Alan Kirk

Artist Information

Biography

Alan Kirk began his writing and performing career as a teenager, and started a co-op recording studio for area musicians. He has lived in Canada, the United States and New Zealand, performing solo and with a variety of musicians.

Alan's shows are high energy, fun, and as musical as Rock can get. His band features some of B.C.'s finest musicians, along with occasional guests from farther afield.

Alan's new release on Phonic Records, SOME SONGS, was recorded with his band The Alternators in British Columbia, and features his finest writing and performing to date.

The Express Newspaper writes, "SOME SONGS from the start sounds like a classic rock album of a high order, with songs that experiment and surprise, but stay true to the melodies and riff driven tunes that define Alan."

Alan's music has been licensed for TV, commercials and film. He has also written for the iconic German band Jane, whose bassist also doubles as a member of The Alternators.

Past performances include:

Burning Man - Albequerque
German mini-tour
Cityfest - Vancouver, BC
Springfest - Kaslo, BC
Sound Vibes 2009
Richmond Cultural Fest - Richmond, VA

Instrumentation

Alan Kirk - vocals, guitars
Charly Maucher - bass (of German band Jane)
Tom Ronan - keyboards
Kim Masse - drums

Discography

Credits include:
Red Lobster TV commercial
Cover by German band Jane
Indie feature Tanchiro Bros.

Alan Kirk - Getting There (album, 2007)
Alan Kirk - Hide Your Heart (single, 2008)
Alan Kirk - Some Songs (album, 2009)

Streaming airplay for: Life Is Good, Time In The World, Real Groovy Dimension, Be My Angel

Official Website

http://www.phonicrecords.com

Links

• MySpace Page
• Record Company Website

Audio

• Real Groovy Dimension
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• Be My Angel
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• Deny You
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• Hide Your Heart
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• In My Room
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• Baby Cooks
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• Destiny
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• Slip Away
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• Down In The Center
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• Solitaire
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• Hot Pepper
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• Okay
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• Time In The World
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• Hungry
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• Broken Channels
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• Fires Burning
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• It's In Me
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• Life Is Good
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• Baby Cooks - Instrumental
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• Be My Angel - Instrumental
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• Deny You - Instrumental
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• Destiny - Instrumental
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• Down In The Center - Instrumental
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• Hide Your Heart - Instrumental
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• Hot Pepper - Instrumental
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• In My Room - Instrumental
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• Okay - Instrumental
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• Real Groovy Dimension - Instrumental
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• Slip Away - Instrumental
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• Solitaire - Instrumental
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• Love Too Much
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Lyrics

• Be My Angel
• Destiny
• Deny You
• Hide Your Heart
• Slip Away
• In My Room
• Real Groovy Dimension
• Down In The Center
• Baby Cooks
• Solitaire
• Hot Pepper
• Okay
• Hungry
• Life Is Good

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Alan Kirk Still Rocking [+ Show ]
  

  Alan Kirk has been around when it comes to recording and performing music. Beginning his career in t...Alan Kirk has been around when it comes to recording and performing music. Beginning his career in the United States and having played around North America, Europe and New Zealand, Kirk is a veteran of the rock and roll circuit. Now calling Nelson home, he has just released his latest album Some Songs through his own home-grown production company Phonic Records, a disc that truly shows the experience behind the music.
  
  Some Songs from the start sounds like a classic rock album of a high order. Blasting off with the rollicking “Real Groovy Dimension” Kirk kicks in to guitar driven, highly melodic sound that defines the album. Full of crazy peddles and a shout out “yeah yeah yeah” chorus, the song skirts on the side of psychedelic while staying firmly grounded to pure and simple rock.
  
  This is a staple of the album, songs that experiment and surprise, but stay true to the melodies and riff driven tunes that define Kirk. “Hide Your Heart” is one of the best, a nicely building, power chorus tune that could stand up to the best of ‘70s rock. There’s an electric Neil Young thing going on, with some Guess Who thrown in, but with a sound that is still Alan Kirk.
  
  The tenderness of Kirk’s lyrics highlight the thought behind the rock. For all the heavy guitar and punchy drumming, Kirk shows us his softer side as sings about lost love and new beginnings. “You just can’t fit in my life right now,” Kirk sings on “In My Room”, “though I love you like you’ll never know”. For such a rock based record to show such heart is refreshing.
  
