Shelby Kathleen Dressel (born October 25, 1990 " Shelby Dressel Band Home Page". Retrieved February 28, 2010.) is an American country singer-songwriter from Avon Park, Florida, who made the top 46 on the ninth season of American Idol. Describing Dressel's ambitions, Rachel Pleasant Chambliss of Lakeland, Florida's "The Ledger" wrote, "At 19, Shelby Dressel still has a lot of things to figure out. Singing isn't one of them. She's been singing her whole life, and there's not a single doubt in her mind that singing is what she wants to do for a living."Pleasant, Rachel "Forging Ahead, Despite Elimination", 'The Ledger', February 22, 2010. Dressel was born with an undeveloped 7th cranial nerve, leaving the right side of her face paralyzed. Overcoming this condition, Dressel had a successful initial audition for American Idol in Orlando, Florida.Baida, Aiyana, "Local singer makes 'American Idol' cut" , 'Highlands Today', January 22, 2010. In spite of her elimination from the show, Dressel's "beautiful voice" had an immediate impact on the Idol judges and on Simon Cowell in particular."American Idol's heartbreak outperforms Olympics" retrieved May 1, 2010
Biography
Early life Dressel was a waitress at Bob Evans in Sebring, Florida before she left Florida to head to Hollywood for the filming of American Idol. She was raised on a dairy farm in Avon Park, Florida. Her father, Gary Dressel, is an agriculture instructor; and her mother Kathleen Dressel a paralegal. Her parents divorced when Dressel was young. She has 12 siblings from a blended family.Clark, Matt "From Estero gigs to Hollywood: Shelby Dressel headed for potential Idol stardom", 'Naples News', February 8, 2010. Her father, Gary, sings and plays the guitar, so music was a part of Dressel's life since childhood. Other musical members of her family include: some of her brothers who play the acoustic guitar; a grandmother who plays the piano; and a maternal grandfather who played both the piano and the fiddle.Tuffley, Christopher, "Excited but not Surprised" , 'News-Sun', January 24, 2010. In middle school, Dressel took up the sport of golf and continued that through high school. She also played soccer throughout high school."Shelby Dressel", "Ocala Style Magazine", June 2010, page 76. Dressel attended Avon Park High School, where she graduated in 2009. She was 2nd runner-up for the spot of homecoming queen.Baida, Aiyana, "Local singer makes American Idol cut" , 'Highlands Today', January 22, 2010. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at South Florida Community College During an interview with Ocala Style Magazine, Dressel mentioned that she is still at college working on an Associate's Degree (otherwise known as Associate of the Arts), as she continues to pursue her music career."Shelby Dressel", "Ocala Style Magazine, June 2010, page 76. On August 21, 2010, an interview aired on WFHT 1390am, with co-hosts Liz and Lin. During that broadcast, Dressel stated she is enrolling in an online schooling program to earn her degree, due to the possibility of her future relocation.Interview by Liz & Lin, "Community Connections", WFHT 1390am, pre-recorded interview aired August 21, 2010.
Music Early On "Music is just my passion. It's so therapeutic. It gets you out of any kind of stress or tension or anything like that, and I just love it," Dressel said. Dressel performed at the Future Farmers of America Talent Contest in Orlando, Florida. Her first time singing in front of a crowd, Dressel, an eighth-grade student at the time, was able to win first place.Howard, Leigh. "Idol Gives Back." Columbia County Magazine, July 2010, pages 39-41. Dressel returned to the talent contest. On one occasion, she was suffering from laryngitis, but still took herself to the stage for her performance. Her father, Gary, said, "She made it through that performance, and it was a struggle. It was the most exciting thing that ever happened to her or me.""The Journey Isn't Over" , February 19, 2010. She won the FFA's Talent Contest in 2003 and in 2005 performing a duet with friend and classmate Logan Palmer. Dressel performed at a 4th of July celebration in her home town in 2009.Tuffley, Christopher, "AP Fireworks to be Better than Ever" , 'News-Sun', June 14, 2009. Also in 2009, Dressel began to teach herself how to play the guitar with the aide of a tutorial book.Tuffley, Christopher, "California Here She Comes" , 'News-Sun', Jan 22, 2010. After only practicing for 2 months with the guitar guide, she was able to play guitar during a performance at the Colgate Country Showdown. At the Showdown, the Shelby Dressel Band performed "Not the Waiting Kind", which is written by Dressel and was later re-titled "Not Worth the Wait." They placed 5th in the competition. While in 10th grade, Dressel and her friend Logan Palmer tried out for the TV show Can You Duet in Nashville, Tennessee, performing the Dixie Chicks song "Long Time Gone".Interview by Liz & Lin, "Community Connections", WFHT 1930am, pre-recorded interview aired August 21, 2010. Dressel considers Martina McBride, Sara Evans, and Reba McEntire musical influences in her life. Dressel also was exposed to a lot of Outlaw Country in her youth, as a result of her father's musical interests. Dressel considers her biggest musical influence to be Miranda Lambert."Shelby Dressel Home Page" , retrieved May 21, 2010. In an interview with Dave Schlenker, Dressel described her music style, saying, "I would say Miranda Lambert is the closest I can get to describing my sound. She sings more like Texas-outlaw-type country, which isn't necessarily what I do. It's not rock. It's not pop. It's country. Country is what I do, that's my background."Schlenker, Dave, "'American Idol' alum to perform for local charity event", "Ocala.com", June 23, 2010.
