Manitoban artist opens up about recent success
Jason Kirkness on songwriting and his new album
In November of 2024, Manitoba-born country music artist Jason Kirkness unveiled his third studio album What Got Me Here, a project inspired by the people and moments that have shaped him as a person.
“I feel really lucky that I’ve gotten to do music for most of my adult life and that, you know, everything’s kind of led up to making this third record. It’s sort of the first one that has had any commercial success,” said Kirkness who has been making records for 12 years.
Kirkness said half of the songs on his records are his own originals while the others are covers recommended by friends. “Somebody will say something like, ‘Hey, Kirky, I found this song that works perfect for you’” said Kirkness. “We have a saying whenever I’m in Nashville: ‘It’s always best song wins.’ It doesn’t matter if you wrote it or if someone else did, as long as it’s saying the thing that you really want to say as an artist.”
Kirkness said he wanted each song to reflect a person or story from his life. “That’s what got me to this point, being on my third record and having some success, and also just redefining who I am as a person.”
The relationship between an artist and their songs doesn’t stop at after a release. Kirkness has been touring the album frequently, playing over 200 nights a year.
“We played every single weekend,” he said. “Sometimes we played Monday to Saturday. Sometimes we played six weeks straight. Those days for me, I don’t regret them. I absolutely loved them. I had a great time and I got to see all of Canada from Montreal to the West Coast and we just did an endless loop. We were always on tour.”
A Prairie boy, Kirkness has always been in awe of Montreal. Despite that, he has stayed true to his roots, “I could name a hundred small towns in Saskatchewan that I played over the years,” he said.
That said, Kirkness has felt a lot of love for his new music from around the world. His song “Anywhere the Night Goes” hit charts in the U.S. and “Right Where I want You” did well in Austrailia.
Kirkness is dedicated to his craft. “It’s tempting to put the guitar down, but if you really love it you’re going to keep doing it,” he said. “It will always give back to you that same amount [that you put into it].”
When it comes to standing out in the music scene, Kirkness acknowledged how artists use social media to showcase their talents. “There’s a a lot of people who are maybe better at guitar or better at singing [than I am], but I think if people are looking for an artist that has his heart on the sleeve and is writing really honest songs about relationships and friendship and love and all that stuff, I think that I’d be a good fit for the soundtrack for their life.”
For aspiring musicians, Kirkness circled back to giving 100 per cent to artistic endeavours. “Your life is too short to spend a bunch of time doing a thing that you’re not 100 per cent sold on,” he said. Be honest with yourself and take the opportunities that make sense, not necessarily the ones that will feed your ego but the ones that will feed your soul.”
