by Mike wade

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Listening to his wife’s tales of growing up in Kirk Michael has led an Alaskan-born singer songwriter to the Isle of Man.

Guitarist Kray Van Kirk is currently touring across the UK and Ireland, and has made the journey to the island to play a handful of concerts.

He was keen to include the island in his latest tour after he wrote a song, ’A House About Kirk Michael’, inspired by the memories of his wife, Allegra Stroup, who spent part of her childhood growing up in the village.

Kray is looking forward to performing the song at the Mitre in Kirk Michael this weekend.

’My wife only lived there for a short period, from when she was around eight years old to 13, and she hasn’t been back since she left, but she talks about the Isle of Man a lot,’ said Kray.

’I wrote "The House About Kirk Michael" as more of a piece of poetry, rather than a story of a place.

’It is almost an idealised vision, rather than actually being about there.

’The Isle of Man, from how my wife talked about it, has always sounded a very endearing place and I am looking forward to finally seeing the place where she talks about.

’Having just got here, I think the Isle of Man is just delightful, and is quite a remarkable place.

’I have spent a lot of time touring in the UK, and have recently been playing shows in Scotland and Ireland.

’I’m struck by how much the landscape is like bits of all those countries stuck together.’

An acoustic solo guitarist, Kray is inspired by the songs of Christy Moore, Gordon Lightfoot and James Taylor, and his deft, fluid finger-picking style has won him fans and plaudits across the US, Canada and the UK, as well as in his native Alaska.

He spent his younger years driving across America, living the troubadour lifestyle and playing in bars and clubs, before going to university to study for a PHD in fish conservation.

He has since returned to his first love of music and the Celtic-inspired folk and roots songs he grew up listening to.

’When I first started playing music, I spent five years touring around, living out of my van and playing wherever I could,’ said Kray.

’I noticed that there weren’t that many people who actually sounded like me, and sang those kind of songs that told stories. People seemed to be more interested in two-minute songs that had catchy choruses and little substance.

’I grew up listening to a lot of Celtic-inspired music, like Christy Moore, Planxty, the Chieftains and Steel Eye Span, and those artists led me to wanting to find out more about the traditional folk music that influenced them.

’Also, my mother comes from Appalachia, and the music from there is very much taken from the Irish and Scottish settlers.’

His latest album is entitled ’The Midnight Commander’, which features ’The House About Kirk Michael’, and is a collection of stories and fables about imaginary characters in today’s world, such as the title track, about an insane and rambling old man who leads the city of New York to take up arms against hatred.

’The album, "The Midnight Commander" is almost like my own modern-day re-telling of Don Quixote,’ said Kray.

’It is all about ordinary people who become heroes in a world where there are not that many heroes to look up to, especially in this modern political climate.

’So much that you see these days is volatile and aggressive, and it seems these days that people are more likely to react aggressively to any situation.

’But I believe that you can’t just pick up a gun and go on the attack all the time. You have to approach people at a human level.

’"The House About Kirk Michael" fits in to the album, as I have imagined it as somewhere that is sheltered and hidden away from the rest of the world.

’The song is one of my favourite songs to perform now, and I always include it in my set whenever I play.’

Kray appears tonight (Thursday) at the Mitre Hotel, in Ramsey, and will follow that with a night at the Whitehouse, in Peel on Friday.

He will then play at the Mitre in Kirk Michael on Saturday before performing at the Laxey Institute on Sunday, October 20, from 7.30pm.

More details on Kray and his music are available fromkrayvankirk.com