Dedication to Church A big dedication in her life is to her church, the Union Congregational Church, located in Avon Park, Florida. She has been singing there since she was 7 years of age. Her pastor, Tiger Gullett, said she is not like other girls with a good voice, "She's just a good 'ol country girl." Gullett said, "She sings from her soul." She's part of a singing group at the church and also helps with mentoring and volunteering. Dressel sang her first solo number at church when she was in fourth grade. Jim Lanier, the music director of the church stated, "She has the most precious voice; everybody loves to hear her sing. She's always a favorite at church. She sang from the heart."
Shelby Dressel Band Dressel's passion for music drove her to form a band, the Shelby Dressel Band. The band members include: Shelby Dressel, Chad Elders, Matt Flowers, David Hale (known as Pastor Dave), Ryan Cook, and Dave McDonald. Dressel is the lead vocalist and plays the acoustic guitar. Elders is the drummer and provides percussion. Flowers plays acoustic guitar and provides backup harmonies. Pastor Dave is the bass player. Cook plays both the electric and acoustic guitar, while McDonald plays both guitars as well as the mandolin and harmonica."Shelby Dressel" , 'SBE Breaking News', February 17, 2010. The band placed 5th at the Colgate Country Showdown in 2009, where they performed Dressel's original song, "Not the Waiting Kind," later renamed "Not Worth the Wait." The band performs some songs written by Dressel, including "The End", "Not Worth the Wait," "Coming Back Around", and "Hear It From Me.""Shelby Dressel Band Home Page". Retrieved February 28, 2010.
Facial Paralysis Dressel was born with an undeveloped 7th cranial nerve, leaving the right side of her face paralyzed. The condition is known as congenital right facial paralysis. During her American Idol pre-interview, Dressel said, "I wasn't able to smile correctly or use the right side of my face." On expressing the impact the condition had on her growing up, Dressel told Leigh Howard, "I had no idea that there was no one else like me. I live in a small town. My friends and family hardly notice that there's anything different about me." When talking with Ryan Seacrest prior to her audition performance for season 9 of American Idol, Dressel said the condition made her a "little uncomfortable" but that "when it comes to chasing your dreams and going after what you want, to set that to the side and do it." When she was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which aired February 23, 2010, Dressel told DeGeneres that, "It's just something that you are more acceptable to when you know it your whole life." The weekend of June 5, 2010, Dressel made a surprising visit to Evans, Georgia, to meet up with a young girl who has the same condition. The girl's family had seen Dressel's American Idol appearance and personally invited her to spend the weekend at their home, hoping that Dressel would offer their daughter inspiration. Dressel and her manager drove 8-hours to make the surprise visit, and spent the day at their home. This was the first time Dressel had met someone with the same condition, however since her American Idol showing, Dressel has received many emails from people who suffer from facial paralysis. Dressel said, "Facial paralysis doesn't affect anyone's intelligence or talents." Courage to Smile, a support group for people with facial paralysis and their families, credits Dressel as an inspiration for their formation."Courage to Smile"
American Idol journey
Season 9 Dressel auditioned for Season 9 of American Idol at the Orlando, Florida auditions. Family and friends attempted to have her audition a year earlier, to no avail. Her aunt eventually persuaded her to audition by taping a newspaper article mentioning the Orlando audition times to the refrigerator.Tuffley, Christopher, "California Here She Comes", 'News-Sun', Jan 22, 2010. During her audition, Dressel sang the song "Turn Me On" by Norah Jones which aired on January 20, 2010. In the middle of the audition, she had a moment where she forgot her lyrics and showed the four judges her down-to-earth side. Dressel said, "I was kind of surprised they were letting me sing so long. I started second-guessing myself." She received four yeses from the judges and moved on to Hollywood Week. Although not televised by Fox, Dressel's first round song during Hollywood Week was "A Little Past Little Rock", which is originally sung by Lee Ann Womack. The following step of Hollywood Week was the group round. For the group round performance, Dressel was a member of the group called the Suffragettes. Shelby's groupmates included Audri Vargas, Candice Glover and Kelsey Laverack/Rey, who later appeared on The Voice. The group performed Alicia Keys' song "Superwoman"."Local Singer advances on American Idol", 'News-Sun', February 12, 2010. For Dressel's third song for the week, she had a little difficulty remembering her lyrics during her practice; however she was able to present a Boston song, "More Than a Feeling", with no problems. She made it to the top 50 contestants for the show, but was sent home when they made cuts for the top 24 Idol selection, which aired on Fox on February 16, 2010. Simon Cowell deemed it a "mistake" that Dressel was sent home."Reality television that is grippingly real",'The Vancouver Sun', February 18, 2010.
Season 10 Dressel auditioned for American Idol's tenth season in Nashville, Tennessee during the weekend of July 17, 2010. She advanced to the second and third round of auditions based on her performance of Natalie Grant's "In Better Hands Now".Brian Mansfield "Shelby Dressel Makes the First Cut a Second Time on American Idol/1", 'USA Today', July 21, 2010. Unfortunately, Shelby did not advance to Hollywood Week.
Season 14 Dressel then auditioned a third time for Idol's fourteenth season, once again in Nashville. This time, despite her audition not being shown, she advanced to Hollywood Week.
Post-Idol
Immediate attention