By GWEN OREL
For Kirk, Springsteen helped inspire his whole career.
One day Brian Kirk’s older sister actually invited him into her bedroom, to hear the music he was used to overhearing through the walls. She needed him to hear Bruce Springsteen. She had a poster of The Boss up too.
“Who’s that guy?” Brian Kirk asked her. She replied, “Oh, he lives nearby.” And she played “Thunder Road.” It was 1975, and the album “Born to Run” was new.
Brian Kirk, who was 12, and had mostly loved Barry Manilow, the Carpenters, maybe the Partridge Family, was intrigued. Then fascinated. Then bowled over. And eventually he got a guitar and learned to play.
On Thursday, Dec. 5, Kirk’s nine-piece band, Brian Kirk & The Jirks, will play a belated birthday bash at The Wellmont, to honor Springsteen’s 70th birthday (which was in September).