Bryan Sharkey is a local indie alternative rock musician molded in the archetype of Mumford and Sons. His soothing voice over an acoustic guitar convey the passion and emotion he has for his craft, further helping give his sound a professional feel. Sharkey is a junior at Penn State studying marketing, but he says his goal right now is to pursue music as a profession.

Sharkey has been a lifelong music lover. He got into singing and guitar when he was in elementary school, but he “hated practicing” so he quickly moved on to other things. By the time he was in eighth grade, his interest in guitar was reignited, and he began to practice it much more seriously.

“I tried all sorts of instruments — guitar, drums, piano, and a couple of other stuff. Guitar is mostly what I do. The music I do by myself is mostly acoustic stuff,” Sharkey told me. “I’ve begun to write other stuff, still indie and alternative rock, but more suited for a full band.”

He doesn’t have a band yet in State College, but back in his hometown, he had a group of friends who would jam with him all the time. They performed at some local shows and really helped him to grow his confidence. Still too young to play bar shows (Sharkey turns 21 in June), he has performed as a solo artist twice now — once at an event called Sounds Open Mic at the Municipal Building, which led him to getting signed by Happy Valley Music Label. The other time came at a Sisters On The Runway fashion show event.

His main influences range from Mumford and Sons to Death Cab for Cutie. Sharkey loves covering one Death Cab song in particular — “I Will Follow You Into The Dark.”

His voice is a quiet, telling mix of all of his influences. A very clean sound, his live performances are especially nice to listen to.

Sharkey plans to go back this summer to his hometown and see what he can do with his band. He has written a couple of songs and plans to run it by them during the holiday break. Even if his music career doesn’t pan out, he hopes to still work on the business side of the music industry.

You can check out his SoundCloud here where he is looking to put up a new song very soon, and feel free to listen to some cover songs he recorded on his YouTube channel. Here is his most recent original release: