The Shields Brothers

“You’re writing about ANOTHER band?” asked my husband.
“No,” I replied, “it’s the same band.”
“But, why? You just wrote an article about them,” he said wondering if his quiet writer-wife has gone groupie for the Shields Brothers.
“I know,” I said, “but they’re more famous now.”
More famous, indeed, but the dynamic trio are still as down-to-earth and personable as the first time we sat down for an interview a few months ago.
When the three Rixeyville brothers, Tristan, Devin and Rory Shields decided that they would rather play music than to settle for “real” jobs after college, they were realistic in their approach. They knew that in order to be successful they would have to treat their band as a business and so far it’s working wonders for the band of brothers.
On Oct. 16, the Shields Brothers performed live on the Fox Morning News show for all the greater DC metro area to see. They earned the honor by winning the Fox Rocks: Battle of the Bands competition.
“Our mom forced us to enter this contest,” said Tristan, who explained that they’d entered the station’s initial Fox Rocks competition last year but came away empty-handed.
It’s a good thing their mother, Dr. Nancy Dailey, persuaded them to reconsider. The competition allowed the young, energetic trio to post one of their original songs on the Fox Website, perform live twice for audiences and again on live regional television.
“We submitted a song we wrote called Hold Me,” Tristan said.
“We recorded it and turned it in within the last five minutes before the contest deadline,” explained Devin.
Out of 106 bands who submitted audio performances to Fox Rocks, voters brought the Shields Brothers into the final six that would go on to the semi-finals. The next part of the competition was for each of the six remaining bands to perform live at the Clarendon Grill in Arlington; three on one night and the other three on another night. Audience reaction was the determining factor in this round. That was no problem for Tristan, Devin and Rory who have amazing energy, stage presence and the innate ability to engage audiences. By the end of their 30-minute set, the Shields Brothers had, once again. Risen to the top.
The Shields Brothers were then pitted against the winning band from the other set of semi-finals, Bette Noir, from Bethesda, in another live performance in Arlington. The audience, once again, favored our local brood, handing them the rights to an invitation to perform live on television.
“Fox called us the next day to let us know we would be on the morning news show on the 16th – the day after,” said Tristan.
“We had to get up at 3 a.m. to get ready and get down there,” remembered Rory.
“More people saw us play that morning than had ever seen us before,” said Tristan, “and yet there was hardly anyone in the room with us.”
“It’s harder to play for just someone who says “Go!’,” continued Devin, “but the music is fun an once we get into it it’s just fun hanging out playing with your brothers.”
It was definitely worth the ungodly hour awakening, they all agreed. Not only did they learn a lot about televised performances, they came away with a fascinating experience and mutually beneficial relationship with Fox.

Etc.

