Finn Owen, an 18-year-old first-year psychology student from Atlanta, Georgia, has recently released a song titled "Give Me Mercy," which is available on iTunes and Spotify.
Alongside plans for becoming a youth pastor or worship leader, Owen has always had a great passion for music. He has participated in chorus since the fourth grade, and he obtained a moderate level of proficiency in playing guitar, ukulele and piano in the ninth grade.
His love for music has not waned since then — Owen often performs gigs locally in Atlanta and enjoys getting to perform live. He has also opened for 14-time Grammy Award winner Ricky Skaggs, “The Voice” runner-up Meghan Linsey and the country group Haley & Michaels.
“I’ve always loved music,” Owen said. “Growing up, my parents would crank up Elton John or Garth Brooks in the minivan and my whole family would start singing along.”
Now that “Give Me Mercy” is available on iTunes and Spotify, music has become more than just a passion for Owen. The tune is a rock song, bordering on indie rock, which incorporates acoustic guitar, piano, electric guitar, bass and drums. "It’s not an extremely upbeat song, but instead holds a more rhythmic feel due to its moderate tempo," Owen said.
What inspired Owen to write this song was a personal love experience of his. In his sophomore year of high school, he fell in love with a girl who was dating someone else at that time.
“Eventually I decided I couldn’t handle being led on and decided to move on,” he said. “Funnily enough, the girl that the song is written about now also attends USC.”
Owen wrote a basic version of the song by himself and then slightly revised the lyrics and the melody with the help of his producer Bobby Smith, the worship leader at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia. Owen wanted the song to have a similar feel to NEEDTOBREATHE and Mumford & Sons, and together with the producer, they took “Give Me Mercy” from an acoustic song to a full rock band tune. The two recorded the track in Bobby Smith’s house studio and hired professional musicians to track some of the instruments.
“The entire process from finalizing a demo to the end of post-production took about three months,” Owen said.
All the hard work finally paid off when the song was released on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Store and YouTube. The release of “Give Me Mercy” was the culmination of all the time and money that Owen spent on recording and producing the track. His song has also been featured several times on the university radio station, WUSC 90.5 FM.