Sunday, December 17, 2017

Reaching for the spiritual, grasping the magical with Dylan Galvin

Hand chosen by Paul Simon for a private songwriting session in Boston MA, Dylan Galvin is a melodic pop-folk songwriter who writes songs that resonate with introverts and thinkers .  Earning a degree from Berklee College of Music, Dylan studied under some of the best musicians in the world, including John Mayer's own guitar teacher, Tomo Fujita and James Taylors quaint and talented brother, Livingston.  

He's racked up quite a few awards for his music including "IMEA Adult Contemporary Artist of the Year", "Phoenix Radio Best Guitarist", "ISC Honorable Mention", "Berklee Songwriting Competition Winner". He is an introverted storyteller at heart, weaving words into his intricate acoustic finger-style guitar playing, looking at the world with careful discernment and trying to balance his inner optimist and pessimist.  





Shortly before Dylan was born in 1984 Mike Galvin (his dad) was in a rock band called "The Bleeding Hearts".  They were gaining steam fast.  Extreme opened for them (yes, the guys that sing “More Than Words”).  Stevie Nicks wanted to buy one of their songs.  Then came newborn Dylan. (sidenote - yes he was named after Bob Dylan and he uses this to explain how he was destined to play music).  His father immediately shelved the rock dream to be a dad.  His dad didn’t realize that those late nights when he was strumming his guitar in his room and singing songs of being young, of love and adventure, social change and stories, songs from Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, his curly headed, bathrobe-clad three year old was curiously listening from the hallway, wondering what all those stories meant.  

During his adolescent years his parents divorced, he struggled with depression, anxiety and bullying.  Remembering those first intriguing memories of his dad playing music, the guitar became a form of therapy, of identity and of self-expression that grew and blossomed every day until he realized that he wanted to carry his dad’s torch and make a career out of the strange wooden instrument.  He has since graduated from Berklee College of Music and has been a full time musician ever since.

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