The bandshell at Keogh Park in Tottenham will once again provide the venue for live music when the Sunday Concerts in the Park series gets underway on Aug. 1.
Local performer Sean Bourke will be providing a full set of his brand of music on the opening weekend along with his band – drummer Robin Boers and bassist Jeff Dunlop.
Opening for the day will be Barrie-based performer Kat Chabot.
Well known in the region, Bourke performs at various venues – sometimes with his band and as a solo artist other times.
He's a lifelong musician who started playing guitar almost by accident.
“I can't remember which I started playing first, but I think it was piano,” Sean said of his start in music. “My dad had come home on a Saturday morning from a garage sale and he had bought an old, beat-up semi-electric acoustic.
"I started fooling around with it and it got me interested.”
Self-taught on the guitar, he started performing while in high school.
“In my hometown, Bolton, there was a restaurant called the Riverside and one Saturday my dad called me and said they were passing around a baseball cap with money in it. It was filled with one and two-dollar bills," Bourke said. "Whoever gets up and plays and gets the most applause gets the money.
"There was only three of us playing, and I won. From there I decided to go out and do shows.”
Once he was old enough he started getting gigs at various bars and taverns in the region.
He has released a CD with all original music.
After recording some songs at home, he was encouraged by his friend, Brian Good, of the Good Brothers Band, to record a full CD.
As a performer he has appeared with a number of other bands, opening for, The Good Brothers, Blue Rodeo and Teenage Head, as well as many other bands.
“Over the years, I've opened for these bands or played with them," Bourke said.
Bourke has gained a real following around the region with his delivery of original music, rock, country rock, and classic rock. He has appeared at the Sunday Concert series several times and is always a crowd favourite when he performs.
The first concert in the series will get underway later today with Kat Chabot taking the stage at 2 p.m.
The Sean Bourke Band will take the stage at 3 p.m.
Brian Lockhart, Local Journalism Initiative, New Tecumseth Times. The LJI is a federally funded program.
