Shiloh Monaco

The sound of Shiloh Monaco's virtuoso performances at the helm of his piano-led romantic rock band, first gained recognition around the music-savvy club scene of his hometown Baltimore, Maryland. Right away, his keyboard skills playing off of his darkly romantic image attracted a local and then regional following. Soon, fanatic fans from around the globe started posting his iconic hand-sign that was the symbol of Shiloh's specially created sub-genre of rock music that he trademarked RomantiCore: Romantic music and lyrics with lush melodies and chords driven by a hardcore beat and raucous backing. Before long, regional radio stations like 98Rock (97.9 FM) and local publications like Shockwave Magazine were reporting interviews with him and more club dates were scheduled: Hard Rock Café, the Johns Hopkins Festival, Baltimore Soundstage, and the biggie, Ram's Head Live! Currently, the streaming site Reverbnation lists him at #1 on their local and regional rock chart. A sold-out gig at the Ottobar only increased his audience. But not only rock fans and groupies were taking notice - a few music professionals were noting Shiloh as a composer, noting the originality and structure of his best songs and the sophisticated chords that marked many a RomantiCore hit. Two of those songs were turned into lushly sensual music videos that were (what else?) darkly romantic at their core. Shiloh saw to their funding and the co-direction of the videos, at the same time raising the funds to produce a 10-song album of his best work. In album notes prepared for the release, we learned a bit of the background of this most original musician: Born in Baltimore where his family including an older brother has always lived, Shiloh's August birth date places him on the astrological cusp between the passionate character of Leo and the perfectionist of Virgo. He was first drawn to the family's old piano as a child, fascinated by the hyper intricacies of boogie-woogie and ragtime music. And yet, the melodies and typical chord progressions of baroque classical music like Vivaldi or Bach or Handel intrigued him too. At the same time, like a lot of young teens, he spent lots of time playing video games but, unlike most kids, he was noticing and memorizing the music scores that went behind those games and learning how to reproduce them at the keyboard.