- Fauquier Times Democrat

Though all three members of The Shields Brothers Band will tell you that they play Top 40 rock and roll music, there really needs to be a separate category for the trio of highly-energetic, talented, college graduates.
The camaraderie of the brothers, Tristan, Devin and Rory, is evident in so many aspects of their lives, both on and off stage. They are each intelligent, outgoing, humorous and bring varying skills that complement each other perfectly.
Music has been important to the Shields brothers throughout their lives. In fact, they consider their band to have been “conceived in 1982, expanded in 1985 and established in 1988,” said Rory, explaining that those are the years of their birth.
“Our Dad used to play folk songs to us when we were little to get us to go to sleep,” remembered Devin of his first exposure to musical experiences.
Although Devin has always had a great appreciation for music, it was Rory and Tristan who were immensely passionate about playing and performing. The two brothers played percussion for the Piedmont Symphony Orchestra during grade school and the zeal for performing never ebbed.
Two years ago, Rory and Tristan decided to try to make living from their favorite pastime. With Rory's high school graduation nearing, it was the perfect time to launch their new career. Naturally the band would not have been complete without Devin.
“We've always done things together,” said Tristan, “so we told Devin that it would be really cool if he played with us and we just sort-of wrote him in.”
The young men were excited at the prospect of becoming rock stars and being able to turn their passion for music into a full-time career. The transformed their parents' garage into a performing and recording studio that they lightheartedly refer to as their “studiage.”
“It's a quiet place where we wouldn't upset anybody with our playing,” said Tristan.
“We're great now, but we weren't that good when we started,” explained Devin, adding joking, “We really started doing this to avoid getting real jobs after college.”
But the truth of the matter is that they have approached their band as a viable business.
Tristan who graduated from the College of Charleston in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in theater serves as the band's business manager – booking events and making sure everything runs on schedule, in addition to his role as lead guitarist and vocalist for the group.
Devin, who earning a master's degree in systems engineering from the University of Virginia this spring, is the band's techno-whiz. He makes sure that the sound system and all other electronic equipment is working properly during performances and recordings.
Devin is also the reason the three-man group is able to make the sounds of a much larger group. His brothers laughingly attribute Devin's skills to his “smart pants,” but the khakis actually have nothing to do with the engineer's ability to integrate special effects into The Shields Brothers Band performances using gadgets like his iPod, trigger pads and musical instrument digital interfaces. He is also the band's bass player and vocalist.
A recent graduate of Lord Fairfax Community College, Rory uses his wild energy and people skills to promote the band using various tools like Twitter and Myspace as well as serving as the band's percussionist and vocalist.
The trio has had a vast amount of success in the short time they've been promoting themselves. Their first porfessional gig was opening for a puppet show at an art studio opening in The Plains. Since then they've played for several private functions, performed for a live audience in Japan, landed the recurring job of performing monthly at both Molly's Irish Pub and McMahon's Irish Pub in Warrenton and have had the honor of performing at the Nissan Pavillion on the same night as Brad Paisley, Rodney Atkins and Taylor Swift.
While the brothers have several gigs lined up for the summer, they are looking forward to what they hope will be their big break: performing at a bar in Brooklyn in September.
“It's a showcase of sorts,” explained Tristan, “there will be a lot of people there from the music industry and we're hoping they'll notice us.”
the brothers will be hard to miss. The powerful and energetic presence of The Shields Brothers Band emanates from the instruments and voice on stage to the ears, hearts and feet of everyone in the room.
While the record industry may just have to come up with a new category for the sounds of the Shields Brothers Band, it's certain that they won't be able to ignore the local trio of talent.

- Fauquier Times Democrat

A Rixeyville pop rock trio is trying to land a gig on the small screen.
The energetic Shields Brothers — Tristan, Devin and Rory — will take the stage tonight at the Clarendon Grill in Arlington for the final Fox Rocks Battle of the Bands concert. The event starts at 7, and the cover charge is $5.
The winning band will perform on Fox 5 Morning News and get a three-minute music video, courtesy Fox 5, to be featured at a later date on the show.
In an online video plea posted on their MySpace page to friends and fans, the guys encourage people to bring air horns (which are not permitted, by the way) because the band that receives the loudest crowd reaction wins.
“OK, people, we really need you to come out to the Clarendon Grill and cheer really, really loud because talent doesn’t matter at all,” joked the band’s drummer, Rory, leaning into the camera.
The trio also competed against four local bands during the 2009 Taste of Culpeper Battle of the Bands competition in downtown Culpeper on Sunday.
The animated group included the crowd in the performance, welcoming people on stage and even acting like sharks as they pretended to bite people during the “Shark Attack” song.
Devin ended the high-spirited show with a spontaneous dive into Rory’s drum set.
The Shields Brothers will be going up against Bette Noire tonight.
To proceed to the finals, the bands had to perform at least one original song during last week’s semifinal competition.
Rory attended Culpeper County High School, while Tristan and Devin went to Highland School in Warrenton.
- Culpeper Star Exponent

A Rixeyville pop rock band has landed a gig on morning TV.
The Shields Brothers — Tristan, Devin and Rory — will perform their original song “Hold Me” on Fox 5 Morning News today at 9:45 a.m.
The guys will also get to shoot a three-minute music video, courtesy of Fox 5, to be featured on the show at a later date.
Friday’s show follows the band’s winning performance during the Fox Rocks Battle of the Bands competition on Wednesday at the Clarendon Grill in Arlington.
“It’s great. It’s awesome,” Tristan Shields said Thursday morning about the band’s recent win.
The highly energetic Shields Brothers received the loudest crowd reaction Wednesday night, beating out their competition Bette Noir during the finals.
“You can’t really ignore us. We just want everybody to have a good time,” Tristan said. “You either love us or you hate us.”
The guys sang the same song during Wednesday’s competition.
Tristan said “Hold Me” is about being on the road and wanting to see someone you’re missing.
When the band is not performing on TV, they are playing local gigs in Warrenton or Charlottesville and the surrounding area.
Rory graduated from Culpeper County High School, while Tristan and Devin attended Highland School in Warrenton.
- Culpeper Star Exponent

http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/entertainment/101609_fox_rocks_winner_shields_brothers - Fox 5 DC