Arts & Entertainment

Upper St. Clair Grad to Star On New Reality Show

Watch for Rob Shogry, aka Nevin James, on Bravo's new singing competition, Platinum Hit.

He's known as Rob Shogry to Upper St. Clair residents and former high school classmates, but soon people across the country will know him as Nevin James.

Shogry, aka Nevin James, is one of twelve singers/songwriters who was picked to be on Bravo's new singing competition show called Platinum Hit.

He changed his performing name to Nevin James as a tribute to his late grandfather. The name change will help keep him and his family safe, he said.

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Platinum Hit's season premiere is Monday night at 10 p.m. and it features former American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi and famous singer/songwriter Jewel as the judges. Shogry first auditioned for the show in April 2010.

"The casting call took five to seven hours. It was similar to what you see on American Idol," Shogry said. "A series of callbacks took months."

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The cast of Shogry, five other men and six other women was narrowed down from 6,000 contestants.

"It's a real honor," Shogry said, the youngest contestant picked for the competition.

The show's taping is finished, but Shogry has been sworn to secrecy and cannot divulge any information.

"We had to sign dozens of legal documents," Shogry said.

Shogry is excited for the show's premiere on Monday night, but he's more proud of his rock opera tour which begins on June 11.

A rock opera is a concert in which all the songs are tied to a plot. Shogry's rock opera is about a topic dear to his heart — putting a stop to human trafficking.

"Human trafficking affects 27 million slaves, mainly young women," Shogry said. "I want to make people aware of a really common problem. Within Pittsburgh, there are people being held captive."

A team of 12 musicians and filmmakers will perform and document the rock opera, written by Shogry. 

"These are people I have chosen because of their unique abilities. It's an assemply of experts; it's a dream cast," Shogry said.

The tour kicks off in Pittsburgh at Club Cafe in the South Side on June 11. It will also end in Pittsburgh, at the in Upper St. Clair on June 19.

In between, they will perform in New York City, Richmond, Atlanta and Louisville.

"Every day a different city. It will be exhausting, but exciting," Shogry said.

He's most excited to perform at Club Cafe.

"It's a great venue and it will be in front of people that I care about the most," Shogry said.

Shogry said he feels most at home on the road, but he misses St. Clair a lot.

"It's a good place to come home to," Shogry said.

Shogry is a creative writing student at Pepperdine University. He had to withdraw from college for a semester during the reality show taping.

Also a talented golfer, and part of an WPIAL championship golf team, Shogry was also recruited to play golf for Georgetown University. However, he chose to go to Malibu, California.

"I wanted to reach people and I could do so much more with music than golf," Shogry said. "Malibu is beautiful and Pepperdine is a great, Christian school."

As a former member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church, Shogry said religion remains a big part of his life. God is one of the topics he sings about on his new album entitled Jealousy, along with love, joy and pain.

"The album tells a story from start to finish," Shogry said.

His musical influences are Bob Dylan, Elton John and Mozart, to name a few. The album is best described as folk rock and features "all real instruments."

Jealousy won't be released until after the first season of the show in August or September. In the meantime, fans can listen to it on YouTube and watch him perform on the Platinum Hit.

Click here for the official Nevin James website

Click here for the official Nevin James Facebook page.


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