Dylan Shields

Some twenty-and-some years ago, a screaming little boy was born in Ottawa, Canada - destined to make noise and eventually, to make music. 
                                                                             
If you were to fast forward about eight years, you would find this little boy (since named "Dylan") on his way to a dreaded piano lesson because Mommy would only buy him an electric guitar if he reached a certain level of piano book.

Skip ahead again to 1997 and the same little boy could be seen as lead singer and electric guitar player for a punky three-piece guitar-driven rock band, The Right Atrium, specializing in Green Day covers, but dabbling in some Oasis and some original compositions. With shows at Mackskmming Farm, a few appearances at the Liquid Monkey, a spot in the basement of the Glebe Community Centre as well as numerous Coffee House shows at Nepean High School, The Right Atrium played a gigs wherever they could find them, sometimes even managing to break even.

After high school, and after the end of The Right Atrium, Dylan fell into an addiction, which has since haunted his life: performing at open mic nights around Ottawa. It all started at Grace O'Malley's pub on a Monday night when Dylan nervously took the stage hosted by Lucas Dybinski. Comfortable enough onstage with a guitar and confident in the strength of his voice (credited to years of singing through awful amplifitcation devices of all sorts), the young man went on a tear - sometimes squeezing in up to three open mic performances in a single night.

More recently, Dylan has been setting up his own shows in and around Ottawa with local singer/songwriter friends that he has made through his travels. On stage, Dylan uses loops and delays to enrich the sound of a typical solo guitar playing singer. Adding layer upon layer, audiences confuse themselves trying to find other musicians who are supplying the music with such a full sound.