The 5th Annual Guitar Festival by Power Jam Music Alliance Inc. will be held on March 11th. The headliner for the festival is Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer. They’ve earned two GRAMMY® Awards and an additional 11 GRAMMY® nominations. The featured performances are by local guitar artists Longman Joseph Norris, and Dylan Galvin. The opening acts are Jessica St. Claire, David Flood, Josh Riley, and Brandon Aksteter. This article is about Dylan Galvin, a 31-year-old solo musician, who works between 70 to 80 hours a week in Southern Maryland on his music trade, he will be the featured opening acts just before headliner Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, for the Guitar Concert at the Guitar Festival. (see www.pjma.info for more details)
Dylan Galvin is one of the most exciting and talented performers in the Maryland and DC area. His soulful, somewhat bluesy style not only works for his own songs, but puts a fresh spin on classic covers as well.” – Dee Jay Gude, SOMD online. Dylan Galvin is Berklee College of Music grad with a degree in songwriting and performing. He has worked with Paul Simon, John Mayer and Joe Satriani, played from LA to Boston, Key West and has 15 years of experience performing professionally. He can play ambient instrumental background music, belt anthemic pop tunes that get people dancing and singing, whip out a mouth-trumpet solo or play a beatboxing arrangement of Bach.
Dylan Galvin’s interest in music can be traced back to the day he was born. His father Mike Galvin, who was a musician himself, named him after the legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. In 1985, Galvin’s father quit playing guitar in a rock band named “The Bleeding Hearts” in Massachusetts. At the height of their success, his dad shelved his rock-and-roll dream to be a dad. His father later became an urban forester. When Dylan was about three year-old, the family moved to Southern Maryland from Massachusetts. He grew up in Calvert County. Galvin went to Southern Middle School and graduated from Patuxent High School. Galvin’s parents divorced when he was a teenager. He said he “struggled with depression, anxiety and soon found myself the subject of relentless bullying” during his adolescent years.
To escape the chaos, he would reminisce of those nights listening to his dad play music; the guitar became his form of therapy, identity and form of self-expression. A few years later, Galvin picked up a guitar, a gift from his grandparents when he was about 15. Since that day, he never put it down. He inherited his father’s passion for music as he tries to re-create the excitement he felt when his father played for him.
“Lyrics Matter” is the phrase that is indented on the small, heart-shaped brass necklaces Galvin makes as merchandise to sell at his shows. Galvin believes in a saying from Alex Medina, a creative director, that “making good art can shift culture.”
“Music is not just a means of entertainment for me, it is a way of communicating and delivering a message with meaning,” Galvin said.
Now working as a solo musician, the 31-year-old works between 70 to 80 hours a week. His ultimate goal is to “connect.” Every day he works to personally connect and share his message with people.
“Our world is in desperate need of meaning, truth, love and art,” Galvin wrote in his biography that summarizes his core message. “I want people to able to experience the joy of stories like the ones that intrigued my young mind into the world of music.” (For more information about Dylan, visit dylangalvin.com/)
Come with your guitar at 2 PM to 4 PM for the Guitar Workshop with Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer and stay around for the Guitar Concert and Art Show at 7 PM to 11 PM. All ages are welcome. The festival will be held at the 5 South Event Center, 21030 Point Lookout Road, Callaway, Maryland 20620. The festival is sponsored by the Maryland State Arts Council and the St. Mary’s County Arts Council. For further information, go to www.PJMA.info or call 240-925-8659.
