I have come across so many great bands recently that I have decided to start up a “Music Monday” where I’ll put the spotlight on one artist and pick one song to share each Monday.
My pick this week is Giant Hand, the one man band consisting of the amazing and talented Kirk Ramsay. He performed the following song at “Pop Montreal” in 2009, but I think this video is better quality and it seems to have been filmed at his own place. I don’t know what the song is called but here it is:
Kirk Ramsay’s myspace page tells of modest beginnings ( http://myspace.com/gianthand ). Two years ago, Kirk found himself watching “The Devil and Daniel Johnston” and was inspired to make the same kind of honest, unprocessed music as the famous outsider artist in the documentary.
His story is especially inspiring to me because I have been trying to learn guitar, or meaning to, for many years but have always become discouraged or found excuses to put it off. At the time when Kirk decided he wanted to make music, he didn’t even own a guitar, nor did he know how to play one. He just gathered up a few belongings and traded them in at a local music store for his first acoustic guitar. He then taught himself to play without bothering to learn anyone else’s songs, instead he went right into recording his own demo by using an old microphone that happened to be lying around in his apartment.
When he became Giant Hand things started moving fairly quickly for Kirk. His first show was in the basement of a record store and only a month later he opened for one of my favourite bands Born Ruffians, he then went on to play his third ever show at Ottawa Bluesfest.
I saw Giant Hand on MTV a couple of weeks ago and I have a feeling that we will be seeing a lot more of this nice fellow in the future.
You should buy that guitar… Don’t let anyone put you off from what you want to do.
I have an accoustic and I am borrowing an electric… I’m all good to go I just lack the motivation.
I know what you mean, but I’m sure if you give it a go you’ll get into it. This is coming form someone who doesn’t have a clue about these things! 🙂