An Evening with Chris Hawkey and Michael Shynes // Featuring DGS
Saturday, March 1, 2025
7 pm Doors // 8 pm Music
All Ages
$30 ($38.07 w. taxes/fees) Advance General Admission // $35 ($41 w. taxes/fees) At The Door
Ticket purchases are final and non-refundable
Facebook RSVP
Vocalist and performer Chris Hawkey (frontman of Chris Hawkey Band and the Fabulous Armadillos), who starts his days as the host of KFAN’s Power Trip Morning Show — and spends his nights moonlighting as a beloved rock star for his passionate fans and followers, will join Platinum recording artist and songwriter Michael Shynes for a special night trading songs and stories at the beautiful Parkway Theater.
Chris Hawkey is a true entertainer with a wide variety of outlets to connect with people across the Midwest. His primary role is co-host and producer of the Power Trip Morning Show — one of the most successful and highly-rated talk radio shows in the U.S.
“My job is to make my friends laugh every morning,” says Hawkey. “It’s the best gig in the world."
In addition to the Power Trip, Hawkey is the producer of the Minnesota Vikings Radio Network for all of the team’s road games. Being in this role for 14 seasons has allowed him to travel with the team to every stadium currently in use by the NFL.
When he’s not on the radio, Hawkey takes his talents to the stage singing with multiple bands — the Fabulous Armadillos, Rocket Club, the Chris Hawkey Band, plus the occasional solo acoustic performance. He has released six albums with the Chris Hawkey Band and an additional five with Rocket Club.
Hawkey loves to write and support local charities. He published his first novel “Possibilities Lined In Chalk” in 2020. Based in the early 1980s, it’s a fictional look back at life in a small midwestern town as seen through the eyes of a football-obsessed teenager.
He can also frequently be found hosting and lending his support to hundreds of charities around the Twin Cities helping raise millions of dollars for causes — with a focus on kids and mental health.
In his free time, ‘Hawk’ can be found exploring Minnesota on his motorcycle, enjoying live music, reading, and spending time with his friends and family.
The fact that Michael Shynes is a Midwest-born singer-songwriter with a Platinum record in Poland, in many ways, perfectly sums up the unlikelihood of his career. Being a self-taught musician from a small town, he seemed to build a career out of nothing more than pure hustle and soulful songwriting. And he was also a son who had lost his father, quit his day job, and chased an unlikely dream. And even though the music itself may be difficult to define (often oscillating from folk to pop to R&B to country and then back again), the intent behind it is the unifying ingredient — the unmistakable truth that it never strives to be anything less than genuine and authentic.
After losing his father to an auto immune disease when Shynes was 25, he decided to honor his Dad's legacy by chasing the ambitions he had been putting off. At that time he was working at a residential treatment center for teens, and playing the occasional show on the weekend. "It was important work, and shaped who I am today in a lot of ways. But the stark reality of realizing how quickly life can change, made me realize how I wanted to spend my time here."
This was also at a time when he was falling in love, adopting a daughter, and trying to build a home. “I think it benefited me in a lot of ways as there were no excuses. I had mouths to feed. What crippled me when music was a journey strictly for myself, was the idea that there had to be some deep meaning in everything. Once it was simply about providing for my family, that’s when I was able to see everything through the lens of simply building our lives together.”
Shynes would often get noticed as a strong local candidate to open up for National acts as they came through town, and even ended up on a tour with Platinum Recording Artist Howie Day. "That was transformative as I was playing for theaters full of people who had no obligation to buy into what I was selling on stage. But I realized I could hold their attention with just the stories and the songs. That was a landmark experience.”
Now Shynes has worked to become one of the most sought after performers in the Midwest, recently selling out his first theater shows, and building a fully immersive live performance concept that includes up to a nine-piece band paired with a video and light show. Blending shades of multiple genres over an acoustic and full band landscape, his songs are ripe with lyrical depth rarely paired with mainstream appeal. The thing that seems to separate Shynes is unquestionably his vocal stylings. With a range and falsetto that is nothing short of captivating, his acoustic finger-picking style acts as the perfect bed of warmth on which his soulful lyrics can rest.