“We used to wake up every morning to my father’s gospel music” explains Columbus, OH native Sheldon Whiteside. “He would make us pancakes and we’d listen to (gospel singer) Daryl Coley until it was time to go to church.” Though Coley gave Sheldon the blueprint for understanding timing and pockets, it wasn’t until he snuck a listen to his first secular album, Carl Thomas’s “Emotional” that Sheldon Whiteside knew a career in music would be an inevitability. Inspired by the movement and timing of Thomas’s vocals as well as his simple but calculated natural tones, Sheldon took the leap as a singer/songwriter into the world of Soul and R&B, releasing his debut EP "All For You" on Definition Music.

With influences ranging from Mr. Thomas to Tank, as well as his own legendary family’s contributions to the Ohio Funk & Soul scene of the ‘70s, Sheldon pulls a range of emotions out of beautifully textured jazz-influenced pieces.

After building a name in Ohio’s bubbling soul scene, Sheldon would eventually feature in Ohio emcee Ill Poetic’s live band, forging a relationship of mutual musical respect.  He followed this with an exceptional feature on Columbus trombonist Evan Oberla’s debut EP “Here” (released earlier this year with Definition Music), and the two would begin work on building the foundation of “All For You”.

“’All For You’ was written for my family and the people closest to me” states Sheldon. “These are the people who have supported this dream and I can’t leave this earth without knowing I was able to take care of them. This is all for them”

What I Need

Sheldon Whiteside

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