Sharon's Page
Hi there, welcome to the Magic Baby playpen, hope your'e feeling playfull..
About Me
I like Fennel tea, most chockolate, my favourite at present is Cadbury's Twirl and Giant Chockolate Buttons. I can't stop listening to Ron Sexsmith. I went in the record shop last week and bought every Ron CD I could get my hands on.
My family originate from Eastern Europe. My great grandfather was called Lewis Shaklowitz , my grandfather Max dropped the Polish surname and called himself Max Lewis. This was quite common amongst many immigrants to anglisize their names.
My second cousin was the great guitarist Paul Kossoff from the 70's rock band Free.
Musical Influences
I love country and bluegrass music, I also love traditional Irish music. Some of my favourite songwriters are Neil Young, Cat Steven's, Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Bonnie Prince Billy and most recently Ron. I also like classical music.
About Chris
I'd like to say a few words about Chris:
"Chris Kirkland is a very talented man. Not only does he have a degree in mathematics, he is also a whiz at computer`s, an artist, poet, crazy story teller, martial artist, chicken impersonater, multi-instrumentalist and last but not least songwriter.
One of the first songs I heard by Chris was a recording of a song called Beech. Accompanied by guitar, I was struck by his soft and very natural sounding voice and originality. The song had a rough round the edges improvised quality that appealed to me.
The next piece he recorded was called Toddler Apple which featured a rhythmic piano part, a haunting melody line and very unusual lyrics \" a little toddler apple falling from a tree, it`s let go of it`s branch and it`s feeling free \"
Infact, I do believe these were some of the first songs he had ever written and recorded.
What I like about Chris Kirkland is that he has his own style and does not sound like anyone else at all!
It`s been fun collaborating creatively with Chris as Magic Baby ( our band together ), often he would jam something really rhythmic on guitar or piano and I`d just start singing whatever came to me in that moment. That`s how some of the songs were written others were poems by Chris that I would set to music. One such poem ` Not Sure Where To Start ` the melody for that one came to me whilst driving on the motorway, it was just there ... in the air, almost like it wrote itself. I love it when that happens.
Chris can also be quite mischevious with his lyrics. In the poem ` Writing In The Dark ` he scrawled \" like a room full of drunken loved up nun`s each with a bulging heart of songs to be sung. \" This piece was set to music by myself and Chris and was the very first Magic Baby song to be born. It always makes me smile when I get to sing such a kinky line.
Chris has his own web site too, go to www.chriskirkland.net where you can read some of his totally ridiculus but brilliant short stories and poems. My favourite is the one he wrote in memory of his grandfather and it`s all about Brussel Sprouts. Chris Kirkland is a one off, truly special and unique. He is the sort of person that once he puts his mind to something, anything, he can achieve it. Truly inspirational! "