Kirk Special: Rawcus Garage- Country From the South. Far Flung South.
To understand why Kirk Special and his own style of country-hick-garage-twang is an anomaly you need to know something of the history of my home state: South Australia. Unlike most other states in Australia, South Australia wasn't settled using convict labour but by a group of rich god fearing capitalists who called themselves The South Australia Co. and saw an easy buck on the rich alluvial plains now called Adelaide. Our town was established by the wealthy elite and you can imagine how that has effected our local culture. Our colonial roots have had a profound effect on the way we go about things. With no convict roots we don't see much in those who pull themselves up by their boot straps. A man is not judged by his actions but by those with whom he hangs. It's not what you know, it's who you know. We are a city that runs in tribes; a clique-ocracy. We have no idea how Kirk Special came to be in a town like Adelaide. Adelaide is conservative. It's known as the 'City of Churches'. We roam in packs. There's no pack that hangs its hat on insurgent country, garage twang or any other roots music with a punk bent. That's why Kirk Special's rawcus brand of garage-country doesn't float here. No-one gets what he does. Out east he's the man. He smokes Sydney. They want to have his babies in Melbourne. That's where convict blood still pulses through the veins of young punters in pubs on a Friday night. Over there Kirk's fuzzed out one-man-band ramblings get respect. The problem is that he's got no money to move outta town. So he's stuck. A bad young man trapped in the City of Churches. To help the young man out the crew at Stobie Sounds is scraping together a few bucks to get his debut album made. We've got a sample track down below if you're interested. Download it. Listen to it. If you like it he's saving to head over to the North X North East Festival in Toronto in June. Maybe look him up then. In the mean time stay in touch with his progress at the Stobie Sounds Blog The track is called 'Hole in a Hole' and was written after Kirk met a man by the name of Dirty Ol' Mule in Minneapolis. Go figure. 04 Track 04.mp3