THE CUSTOM SONG THAT STARTED IT ALL..
Written for my dear friends Mike and Madison for their elopement up on the North Shore. The song ended up being released and has amassed over 5 Million Spotify streams and has been used in weddings all over the world. This rewarding experience is what made me want to start doing more of this. That along with the gift of obtaining inspiration from many places. Inspiration in itself is a gift for songwriters.
RECENT CUSTOM SONGWRITING PROJECTS
THE STORY :: Melvin reached out to me and shared the story of losing the love of his life to cancer and raising up children on his own. Now that they have grown an old friendship was rekindled and blossomed into something more. Which caught him by surprise as he never expected to find love again. Once the song was finished he also asked for my help in making a lyric video.
THE FEEDBACK :: ‘Thank you for everything the experience was better than I could had imagined.’
THE STORY :: This song is for my wife for our upcoming 25th wedding anniversary. I want to recognize Carmen for her selflessness and love in the many ups and downs of our marriage.
THE FEEDBACK :: ‘Wow, you are an amazing and talented artist! And you turned around the commission so fast! I teared up as I was listening to your song for the first time. I especially like that you incorporated "we are still young-ish" - that really captures the vibe of the road we have been on together.’
THE STORY :: This is for the love of my life, Brian, for our one year anniversary. We met through my job and were friends for four years.
THE FEEDBACK :: ‘Hi Michael, I love it! Totally made me cry. I'm 100% obsessed. I wish that I could express how much this song means to me and will mean to him.’
THE STORY :: Erin wanted to surprise Taylor with a custom song for their first dance. Highlights that stood out to me from her story is that she had a 24 hour rule, that if you don’t meet up within 24 hours of connecting then it wasn’t meant to be. She was also open about her racing mind and how she often talks too fast about a million things, and how beautifully patient Taylor was with that. They also have ambitions to move out to the country where they will start a family together. They also love the song ‘Come To Me’ by The Goo Goo Dolls and Taylor learned it on the guitar for Erin so I wanted to be sure to thread that in. Lastly Taylor told Erin he loved for the first time in a hot spring and apparently he is an expert at solving Wheel of Fortune puzzles :)
THE FEEDBACK :: ‘I don’t even know what to say, and I’m never speechless. I listened to it on the car and had to pull over because I couldn’t drive. I couldn’t even imagine a more perfect song. I wouldn’t change a single thing. It’s beyond perfect.’
THE STORY :: Maxwell wanted to surprise Manon with a custom song for the first dance at their wedding. This dude is an absolute romantic with a heart of gold that sent me pages of info and background that detailed his love for his soon to be bride. Themes and ideas I focused in on were their backgrounds as cross country runners having met in college where they met at CSB/SJU. Locations of specific importance were Mary Hall (where they met), Brianna Drive (where they lived together), and Grand Marais (their favorite place). I thought this was the most vivid part so I used it for the chorus. Other lyrics referenced Manon’s heart and selfless nature, them being parents someday, and standing by each other regardless of circumstance. We also wanted to reference ‘God Gave Me You’ which was the song that they were going to dance to originally. It made sense to me to make many of the metaphors related to their shared love for running and hiking.
THE FEEDBACK :: ‘It turned out better than I could have ever imagined and we will cherish this for the rest of our lives. We’ll still be dancing to this song at our 50th wedding anniversary, I promise!’ -From Maxwell and they were kind enough to send me this photo on their wedding day
THE STORY :: Katie wanted to surprise Drew with a song for their 11th anniversary. She explained that they are kid free by choice and love the freedom of what each weekend will bring. Important points they wanted me to hit were that they have a three legged kitty named Mango, love T Swift, The Office, the MN Wild, and visiting local breweries.
THE FEEDBACK :: ‘My husband and I have been fans of Michael Shynes ever since he played at a wedding we attended several years ago. The song was completed quickly, and it was so beautiful. I played the song for my husband weeks before our anniversary, because I just couldn’t wait! We both love it, and listen to it all the time. Thank you again for a beautiful anniversary gift that will last a lifetime.’
THE PROCESS
I am excited that you are here and considering a custom song. The process is pretty straightforward. You send me as much info as you possibly can (the more specific the items the better the song will be in my experience) that you are comfortable sharing with me and then I get to work on it. I generally require half up front and half at song completion before sending over the mastered finished product. And if for any reason we can’t get to a song that you LOVE I will fully refund your entire balance. Here is a breakdown on pricing for you to consider what option is best for you!