[center][img width=584]//7ca49eb9f67ba1319ef136f9d52cd8b8.cdn.bubble.io/f1731469442456x738325029794434400/richtext_content.jpeg[/img][/center] [center][/center] MAN with a PLAN Calgary singer puts production savvy to work By Alison Mayes Calgary Herald This past Valentine's Day, Mike Shields was in Toronto recording his first album instead of in Calgary buy-ing flowers and bon-bons. Married only four months, the 28- year-old singer-songwriter had already missed his wife's birthday because of the recording stint. Realizing that a grand gesture was in order, he called a producer at CBC Radio's Morningside and begged for host Peter Gzowski to air one of his just-recorded songs, She's Right Here, as a valentine to his wife Brigitte in Calgary "She listens to Morningside all the time," says the lanky Shields, a self- described mainstream rock 'n' roller dressed in a western shirt and bolo tie. "Peter was really into it. He loves that stuff. So they played it and she heard it. It was just great. Gave me some points, anyways, for another year." It also gave him national airplay and made his name memorable to Gzowski, whose staff has already asked for a copy of the just-released 11- song album, Grace Motel. Although Shields has gone the "indie" (independent) route with the album, using private investment money instead of waiting to get signed by a record label, he knows a thing or two about self-promotion and the inner workings of the music biz. The all-original album features session work by veterans of Bruce Cockburn's and Lenny Gallant's bands, as well as Neil Chapman, the guitarist on TV's Friday Night with Ralph Benmergui. Shields' sound ranges from aggressive, guitar-driven rock to rootsy John Mellencamp-influenced heartland rock, to hints of Don Henley and Elton John. (Shields' main instrument is keyboards; his favorite artists Bruce Springsteen, Mellencamp and John.) From the album art (featuring moody black-and-white photos taken at a weather-beaten wooden church in the badlands) to the ultra-professional, glossy press kit, to Shields' careful choice of high-profile gigs like this week's Canada Day show at Prince's Island Park, it's obvious this is a man with a plan. Shields' savvy no doubt stems in part from his real-world day jobs. He's the producer/director of the musical revue at Calaway Park. He also writes, arranges and sometimes performs commercial jingles and film scores for Midnight Audio Design, the sound side of up-and-coming film company Midnight Productions, where one of the partners, Grant Harvey, doubles as Shields' manager. Asked for a recent example of his jingle work, Shields starts laughing and singing in high-pitched, mock- female tones, "National, National Transmission claiming he can't remember the words, but defending it as "a hooky song." His close association with Midnight's film experts resulted in Shields' first and only music video, Time Will Tell, becoming a runaway success in late 1990. It aired heavily on MuchMusic, won the "best music video" award from the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association and came second to the Crash Test Dummies for best music video at the Yorkton Short Film Festival. MuchMusic was flooded with calls from fans of the song, but there was no album to back it up - a mistake Shields won't make again. With Grace Motel starting to move in local record stores, Shields will soon make a video for the song The Old Neighborhood, and says he has already heard some interest from companies wanting to pick up the album for national distribution. "I'd like to take it as far as it can go," he says. "I think it can actually fly. I just didn't want to be 30-ish and look back and say, y'know, I should have done that.... His voice gathers excitement. "I'd love to you know when you hear a song on the radio and you go, I remember that time in my life, back in junior high or whatever? I would love that to happen with me, for some person to hear my song and go, I remember when. That would be very cool." The son of two music teachers, Shields says he used to think about enrolling in university to study music, but never got around to it. From 1986- 89 he toured the country as the deep voice in an a cappella quartet, and says he contributed just as much musically as his better-educated singing mates. "I sort of skipped that step (university). Not that I'd recommend it-I don't have a lot to fall back on - but it's worked for me so far," he says with a chuckle . In performance with his band he doesn't mind doing covers of Springsteen, John Hiatt or his other heroes, but finds it "a big drag" when audiences demand to hear "classic rock" chestnuts from the likes of Elvis, Chuck Berry or Bob Seger. "There's nothing wrong with that, but we're really dwelling on it, Calgary especially. I mean, CJAY 92 is just doing great. It's kind of scary the way classic rock is sort of taking over our lives. "I think we need to move on. I just wrote a song about that, too stop it with the classic rock. Yes, it's good, but there's a lot of new material out there that people really have the right to hear, and it will be classic as well."
