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Interview with
JASON KIRKNESS

(2nd September, 2024)

Interview with Dave Bruce

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Have you always wanted to be an artist? When did you get the song writing bug? Briefly describe your journey to date.
I grew up in a small farming town in the Canadian prairies.  It’s very very sparse in regards to population and very rural.  There are more cattle than people!  Country music and music in general were a big part of growing up.  I did piano as a little fella and then got a guitar in my teens.  It was always a part of every day to play music.  There was always music in the house and my dad liked classic rock, and pop.  Most of my friends’ houses had country or gospel so my exposure to music was all over the map and it was what opened me to preferring good songs rather than a specific genre. I was in all kinds of bands as a teen and my highschool band tried really hard, but we weren’t all that great and it was around then that I got into songwriting and really did my best to learn all I could.  I got Golden Road by Keith Urban from my guitar player’s mom and it was then that I fell in love with country completely and knew I wanted to move to Nashville and make country music for the rest of my life.

How would you describe your sound? Why do you think fans resonate with your music?
I am definitely country music first and will always be.  With that in mind i feel really lucky to work with a producer who is willing to take chances and be adventurous with sounds and create things that blend in elements of all the genres and moods I grew up listening to.  The story has to be country, and I’ll stick to a simple chord progression but I’m looking for creative outliers in the sonic soundscape to set me apart and be creative. I think fans come along for the life journey and your life’s work and country fans are the greatest and most loyal for being with an artist for life.

Which artist’s music and/or performance, past or present, inspires you today? 
I am really into all music from all era’s.  Currently listening to Hannah Dasher and Stephen Wilson Jr. on repeat.  I like Big Wreck, a Canadian rock band, and Keith Urban. I’m in on Morgan Wade and I love a fellow Canadian artist called Tenielle Towns. I always have music on and listen to everything!! I like to listen  to everything that I like and even spend listening to music I don’t like to find what is good about and get new inspirations.

Your latest single ‘What’s Wrong With Me’ has just been released! Describe its origin and evolution. 
This was a lot of fun.  This came from my good friends (and former band mate) Jason Petric from the band Petric.  He had written it with a few friends and said it would suit me.  I truthfully didn’t love it at first, because the demo was a bit rough.  In learning the song, I got hooked pretty quick on the universal themes of it and realized that he saw my life in it and that it absolutely fit me. Sean (Hilson Studio) and I did a quick version and I was all in.  The produced version came back and i knew instantly that it had to go to radio, and now here we are.

Is there an EP or ALBUM on the drawing board?
The album has been done for a few months.  It’s 11 songs and it’s called “What Got Me Here”.  If you were on the mailing list back in March, i sent out a pre-release to the 3000ish people who are getting my emails.  In the mean time, the rest of the world should have it this fall.  What I’m saying is, sign up for the mailing list and you get my exclusives waaaay earlier.

What tours and events are coming up? What are you looking forward to, and what can the fans expect?
I have a few bigger festival dates in Canada, a few in America  and I’m REALLY hoping to come to Australia for a short tour in ’25!

If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why? 
I feel really lucky to play with my band.  They are. great bunch of guys and some have been in the band nearly 20 years!  As far as collabs, I’m into it, it just hasn’t happened yet and I’m down to collaborate with anyone who loves music.  Famous or not.

What are your long-term aspirations as a music artist and how are you progressing towards them?
I feel really lucky that I get to make music and don’t have any plans really beyond playing live whenever I can and continuing to put out music that I believe in and love.  In the long term, I’m going to keep doing what I have always done and that is make music.

With that in mind, what piece of advice would you give to an artist starting out? 
Be 100% solely and completely yourself.  If you aspire to a level of success then by all means chase that but the real joy of music is the music and the people you surround yourself with, not the success.  There is no amount of likes, or streaming numbers that will take the place of real concrete relationships and friendships that happen and the community that builds around your music.

What is the best thing about performing to a live audience? 
The audience becomes part of the music and the whole thing just comes together.  The excitement that the audience has to see the act is the same going the other way.  There is never a time that it’s not reciprocated.

What’s been the career highlight so far?
The music!  I feel extremely lucky that I’ve been able to make music, see the world and travel and be with my friends and my team.  I’m so truly fortunate.

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Follow JASON KIRKNESS
Website – Instagram – Facebook – Twitter

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Press Release 14th July 2024 (below) HERE

Canadian Country singer-songwriter
JASON KIRKNESS
releases
“WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME”

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AMNPLIFY – DB