By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
On a chilly Wednesday evening, Patrick Olivier’s music warmed the hearts of the Elks Lodge members who had come out for fellowship, dining, and some dancing. His voice carried through the room, and at times it seemed there was more than one vocalist singing out familiar country tunes.
His surname is pronounced in the French manner: oh-liv-YAY.
“My bloodlines go back to Louisiana,” said Olivier, and it is his roots in the Louisiana Creole culture that envelop him and contribute to his sense of spirit as he sings out for his audience.
Though he is proud of his Creole heritage, he is even more proud of being a Texan.
“Texas is unique. There is a stigma to being from Texas, and I love being a Texan,” said Olivier.
Inspired by the state of his birth, he wrote his first song 25 years ago, ‘Texas is Deep in the Heart of Me.’ It’s a playful thigh-slapping, two-stepping piece which he performed at the NRG Center in Houston during a campaign event for President George W. Bush.
Olivier picked up a guitar when he was nine years old and hasn’t stopped since. The first guitar he ever played was the one his sister had laid aside.
While in high school, he won first place in the school’s talent contest. He recalls very fondly his high school speech and drama teacher.
“Mrs. T told me I had a special gift,” said Olivier. “I believe this gift flows through me, and I am supposed to share my gift with others.”
Rather than develop his professional musical prospects, after graduating from O’Connell High School in 1989, Olivier enlisted in the United States Marines. As a Marine, he used his talent in calling out cadence for his fellow Marines. Plus, he sang with his guitar for friends and at honky-tonks whenever possible.
He served as an aviation crew member for the Marines, and he expressed next to being a father, the Marines was one of his proudest accomplishments.
Discharging from the Marines as a corporal, Olivier followed in his father’s footsteps and worked as a police officer in La Marque for several years. He also worked for NASA for a brief period.
He trucked over to Richmond, Virginia, and spent many years driving an 18-wheeler. All the while, he found himself singing and performing with other musicians. But he really didn’t grasp just how important music was for himself until that period of time when live musical performances went away—that period of time we know as COVID.
“The music shut down during COVID time, and I took an extra shift driving a truck, and I became very hard to live with,” said Olivier. “As COVID came to an end, he called his partner in music and said, ‘”Let’s go knock the dust and rust off.’”
He was once again back with his music, and Olivier felt alive for the first time in a long time.
“We played all night, and that’s when I knew I needed the music,” said Olivier.
With two adult children, one ex-wife, and his father having passed away, but his mother still living in Texas City, Olivier knew he needed to get back to his hometown and headed back to Galveston Texas.
He is currently known as the singing shuttle driver. While escorting guests to and from their cruise ships in Galveston, Olivier serenades the passengers with his gift of music. Driving a shuttle is his day job, and performing on stages throughout Galveston County is his night job.
Holding a day job is what pays the bills, but singing is what feeds his soul.
“There’s no me without music,” said Olivier.
His voice has a wide range of qualities. He has a playful, fun upper-octave voice that provides inspiration for audiences to get out of their chairs and dance, and he is able to take listeners down into a deep soulful experience when his voice slows as he goes into his bass qualities and begins to resonate from deep inside his own soul, thus inspiring audiences to search their souls and draw loved ones a little closer.
Though he has been performing for over 40 years, Olivier has only written three pieces of his own. The first he wrote for his home state, Texas; another he wrote for his mother; and another, which is a Christmas tune.
His voice is both captivating and authentic, regardless of whether he is singing a familiar country song, singing one of his own, or performing a lesser-known tune. One can’t help but stop and listen or get up and dance when Olivier begins to sing.
To follow his schedule and have your own experience listening to the man who is dubbed as the singing shuttle driver, you can find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/patrickolivierband or at https://www.patrickoliviermusic.com
