Juneau musician Kray Van Kirk offers all of his music for free download on his Web site.
Story last updated at 3/17/2010 - 12:52 pm
JUNEAU - Kray Van Kirk is like many serious musicians-he composes and performs songs with guitar and thoughtful lyrics. He records his favorites and hopes that fans will listen to his music in their homes, cars and offices.
His lyrics, backed by acoustic six- and twelve-string guitar, have reached fans worldwide. He writes narrative "story songs" as well as poetic ballads, many of which have nautical themes.
What he doesn't do is make CDs.
In 1990, he quit graduate school to play music. He toured and made two recordings that he sold at concerts. But in subsequent years, Van Kirk decided against using the CD as a primary vehicle for his work. Now, he offers his songs for free download on his Web site.
His philosophy on sharing his music: "Just take it."
What started as a simple act of sharing has solidified into a "deliberate move on the chess board" against a preoccupation with money as a measure of success, and a small move towards strengthening the global human community.
This music sharing concept is much the same as free and open source software: programmers are free to charge for the software they write provided they also release the source code-the ingredients used to create the software. Distribution of free software is unrestricted by copyright, something that Van Kirk likes.
"There are some definite similarities between giving away my music and promoting free and open source software," Van Kirk said.
Keeping with his vision of accessibility, Van Kirk also offers the content on his website in six different languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Welsh and Irish Gaelic. Subsequently, his visitors have been tracked accessing his Web content from all over the world, including countries such as Iraq, South Africa, Australia and Iceland.
These global connections have a direct impact on Van Kirk's musical career. One of his songs has been included on a sampler CD of house concert artists put together by a Scottish music promoter, and a graphic designer in Madrid, Spain produced a t-shirt logo for Van Kirk.
Van Kirk's digital outreach has led to connections that will become personal when he hits the road again this August. Joined by his daughter Olivia, Van Kirk will travel to New York, Ireland and Great Britain for a series of concerts and festivals. The tour will be his first in Europe.
Kray Van Kirk will perform locally at the Alaska Folk Festival at 1:45 p.m. on April 11 at Centennial Hall.
For more information about Kray Van Kirk and to download his music, visit http://www.krayvankirk.com/.
