Drew Shalka
Birth dateMarch 1, 1995 (age 31)
Birth placeBonnyville, Alberta, Canada
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active2009–present
Drew Shalka
Instrument
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
  • keyboards
  • bass
Genre
Associated acts
Websitefkbmusic.ca

Edward Drew Shalka (born March 1, 1995), known professionally as Drew Shalka, is a Canadian singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter.[1] He is the lead vocalist and bassist of the Canadian rock band FKB.[1] He was nominated for a Juno Award for Distant Danger by Nuela Charles.[1]

Early life

Edward Drew Shalka was born on March 1, 1995, in Bonnyville, Alberta.[1] He joined the band FKB as lead vocalist and bassist while he was in high school in 2009.[2] Growing up he was heavily influenced by the music of The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Elvis Presley.[3][1]

Musical career

Shalka's career in music began with FKB when he met Derek Chalut at school.[2] The band attracted local notoriety and caught the attention of singer-songwriter Clayton Bellamy of the Canadian country band The Road Hammers at a car show in late 2012.[4] Bellamy became interested in their music and co-wrote and produced their first EP 123 FKB. [2] Following the release in 2014, the band would go on to perform hundreds of shows across Canada and the United States supporting acts including The Trews, Bif Naked, Mother Mother, Dear Rouge, The Road Hammers, Dan Davidson, Pop Evil, and Scott Helman.[1][5][6][7][8]

In 2017, FKB released the single "Bright Lights" accompanied by a music video and tour of Canada and the United States.[9][10] They followed this with the single and music video for "My Bedroom" in January 2018 along with another string of Western Canadian tour dates.[11][12] In July 2018, they released another single with a music video titled "Casual Love" on KnightVision Records.[13][14][15][16]

Shalka co-wrote the single "Danger" released by Canadian singer-songwriter Nuela Charles in 2018.[17][18][19] The song reached top 10 on CBC Music and was on Charles' Juno Award nominated album Distant Danger.[20][21][1] The single and album won "Pop Recording of the Year" and "Album of the Year" respectively at the Edmonton Music Awards in 2019.[22]

In late 2019, Shalka and the other members of FKB all portrayed themselves and performed their song "My Bedroom" in the film Moments in Spacetime.[23][11]

Awards and nominations

YearOrganizationAwardNominee/WorkResult
2018Edmonton Music AwardsAdult Alternative Recording of the YearBright LightsNominated
2019Juno AwardsAdult Contemporary Album of the YearDistant DangerNominated
2019Edmonton Music AwardsPop Recording of the YearDangerWon
2019Edmonton Music AwardsAlbum of the YearDistant DangerWon

Discography

Songwriting and performance credits

TitleYearArtistAlbumCreditsWritten withProducer
"Crystal Ball"2014FKB123 FKBCo-writer/Lead Vocals/Bass/KeyboardsClayton Bellamy, Zackery Moon, Zachary Fontaine, Derek ChalutClayton Bellamy
"Turn on the Lights"Co-writer/Lead Vocals/Bass
"She Thinks She's the Only One"
"Take Me Home"
"123 FKB"
"Bright Lights"2017Bright LightsCo-writer/Lead Vocals/Keyboards/GuitarTravis Topylki, Derek Chalut, Zachary Fontaine
"My Bedroom"2018My BedroomCo-writer/Lead Vocals/Bass/Keyboards/Guitar
"Casual Love"Casual Love
"Danger"2018Nuela CharlesDistant DangerCo-writerNuela Charles, Brandon Unis, Brad Simons, Ryan WorsleyRyan Worsley
"Backseat Daydream"2019FKBBackseat DaydreamCo-writer/Lead Vocals/Keyboards/Guitar/Backing VocalsClayton Bellamy, Travis Topylki, Derek Chalut, Zachary FontaineClayton Bellamy
"Glow"2020GlowCo-writer/Lead Vocals/Bass/Keyboards/Guitar/Backing VocalsClayton Bellamy, Dan DavidsonClayton Bellamy and Dan Davidson

[24]

References

  1. ^ "Drew Shalka". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  2. ^ "FKB releases their first CD". Bonnyville Nouvelle. 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  3. ^ Melanson, Jenna (4 May 2017). "Five Questions With FKB | Canadian Beats Media". Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  4. ^ "Fernie Fix May 2017". Issuu. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  5. ^ "Cold Lake gearing up for Canada 150". Bonnyville Nouvelle. 2017-06-27. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  6. ^ "Bonnyville Extreme Mudfest gets bigger, better, muddier". FestivalSeekers. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  7. ^ "Best of Canada's Music at Extreme MudFest". Fueled By Rednecks. 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  8. ^ "FKB on Instagram: "Throwback to last Friday where we had the pleasure to open up for @mothermothermusic for @sa_macewan 's Fall Fest 🎉 Thanks to everyone who…"". Instagram. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  9. ^ "FKB: Bright Lights", retrieved 2019-10-31
  10. ^ "FKB | SPOTLIGHT interview Series No.1 'Bright Lights'". SMC Spotlight!. 2017-05-08. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  11. ^ "FKB: My Bedroom", retrieved 2019-10-31
  12. ^ "FKB Releases New Single My Bedroom Accompanied by Music Video and 2018 Tour". Archived 2019-10-31 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ^ "FKB Partners With Knightvision Records/Warner Music to Releaxe New SIngle "Casual Love"". Archived 2019-10-31 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ^ "FKB: Casual Love", retrieved 2019-10-31
  15. ^ "New Music Discovery – 17.08.18". www.mysticsons.com. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  16. ^ "FKB - Casual Love". ParaPOP. 2018-08-18. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  17. ^ "Nuela Charles - 'Danger'". Impose Magazine. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  18. ^ Snodgrass, Hubert (2018-09-27). "Canadian Nuela Charles craves 'Danger' on ritzy return". Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  19. ^ "[IAI Prmiere] Nuela Charles craves 'Danger' on bold pop-soul number". 21 September 2018. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  20. ^ "Nuela Charles". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  21. ^ "2019 Adult Contemporary Album of the Year | Nuela Charles". The Juno Awards. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  22. ^ Garner, Ryan (2019-06-28). "Triple threat: Nuela Charles wins three categories at 2019 Edmonton Music Awards". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  23. ^ "Moments in Spacetime", retrieved 2019-10-31
  24. ^ "Drew Shalka". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-02-20.