Mr.Devious
Biography
Mr. Devious has its roots in the songs of guitarist Glenn Shirey. Glenn began crafting his music in 2004, and drafted his brother Bryce Shirey (keyboard), cousin Evan Shirey (drums) and high school friend Gregor Steindl (bass) to form a band and get his songs in front of an audience. After the band got their musical chops down, Stephen Harding joined as the lead vocalist, and the Mr. Devious lineup was complete.
The unique yet familiar Mr. Devious sound is a combination of blues, honky tonk, baroque orchestration, psychedelia and classic rock n’ roll. The members of Mr. Devious pride themselves on their musical integrity and the reckless abandon with which they perform their shows.
Mr. Devious’ big break came in mid January 2006. When a Fox Sports commentator mispronounced the last name of Steelers’ safety Troy Polamalu, Mr. Devious wrote a song that poked fun at the commentator’s mistake. That song, PUHLAHMAHLU, became a massive local hit. “We just recorded it for ourselves, as a joke, and somebody sent a copy to WDVE” says Glenn Shirey “We would have been happy to just hear it once on the radio.” Not only did WDVE play it, but most of the other stations in Pittsburgh added it to their play list. As of early February 2006, over 175,000 people downloaded PULHAMALU, and the band’s success was the focus of feature stories on KDKA and WTAE.
Since the release of PULHAMALU, Mr. Devious has been getting offers to play all over Western Pennsylvania. Judging by the success of that song, Mr. Devious’ loyal fan base is about to get much, much bigger.
Open Letter
To Whom It May Concern:
In 2004 a band was put together around a collection of songs written by Glenn Shirey while he was living in West Virginia. The make up of the group was not a hard decision, Glenn Shirey on guitar, Bryce Shirey on keys, Evan Shirey on drums, and Gregor Steindl on Bass. All that was missing from the line up was a strong enough voice to cut through Mr. Devious’ instrumental fervor. Stephen Harding joined the group through an unexpected bowling liaison, and since then the group has been playing as they do now; with complete abandon and unwavering musical integrity.
The sound of Mr. Devious is a melting pot of Blues, Honky Tonk, Baroque orchestration, Psychedelia, and good old fashioned Rock and Roll. We believe that Rock and Roll has not yet outlived its relevance, and we continue to find a new sound within the genre that seems to have been there since its inception.
For these reasons Mr. Devious is drawn toward vintage musical instruments. In our current setup we have analog keyboards and combo organs, tube amplifiers, oscillators and Astatic harmonica microphones. These instruments are undeniably more expressive and better sounding in the hands of skilled musicians than their modern digital counterparts.
As an avid fan of Mr. Devious once said, “Its like you reached back into the closet and pulled out a record, blew the dust off of it, and said ‘Here, listen to this’”.
Thank you,
- Mr. Devious