Kirk Little
Kirk Little (born Kirk Stuart Little on August 4, 1980) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer and composer. He is one half of blues/acoustic duo Delaney as well as a member of Soldier Blue.
Early life
Kirk Stuart Little, the son of Denise and Neville Little, was born the youngest of four children (three brothers, one sister) in Sheffield, England.
He began playing the guitar at the age of 8 after seeing the film, Back to the Future and gained inspiration from the Johnny B. Goode scene. Combined with a guitar music education from his oldest brother, Brett, he was surrounded by the players he would try to copy for hours on end such as, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Peter Green. While trying to seek out other guitar driven music from the 60's and 70's he slowly fell in to appreciating the music which surrounded the Mod movement in Britain during those eras. It was at this time in his teens when he attended the Sheffield College where he met other like-minded people with whom he started his first foray into bands.
During his time at college he started to develop his playing and songwriting as he gained an interest in Jazz and Classical music. These new forms of composition didn't fully take hold until he attended art college at the prestigious Dartington College of Arts in Devon. It was here where Kirk really started to experiment with many different forms of composition. He studied alongside award winning director/designer of The Ice Book and the Southwark Playhouse interpretation of Howl's Moving Castle Davy McGuire. Studying alongside other art students in fine art, theatre and creative writing he was exposed to many different genres colliding together. Something which Kirk revelled in taking what he could get from each to gain inspiration. Sometimes taking a very Avante-Garde style, he pushed his compositional techniques to the extreme mixing modern and old styles together. Never one to stick to the mainstream he would be always looking to add something a little different to his pieces, a mindset he still aims for to this day.
The Modernists
In January 2004 While studying at Dartington, Kirk formed The Modernists with close friend and theatre student Joe Amphlett who was one half of London comedy duo, Amphlett & Candy and also went on to present the Millwall Lions Live phone in on South London Radio. There first performance was a Mods versus Rockers night in which they played the role of the mods. The band featuring Davy McGuire on bass won by a landslide on the night and this Amphlett/Little writing collaboration led to the band becoming the main act of the university often headlining nights at the student bar and the end of year summer balls. As they played around south Devon their name got bigger and bigger and by the summer of 2005 they recorded and E.P. titled, "Tea Leaf" taking its name from an Amphlett/Little song. The E.P. was recorded for free by a local sound engineer in the village of Dunchideock near Exeter.
The band ended when all the members graduated and returned to their areas of the country in late 2005. Other contemporaries of Kirk Little at Dartington were the band, Yes Sir Boss and the founders of theatre company Awkward City Amy and Carla Lewis.
The Magdelaine Cays
Kirk moved back to Sheffield after graduating and after a stint in short lived local 3-piece The Soviets, (which featured old college friends Rich Wilde on bass and Jonno Brocklebank on drums) he formed The Magdelaine Cays with friends Mark Booth, Rich Wilde and Mark Hindmarsh on drums. Kirk was lead songwriter with Mark Booth and they aimed to create an alternative sound which gained influence from bands such as, BRMC. They played around the country and made an attempt to not play in Sheffield too much as they felt the scene was too different for them at that current time. In the three years which The Magdelaine Cays were writing and gigging they managed to play at the Cavern multiple times, London on several occasions and managed to release a single, "Tricolour" which was available for download. During this time they gained national radio coverage by appearing live on Talksports Mike Mendoza show three times being interviewed and playing live in the studio.
In August 2008 Kirk's friend from university, Davy McGuire made a video for one of his songs, The Girl With The Two Tone Hair. Kirk was amazed with the outcome and it soon became a favourite of the following fans but, due to the song being sung by Kirk (the bands guitarist not singer) it caused arguments between himself and the bands singer, Mark Booth. Tensions remained high and Kirk felt his opinions were not being heard or taken seriously and therefore hit a writing block. Struggling to accept the ideas and visions of the band things started to fracture.
In October 2008 the band decided to take a much needed holiday to France for a week which culminated with two gigs in Paris. They hired a farmhouse in which they could write new material in a different environment. It worked as they managed to write four new songs in the space of a week which they would perform at the gigs in Paris. Spirits were high amongst the group for the first time in a long time until slowly things started to fall apart. A cataclysmic series of events which saw a breakdown of their van, language issues, health problems, money, travel issues, to name a few, caused rifts between the band and each member was happy to return home afterwards.
After a distinct lack of gigging they finally called it a day at their final gig at The Nottingham House, Broomhill in July 2009. It was at this time that Kirk and Mark Hindmarsh decided they should continue to make music with a friend of theirs, Dave Beaumont. Kirk was excited to begin again as his experience with The Magdelaine Cays had left him disillusioned with band life.
