bryan’s Super Happy Fun Time 3. Bielanski says the album is a good representation of what people will hear at his concerts.
“Of course there are some extra instruments on the album that I don’t play live, like bass guitar and percussion. But I do like to have those on my studio albums,” he said. “I usually do a mix of my original songs and some cover songs, artists that inspired me and that’s usually how it goes.”
When he spoke to the PQB News, Bielanski was en route from Arizona to Idaho, and had just passed the Grand Canyon.
“I usually don’t have much time to stop and enjoy but it’s nice driving by the stuff for the most part,” he said. “I love travelling and just getting to meet so many people and see so many great sights.”
After some shows in Idaho, Bielanski will make his way down the west coast from Washington to California, before heading north to B.C. Parksville will be his only show on the Island, but he will also stop in Vancouver, Kelowna and Merritt before heading back to the U.S.
He writes a lot of songs about his life as a travelling musician, and tries to pen lyrics people can relate to.
“I think the music has to be catchy,” Bielanski said. “When I was younger and I used to play in a band, my lyrics were a lot more cryptic, and kind of only made sense to me.”
These days his favourite songs are those most popular with his fans — a new song called ‘Rock the Library USA’ is one he enjoys playing live for that reason.
“[It’s] a song about how I visit libraries from city to city because it’s a place where I can sit down with my laptop and do my work, organizing the tours and everything,” Bielanski said. “I’m looking forward to making a lot of new friends.”
The show starts at 7 p.m.