As a Synthesist, Drummer & Percussionist, Kirby Shelstad is one of the more respected eclectic studio musicians in Nashville. He has performed and recorded with such diverse notables as Leon Russell, Gatemouth Brown, Mark O'Conner, Bela Fleck, Charley Rich, Jill Sobule, Beth Nielson Chapman and Tom Kimmel. Kirby has scored and produced music for records, feature films, educational films, television and radio. Shelstad and associate Bruce Arntson composed the scores for four Touchstone Films releases; "Ernest Goes To Jail","Ernest, Scared Stupid","Ernest Rides Again" and "Ernest Goes To School" as well as the CBS children's program "Hey Vern,It's Ernest". Other Clients have included National Geographic, Jeep, Toyota, Warner Home Video,Atlantic Records, Warner Bros. Records, Vanderbilt University, and Cardin & Cherry. Shelstad received his formal training at the University of Minnesota , majoring in percussion performance and minoring in music theory and composition. In 1990, Kirby began studying Tabla and North Indian classical music yearly at the Ali Akbar Kahn school in San Rafael and for many years has studied and played ethnic percussion. Since the Advent of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), Kirby has been at the forefront of computer music technologies. He has served as a consultant and performer for Apple Computer, demonstrating the Macintosh's capabilities in music and multimedia at conferences and schools and has written articles for Keyboard Magazine and The Percussive Arts Magazine.