Kyle Skarshaug is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, and audio engineer, specializing in drums, vocals, bass, and guitar. Hailing from Northern Michigan, Skarshaug began playing drums at the age of 5, bass and guitar at the age of 8, and was singing in bars and restaurants by the time he was 12. After a youth spent in obsession with the rock music of the Foo Fighters or Rush and the songwriting prowess of Elvis Costello or Sting, Kyle spent his senior year of high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy before moving on to study Jazz Drums at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music with a minor in Political Science. While at UM, he was a member of multiple award winning ensembles, in addition to founding and playing with a number of bands which performed throughout South Florida. To date, Skarshaug has shared the stage with iconic musicians like Christian McBride, Sean Jones, Bob James, The Accidentals, and more.

Drummer

Skarshaug’s love of music comes from his father, and growing up with household and car radios blaring the music of Rush, the Who, the Police, and the Foo Fighters. By the age of 5, he wanted to be Neil Peart: not to be the drummer in Rush, but to be Neil Peart. He started taking lessons immediately and never looked back. In high school, Kyle participated in symphonic/concert bands, jazz bands, drumlines, musical pits, and percussion ensembles before transferring to Interlochen Arts Academy for his senior year.  After graduating from IAA, he moved on to study jazz drums at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, where he participated in a number of award winning ensembles and worked with musical icons such as Christian McBride, Marcus Strickland, Cyrille Aimee, and many others. He also founded and performed with a number of bands that performed throughout the South Florida indie rock scene. Through his range of influences and experiences, Kyle has developed and extremely versatile sound, specializing in a range of styles spanning Jazz & Improvised Music, Rock, Punk, Americana, Folk, Singer/Songwriter, funk, and more.

Thanks to his extensive recording experience as a drummer and his time as an intern and assistant engineer in professional recording studios, Kyle is available for both remote and in person recording sessions!

Songwriter

Like with drumming, Kyle’s love of songwriting and lyricism started with Neil Peart and Rush, and grew as he did through a love of Paul Westerberg, Frank Turner, Dave Hause, Chadwick Stokes, Jason Isbell and many many more. Kyle began playing guitar and singing in bars and restaurants in and around his home of Traverse City, MI at the age of 12, and began writing during the lockdowns of 2020. Through writing both solo and with his bands Damn Janis and Loveseat, Skarshaug has developed a unique voice straddling borders between Americana folk, indie & alt rock, and punk.

composer

Skarshaug began composing while in school at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. His work combines his diverse childhood influences with inspiration from jazz musicians like Ron Miles, Matt Wilson, the Bad Plus, Bill Frisell, and many more to create an exciting sound that feels familiar, yet entirely new.

Audio Engineer

Kyle’s interest in audio began when he started gigging and setting up a simple PA. Through high school, Kyle began trying to record simple covers with one mic, never progressing much until college, when school recordings began expanding his interest in recording techniques both minimalist and comically maximalist - especially in mic placement. Upon graduating, Kyle began an internship studying under Andres Daza at Electric Air Studios in Miami, FL. During his time at Electric Air, Kyle learned the ins and outs of studio life, arming himself with the knowledge needed to build and open his own home studio, Almost Playground Studios, when he moved to Nashville in August of 2023.