Unknown Rider

After joining the Coast Guard at eighteen and experiencing a few twists and turns, Brian joined a ragtag group of C-130 pilots and learned to fly to some of the most remote places in the world. While flying throughout the Caribbean, Central America and the northern reaches of the Atlantic Ocean, he felt an insatiable urge to capture the emotion and experiences that shaped his life. After publishing his first novel, Caribbean’s Keeper: A Novel of Vendetta in 2016, Brian sat down with his guitar and started to chronicle nearly two decades of experiences gained from his military experiences.

Under the name Unknown Rider (a nod to his oftentimes solitary trans-oceanic flights), Boland launched a project with a group of North Carolina musicians to capture his ideas through song. Unknown Rider released its first album, RTB, in May of 2017. With the grit of Southern Rock and Roll and the tempo of Americana music, it displayed the raw emotion of a life on the road. Now an Operation Encore artist, Brian has recently released another set of songs on a self-produced new album entitled “Oceans”.