Songwriter Eric Vincent brings worldly French music to Varner

Singer, songwriter and guitarist, Eric Vincent, will be bringing his contemporary French music to Oakland University.

Vincent will give a free concert that is open to the public at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 16, in the Varner Recital Hall. It will be preceded by a workshop on French song at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 15, in the Varner Experimental Theater, room 134 of Varner Hall.

“He sings in French but he appeals to international audiences,” said Dikka Berven, special instructor and French advisor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature.

His appeal may have something to do with one of the very reasons he is coming to OU from his house boat in France. He is passionate about “taking his music to every corner of the globe,” according to his website. Thus, his style has taken on some of the musical characteristics of those found in the Caribbean and Africa. His style is “a blend of folk, jazz, rock and ethnic rhythms dealing with universal themes and flavored by his world travels.”

"He has performed in more than 140 countries and in every state in the United States except Hawaii and Alaska,” Berven said. “He doesn't speak 140 languages of course, but ... he makes himself popular wherever he goes.”

Berven said she knew that Vincent tours in the United States and performs on college campuses and that members of the French Club, which is helping with the concert, are fans of his music.

“I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for everybody to hear a very good French singer,” she said. Berven said the event would not have been possible without a grant from the Judd Foundation, which supports enrichment programs in the College of Arts and Sciences.