Shaun Kirk on Save My Soul

The words ‘sell out’ are perfect in describing singer-songwriter Shaun Kirk – not sell out in the sense that he’s turned his back on all he holds dear, but the popularity of the Aussie blues-brigadier has meant that for yet another tour, many of his shows are already at capacity. Kirk’s performances are sell-outs. Laughing, he says, “They seem to be getting more frequent which is really positive. It means I’m doing things right, I guess.
“For me the goal is to play to big audiences – not even big audiences, but engaged audiences is more what I’m about. If they’re coming to these little shows I’m doing and packing out the venue, then I’m stoked!”
This 11-date run of shows comes off the back of Kirk’s stellar new single ‘Save My Soul’. Such a bold title, the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ couldn’t be more apt in the case of this track. “It’s an interesting song to me,” says Kirk, “Definitely personal references in there and there always will be, but this song is more letting my imagination run wild after I spotted a dude walking down the Hume Highway one night – the song wrote itself from there.
It’s an awesome way to go about creating new music, and an awesome story to tell of Kirk’s imagination running wild. Getting to the point of making more personal connections to the music and lyrics he was writing is always a natural occurrence, though. “It’s pretty impossible to write a song that you as a writer can’t connect personally,” he says.
“I wouldn’t be able to go out and play a song I had zero connection with. It comes across in your writing, it’s you writing it.
“I think for ‘Save My Soul’, the idea of someone walking along the highway, I drove around the country for years so there’s so much reference to that time in my life. Though the song is very character-based, there’s definitely personal touches in there.”

As Kirk explains the rhyme and reason behind his single he uses the word “feeling” a lot. Kirk gives you the sense that, particularly when you go back and listen to his previous EP Howling At The Moon, it all comes back to feeling – Kirk isn’t overthinking anything, he goes with what feels right for the time. “I’m in a really exciting part of my career where I feel like I’m really starting to find a sound that is becoming uniquely mine, and I feel I’m growing a lot as a person.”
And of course, there’s no other way for Kirk to put those cohesive feelings across that through blues and soul. “I feel like I’m really moving forward in a lot of ways, personally. It’s exciting. That will come across in the music, that natural confidence will come through.”
When & Where: Saints and Sailors, Portarlington – November 30 & Pistol Pete’s, Geelong – December 1. Tickets to the ‘Save My Soul’ tour via www.shaunkirk.com
Written by Anna Rose