About
Sitting at home in January 2008, Kirk Ramsay found himself watching The Devil and Daniel Johnston, a documentary about the famous outsider artist. Like many people in that situation, he found himself inspired to make the same kind of honest, unprocessed folk music.
At the time, Kirk didn't own a guitar -- nor, in fact, did he even know how to play one. But where most people would let that be the end of a brief flirtation, for Kirk it was the first step in his transformation to Giant Hand. Gathering up a few belongings, he walked down to his local music store and traded them in for an acoustic guitar. He spent the next few weeks teaching himself how to play a few basic chords, wrote a few songs (after finding it too difficult to learn other people's), and recorded his first demo on a old microphone he happened to have lying around his apartment.
Things started happening fairly quickly after that. A few weeks later -- just two months after picking up a guitar for the first time -- Kirk had adopted the name Giant Hand, and was playing his first ever show, opening for Vancouver band, Immaculate Machine in the basement of a record store. A month later he found himself opening for Born Ruffians. And then a few months later, he played his third show ever at the prestigious Ottawa Bluesfest.
Over the year since, Kirk has garnered opening slots for a number of high-profile Canadian acts, including Handsome Furs, Ohbijou, Human Highway, Bruce Peninsula, Timber Timbre and Azeda Booth. As well as opening for the one and only Daniel Johnston. Giant Hand also played two shows at Pop Montreal 2009.
On the strength of his demo, influential Canadian music blog i(heart)music raved that "Giant Hand might just be one of the most interesting, unique and exciting artists to come out of Ottawa in a very long time", while a reviewer for Exclaim! said of his live show that "(his) songs pierced the audience with innocence, clarity and a vulnerability that lesser artists often fake". Giant Hand was nominated for "Best Band", "Best New Artist", and "Best Album" in Ottawa Xpress' "Best of 09" Readers Poll.
WHAT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SAYING:
If you ask me, Giant Hand is one of the most interesting musicians to come out of Ottawa in recent years, and Coming Home is among the best albums of the year in Canadian music. Dig it deep, because it's cool as hell."
-MOG.ca
"One of the most creative artists I’ve heard in a long time, he's my favorite of 2009."
-Jarah Riley
"Giant Hand’s songs pierced the audience with innocence, clarity and a vulnerability that lesser artists often fake." (concert review)
-Exclaim! Magazine
"his compositions remain so undyingly captivating and earnest that Coming Home might spell out the beginnings of a brilliant career from a musician striving to find his inner oddball." (album review)
-Exclaim! Magazine
"Giant Hand has got that all-important talent for creating a unique sound, and his slightly off-key, sometimes hesitant warble gives him the makings of an indie icon."
-Apt.613