  Kirk writes that he “finds inspiration from [Nelson’s] natural beauty and eclectic, creative culture”. Some Songs reflects this well and is a welcome addition to the very culture that inspired it.
  

• Alan Kirk - "Getting There" [+ Show ]
  

  I was struck by how much this album reminds me of something from the early '70s. Maybe it's just Kir...I was struck by how much this album reminds me of something from the early '70s. Maybe it's just Kirk's high, light, airy vocals, or maybe it's the songs that sound like Harry Chapin and Eric Clapton.
  
  In any case, it shouldn't be casually
  dismissed. The songs may have a hippie rock flavor—peace, free love and all that shit, man—but there's also funk, jazz and blues influences that will make you take notice.
  
  Just the line "you play the fool when you play with rules" is enough to merit a listen.
  
  — Robert Stutler
  
  

• Alan Kirk / Phonic Records [+ Show ]
  

  It's virtually a new world in the music industry. And it's in the virtual world that many of the sa...It's virtually a new world in the music industry.
  And it's in the virtual world that many of the savviest musicians now prosper, taking the readily available tools and exposing their art to the international community.
  
  Some have grasped the new medium of the message on the internet, others prefer to leave it up to those who understand, but for Kootenay-based musician Alan Kirk, he combines a little of both in his label, Phonic Records (www.phonicrecords. com).
  
  Based in Pass Creek, Kirk created his Kootenay label in 2003 and has grown it to a stable of five artists, using the internet to build upon 30 years of writing, playing, record- ing and promoting in the music industry.
  
  It really doesn't matter where you have a label anymore, Kirk said, who spent 15 years in Toronto and Vancouver immersed in the business and creation of music. "The fact that we are in the Kootenays is irrele- vant. The label has an international web presence that has nothing to do with where we are located," he said.
  
  Cyberspace has vastly expanded the ability of musicians to promote themselves on their own, but it has also vastly exploded the number
  of people that are doing it. It is easy to create a website but it's another thing to create a web presence, Kirk noted, which comes from reciprocal links and networking with people, getting the name out through the sweat of sheer exposure, in correspondence.
  
  The be all, end all used to be to get attention, to get a label and get them to spend money on you and make you a successful artist. Now record labels sit around and wait for artists to self promote and merchandise and then, if they see a chance to seize a working, money making machine, they will grab ahold of it and make some profit.
  
  Kirk attended music school at Fanshawe College, focusing on recording and production.
  Upon graduating he hooked up as the assistant to record producer Steve Thompson, where he learned different dimensions of the music industry, rubbing shoulders and helping produce the likes of the Spoons, Sting, Jane Siberry, Daniel Lanois, Rush and Kim Mitchell.
  
  When he passed through the West Kootenay in 1991 on a tour, he stuck. The region and its diverse brand of artists moved him, made him want to be a part of it, and he has been piecing a living together ever since. His love for the region and the artists that inhabit
  it were part of the reason he started Phonic Records. He wanted to put West Kootenay music on a bigger stage.
  
  "It's hard to get out of the Kootenays and into the big world, but the internet and a label like Phonic is the way to do it," he said.
  
  There is a fair bit of traffic on the website, mostly from the U.S., Kirk explained, with links to the artist's own sites and also where to buy the music from sources like CD Baby, iTunes and Rhapsody.
  
  One of Kirk's songs, Fires Burning, was on the Kootenay-made SoundVibes 2009, while his music and label have been featured on KBS Radio's Made in the Kootenays show.

Setlist

Up to four 45 min. sets, depending on venue.

Main Set List (festival/showcase):

Real Groovy Dimension
Be My Angel
Hide Your Heart
Life Is Good
Broken Channels
It's In Me
Time In The World
Down In The Center
Solitaire
Okay
In My Room
Hot Pepper
Baby Cooks
Hungry

Cover Song Samples:

The Who - The Seeker
Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love
The Hollies - Long Cool Woman
Deep Purple - Woman From Tokyo
Ambrosia - World Leave Me Alone
Cheryl Crow - Change Would Do You Good
Led Zeppelin - Good Times, Bad Times
Bad Company - Can't Get Enough
Tom Petty - Makin' Some Noise
Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
Three Dog Night - Shambala
The Beatles - Drive My Car
Rolling Stones - Street Fightin' Man
Spirit - I Got A Line On You
Pink Floyd - Time
Joan Osborne - One Of Us
B.T.O. - Let It Ride
Joe Walsh - Rocky Mountain Way

Basic Requirements

Calendar