Michael Shynes is a gifted singer/songwriter who is only recently beginning to come into his own. He lost his Father to an auto immune disease at the age of 25. To honor his Dad’s legacy, he decided to chase those dreams he had put off for so long. At that time he was working at a residential treatment center for teens and playing the occasional show on the weekend.
Shynes eplained, “It was important work, and shaped who I am today in a lot of ways. But after three years, I just got tired of getting beat up, spit on, and called everything you can imagine. I loved those kids though, and wouldn’t trade my time there for anything.”
Shynes moved back home to keep costs down while trying to become a full time musician. “It worked out well because I didn’t want to think of my Mom being alone in the house after my Dad’s passing. But by the same token, it felt like a lateral move being back in my childhood home. I had many an existential crisis during that time.”
Shynes began playing every show that he possibly could, and as time went on, he was able to pay all his bills (and student loans) with an acoustic guitar. “Paying rent every month by writing and performing songs was pretty surreal, and the harder I worked, the better the gigs got.”
Shynes was often considered to be a strong local candidate to open up for national acts as they came through town, and even ended up on a tour with platinum recording artist Howie Day. “That really taught me a lot because I was playing for theaters full of people who were not there to see me. But I was telling the stories and playing my songs, and everyone was listening. That was a landmark experience.”
Since that time, Shynes has worked to become one of the most sought after acoustic performers and songwriters in the Midwest. He has an ability to blend shades of multiple genres over an acoustic landscape, and his songs are ripe with lyrical depth rarely paired with mainstream appeal. “The thing that seems to separate Shynes is unquestionably his voice and phrasing. With a range and falsetto that is nothing short of captivating, his acoustic finger picking style acts as the perfect bed of warmth on which his soulful lyrics can rest.” (Up Next, a local Minnesota publication)
Shynes has recently completed a new album that will be released on November 18, 2017. In the meantime, he is already getting favorable press, including The Huffington Post, as to his first single and the title track, “Cold Day in Hell,” which was released on October 13.
https://soundcloud.com/michaelshynes/cold-day-in-hell
This song is the perfect track for sharing his talents. It combines comedic lyrics with a truly relatable story that most of us have endured at some point in our life. He has followed up the single release with a hilarious lyric video that further drives home his story.
We love the new single and the lyric video. We also encourage you to check out the live videos he has recently posted on his YouTube page.