Rob
Middleton's musical journey began at ten years old;
he was in the crowd watching the finals of the Youth
Talent Search Ontario Competition. When he blurted out
"I will be on that stage next year!" Quite
amusing at the time as Rob had never even mentioned
wanting to be a singer, let alone competing in a talent
search in front of hundreds of spectators. But his father
a former bass player and mother a singer, enrolled Rob
in singing lessons right away with voice coach Cheryl
Harrison. Rob practiced day and night and just as he
said, was on the stage the following year after making
it thru the first few rounds and on to the finals of
the Youth Talent Search Ontario Competition.
For
the next few years, Rob entered every competition he
heard of trying to get maximum exposure as well as performing
in showcase concerts produced by Encore Canada Inc.
and the Children's Miracle Network Telethon.
At
age thirteen, Rob was approached by radio personality
Elaine Sawyer from CKSL Radio in London, asking if he
would be interested in getting together to form a group
with her son a drummer from London. Soon they formed
a teen rock group called Shylock.
Well
London just wasn't ready for a teen rock band yet and
when Rob tried to get his band booked at nightclubs
and had the door slammed in his face more times than
could be imagined. Club owners were sure no one would
come to see a bunch of teens playing in a band. After
thinking of a way to play long and hard he finally figured
it out. Rob suggested an all ages show that would not
cost the bar anything to promote. He offered to print
his own advance tickets and only expected the door fee
as payment. An offer to good to refuse and that's when
it all really started. The Clubs were jammed and the
band got regular bookings every few weeks. It was awesome
and it almost never happened, just goes to show if you
believe you can do anything you put your mind to.
The
London Free Press ate it up putting Rob's photo and
a huge write-up on the front page of the Entertainment
Section boasting he's only thirteen and already one
of London's top draws. This led to tons of appearances
and interest from local entertainment management.
Over
the years, Rob fronted several bands from Classic Rock
to New Country and even a Metallica Tribute for some
time. He craves the spotlight and believes that the
rush felt when standing on stage in front of hundreds
of people is truly awesome. Constantly saying "It's
a feeling like nothing else on Earth."
Those
were great times, but Rob knew his heart was in Country
music and soon focused his attention on the thing that
matters most, being seen by the public. He once again
hit the contest circuit and started meeting tons of
performers and other industry people. Rob enjoys singing
so much he even invested in his own Entertainment Company
and began booking karaoke shows so he could perform
live every night.
Rob
was a finalist in 2003 and 2004 Ontario Open Country
Singing Contest. This is an incredible contest with
tons of great competitors, if you're a singer this is
one you don't want to miss!
Rob
was also a finalist in the 2002 Cradle to Rave Singing
Contest held at "The Corral" in Oshawa and
sponsored by KX-96 FM & Wellcraft Music Group.
As
a finalist in Cradle to Rave Competition, Rob was invited
to participate on the 2002 Wellcraft Music/KX-96 Finalists
compilation album. He completed recording his first
song "Playin' Hard To Forget" an upbeat tempo
rock-a-billy type song written by renowned songwriters
Cyril Rawson / Jim Witter / Ron Harbin.
Soon
after Rob completed work on a song for the Million Penny
Toy Drive 2003 Christmas CD a joint effort from KX-96
FM/1350-CKDO radio and Wellcraft Music Group, Rob performed
the song "Hot Rod Sleigh" originally performed
and written by country superstar Toby Keith.
In
January 2004 Rob was asked again to contribute his talents
to the 2003 Wellcraft Music/KX-96 Finalists compilation
album this time Rob performed two songs:
The
first is a melodic ballad about a man who's played women
for years and finally gets played back, appropriately
titled "The Player"
The
second is a rocking' country song about a blue collar
cowboy titled "Hillbilly Cadillac"
This is an incredibly cool song and could possibly be
Rob's first nationwide release.
Rob
was asked in 2004 to appear on the Million Penny Toy
Drive Christmas CD and completed another incredible
song. This years pick was a remake of the holiday favourite"Santa,
Looked A Lot Like Daddy" This track will be on
the 2004 CD with proceeds going to help support The
Salvation Army and Simcoe Hall Settlement House.
The
Million Penny Toy Drive 2004 Christmas CD is a joint
effort from KX-96 FM/1350-CKDO radio and Wellcraft Music
Group. Thank you to all those who came out to support
this year's toy drive kickoff concert Sunday November
14th 2004 at "The Corral" in Oshawa.
Rob
also appears on the 2004 Wellcraft Music/KX-96 Finalists
compilation album. This year's song is once again a
track that almost appeared to be custom made for Robs
rock-a-billy feel titled "Ride like a Cadillac"
This track was written by two extremely talented and
renowned writers Rick Carnes / Peter Callander.
Recently
Rob has just wrapped up the recording of four demos
for Canadian songwriter Glen Gales, these tunes should
be shopped to industry by later on this year to some
big names in country music and I am quite excited to
see who might end up releasing these tracks.
Rob
is also featured on the 2005 Wellcraft Music/KX-96 Finalists
compilation album. This albums song is written by Glen
Gales and is named "Don't Say Your In Love"
and turned out incredible!