Soldier Blue
Early life
Kirk Stuart Little, the son of Denise and Neville Little, was born the youngest of four children (three brothers, one sister) in Sheffield, England.
He began playing the guitar at the age of 8 after seeing the film, Back to the Future and gained inspiration from the Johnny B. Goode scene. Combined with a guitar music education from his oldest brother, Brett, he was surrounded by the players he would try to copy for hours on end such as, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Peter Green. While trying to seek out other guitar driven music from the 60's and 70's he slowly fell in to appreciating the music which surrounded the Mod movement in Britain during those eras. It was at this time in his teens when he attended the Sheffield College where he met other like-minded people with whom he started his first foray into bands.
During his time at college he started to develop his playing and songwriting as he gained an interest in Jazz and Classical music. These new forms of composition didn't fully take hold until he attended art college at the prestigious Dartington College of Arts in Devon. It was here where Kirk really started to experiment with many different forms of composition. He studied alongside award winning director/designer of The Ice Book and the Southwark Playhouse interpretation of Howl's Moving Castle Davy McGuire. Studying alongside other art students in fine art, theatre and creative writing he was exposed to many different genres colliding together. Something which Kirk revelled in taking what he could get from each to gain inspiration. Sometimes taking a very Avante-Garde style, he pushed his compositional techniques to the extreme mixing modern and old styles together. Never one to stick to the mainstream he would be always looking to add something a little different to his pieces, a mindset he still aims for to this day.
The Modernists
In January 2004 While studying at Dartington, Kirk formed The Modernists with close friend and theatre student Joe Amphlett who was one half of London comedy duo, Amphlett & Candy and also went on to present the Millwall Lions Live phone in on South London Radio. There first performance was a Mods versus Rockers night in which they played the role of the mods. The band featuring Davy McGuire on bass won by a landslide on the night and this Amphlett/Little writing collaboration led to the band becoming the main act of the university often headlining nights at the student bar and the end of year summer balls. As they played around south Devon their name got bigger and bigger and by the summer of 2005 they recorded and E.P. titled, "Tea Leaf" taking its name from an Amphlett/Little song. The E.P. was recorded for free by a local sound engineer in the village of Dunchideock near Exeter.
The band ended when all the members graduated and returned to their areas of the country in late 2005. Other contemporaries of Kirk Little at Dartington were the band, Yes Sir Boss and the founders of theatre company Awkward City Amy and Carla Lewis.
The Magdelaine Cays
Kirk moved back to Sheffield after graduating and after a stint in short lived local 3-piece The Soviets, (which featured old college friends Rich Wilde on bass and Jonno Brocklebank on drums) he formed The Magdelaine Cays with friends Mark Booth, Rich Wilde and Mark Hindmarsh on drums. Kirk was lead songwriter with Mark Booth and they aimed to create an alternative sound which gained influence from bands such as, BRMC. They played around the country and made an attempt to not play in Sheffield too much as they felt the scene was too different for them at that current time. In the three years which The Magdelaine Cays were writing and gigging they managed to play at the Cavern multiple times, London on several occasions and managed to release a single, "Tricolour" which was available for download. During this time they gained national radio coverage by appearing live on Talksports Mike Mendoza show three times being interviewed and playing live in the studio.
In August 2008 Kirk's friend from university, Davy McGuire made a video for one of his songs, The Girl With The Two Tone Hair. Kirk was amazed with the outcome and it soon became a favourite of the following fans but, due to the song being sung by Kirk (the bands guitarist not singer) it caused arguments between himself and the bands singer, Mark Booth. Tensions remained high and Kirk felt his opinions were not being heard or taken seriously and therefore hit a writing block. Struggling to accept the ideas and visions of the band things started to fracture.
In October 2008 the band decided to take a much needed holiday to France for a week which culminated with two gigs in Paris. They hired a farmhouse in which they could write new material in a different environment. It worked as they managed to write four new songs in the space of a week which they would perform at the gigs in Paris. Spirits were high amongst the group for the first time in a long time until slowly things started to fall apart. A cataclysmic series of events which saw a breakdown of their van, language issues, health problems, money, travel issues, to name a few, caused rifts between the band and each member was happy to return home afterwards.
After a distinct lack of gigging they finally called it a day at their final gig at The Nottingham House, Broomhill in July 2009. It was at this time that Kirk and Mark Hindmarsh decided they should continue to make music with a friend of theirs, Dave Beaumont. Kirk was excited to begin again as his experience with The Magdelaine Cays had left him disillusioned with band life.
Soldier Blue
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