The meaning of the name Ken gives us an insight into the nature of Irish singer Ken Kirwan. In English the name ‘Ken’ means ‘royal obligation’ and that seems somewhat prophetic as Ken has been asked to perform at an Italian castle! In Japanese the meaning of Ken is ‘strong and healthy’ and even though that is true of Ken now there have been a few hiccups along the way to his healthy state, but even in difficult times Ken always always had a positive approach.
Ken is presently creating ‘chaos ‘in a positive sense,with his music being played on radio stations in Ireland and Australia. Ken has friends in Australia and his CDs can be heard at Mick’s bar in Sydney so, it’s no wonder Ken is keen to tour Australia.
He didn’t imagine his present success, when four years ago,taking the opportunity to , capitalise on the popularity of Michael Buble in Ireland he decided to form a tribute act, and so in his own words ‘created a beast’ with gigs continually being commissioned.
Ken is a busy, and in demand, performer but wouldn’t want it any other way such is his passion for life. A passion that sees him sign up every year to study a new course. This year sees him take on digital marketing.
Not that Ken himself needs any marketing for his particular talent, but it provides him with a day job while he gigs most nights.
He works hard with a necessity to fill every moment. The desire to make the most of life comes after Ken has cleared the hurdle that provided a mere blimp of an obstacle for him. Ken required a kidney transplant and had spent 7 months on dialysis. From this experience he wrote the song ‘Anything is possible’ and tells me he believes not ‘if’ but ‘when’. He takes nothing for granted. With all his positive attitude and talk I suggest Ken would make a good motivational speaker and he jokes, I think, that perhaps he can fit in a few motivational talks on his tour of Australia!
Nowadays part of Ken’s busy life is maintaining his ‘Frankly Buble’ act which he defines as a tribute to the music rather than a just a tribute to the artist, even though he does make an effort to dress like his artists, such as Sinatra and Buble with a black tuxedo, and includes some of their mannerisms. These are the artists he admires and calls legends rather than the ‘fly by night’ acts.
Ken did get the chance to meet the man himself jokingly called ‘Micky Bubbles’.
He was on honeymoon in Las Vegas waiting for ‘herself’ when he saw Michael Buble walking by, of course he pursued Michael and once introductions were over they found a mutual admiration, with Michael Buble being familiar with Ken tribute act.
In his work Ken does more than just entertain, he likes to engage the crowd with a friendly banter and because of this has amassed a committed following. So much so that he can predict a particular person will be sitting at a particular table at a particular venue. There are couples who have become familiar friends like the lady and her family who he sings ‘Bewitched ‘ to every time he sees them in the crowd.
Working in graphic design, digital marketing and social media, as Ken does, he stresses to me its a good career for someone who is a musician by night as he can do most of his day job externally from anywhere in the world. It would seem that it won’t be too long before he may need to utilise that option.
You can read more about Ken and hear samples of his singing at
http://kenkirwan.com/
Paula Xiberras
