Ben O’Connor: The True American Country Star.
They say that songs say a lot about a person, but a lot of times this isn’t the case. Sometimes, you hear of songs that are truly introspective and show growth, but in reality the person singing doesn’t show the same themes in real life. While this is true in some cases, this could not have been more different than not only the songs Ben O’Connor produces, but also him as a person.
After performing four shows across the country in six consecutive days and traveling over 1,000 miles, Ben was kind enough to take some time out of his day to talk to me. Over the course of thirty minutes, I was able to understand Ben more as an artist and a person by asking him some questions.
Look At Ben’s Fourth of July Show Post Below!
Ben has been in the country music scene for a bit of time now, and has been exposed to a lot of different artists in his lifetime. However, the singer stated that his favorite artist is Kenny Chesney. O’Connor, born in 1994, grew up south of Boston with no screens, only the outdoors.
“I just think his music reflected our way of life,” Ben stated. “Just being at the beach, being on boats. Everybody comes from all over the place to go to the beaches and be around that atmosphere. My younger brother and I just really gravitated towards Kenny’s music and he is just an amazing storyteller. I just latched onto that because I felt like as a kid listening to like ‘Old Blue Chair’ when our grandparents surprised us with a trip. I’m sitting on the Caribbean and I’m like ‘man, I feel like this guy wrote a song for our family.’ The albums felt very personal and it was really neat.”
Along with beaches, O’Connor has also made sure his audience knows his love for his country too. Ben described to be that a lot of his passion and inspiration behind some of his songs were based off of his Great Uncle Alfred, who served in World War II and fought in Normandy, France on D Day.
“You could say modern day freedom without guys like him wouldn’t exist,” O’Connor explains. “He shared stories with me and my older brother at a young age before I was even into music and I guess that just carried through. It’s always been a kind of inspiration to pass his words along pass his legacy along and be a lot more like him. That’s what made me want to start start writing: to spread a little bit little bit love, family, friends, and country.”
Check Out The Story Of Ben’s Great Uncle Below!
The theme of family was one that was very prevalent during my chat with Ben, and is something that the singer values very highly. When asked about who some more of his biggest role models were, he mentioned his brothers and how much he respected how they conduct business and the characteristics they have.
With songs that stem from the love of country and family, O’Connor described a situation he had recently gone through in New York City. He had been performing at an after-party with half the audience being cowboys from the PBR Bull Riding Championship and the other half being people from pride week. After he performed his last song, he described how a girl came up to him and expressed how the song made her feel “heard and made me feel like there is hope and a chance for the world to come together.” Just after the girl came a man in his 60s who has four sons in the Marines who said the exact same thing the girl did.
“Music has some serious power. That was I think the coolest most motivating factor for me. Whenever I think I have any doubts of music or whatever, I think back to that. It’s pretty boundless.”
Situations like these is what O’Connor described to be some of the biggest accomplishments of his career, besides being contracted to perform for a Luke Bryan after-party, as well as an American Airlines and Mastercard event. However, the biggest sense is the people his songs affect.
Check Out One Of The Events Ben O’Connor Performed At Below!
Overall, my chat with Ben was one of my favorite interviews. Instead of jumping right into questions about him, Ben asked me what school I go to and a bit about myself, and that is something that immediately stuck. You can tell a lot about a person by the first few sentences, and I could immediately tell that humble and kind were two works I could describe him as.
As for his music, Ben is currently working on a 12 song album and about to embark on a tour that benefits US war veterans and working with nonprofits that builds home for veterans. 100% of tickets and sales from this tour will go straight to the nonprofits.
There is a lot to look forward to with Ben O’Connor and we cannot wait to know everything about it.
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