The story of Kirk McFee's career as a musician was built on the frustration of trying to fit in with the norm and a fluke opportunity. “Growing up, I was taught to go to college, get a degree and get a good job with benefits. So I did all that and realized, it just wasn't for me. I wanted to be a pro baseball player but obviously that didn't happen.” A self-described “late bloomer” as a musician, McFee had done little related to music until his early 20s and that was just a coincidence.

“A friend heard me singing along to the radio at a party and then out of the blue, I got a call to audition for his neighbor's band. I had no idea what I was doing.” Despite his lack of experience, the band liked McFee's voice and he joined TAZZ, a group of local bar-band veterans of the Detroit music scene. A few months later, going by the stage name Vinnie Blade, McFee was fronting the band and filling local bars. “I just admitted that name here so some old friends could have a laugh. I had fun with it. It was really a joke. I had a lot of family and friends come out and support me. They may have just been curious. Most of them had no idea I could sing. It was fun signing autographs “Vinnie Blade.”

The band played together less than a year before splitting up. McFee played a few more gigs with a new lineup until he quit to finish college. “I didn't really give it (quitting music) much thought. I had fun doing it but I never took it too seriously.”

After getting his corporate job (and not really liking it too much), he started to think about music again. “Now I knew I could sing and I would hear some songs with singers that I couldn't believe made it on the radio and I thought, why can't I be on the radio?”

Now in his mid 20s, McFee thought he should fast-forward his education in the music business. “I figured the big record companies were mostly in Los Angeles or New York and I always wanted to check out California, so I decided to move there and learn the business.”

Having never written a song before and only knowing a few chords on the guitar, he quit his job and left his hometown of Taylor, Michigan for L.A. It took him a year and a half before he got to sing on stage. “I originally just planned on being a lead singer but I never found a group I wanted to work with. I couldn't play an instrument so I couldn't write music. I had to do something if I wanted to get out there so I went to Guitar Center, bought a chord book and sat on my couch trying to figure out how to play the guitar.”

After plucking his way to writing a couple original songs, “In the Morning” and “No Life At All”, he showed up at an open mic night and was quickly offered his first west coast gig. His parents and a few friends flew out for the standing room-only solo acoustic show on the Sunset Strip. “I was going to move back to Michigan after that because at least I could say I performed in L.A. but the bar's sound man tracked me down, offered to record the 4 originals I had at the time, and a few weeks later I had my first demo cd “No Regrets.”

A few months later, McFee hired producer Michael Woodrum (Eric Clapton, Snoop Dogg) to help him record his first full-length cd “Apt. 19” named after his apartment in Hollywood where he wrote all the songs for the album. The reaction to the cd was very positive. “It was the first time I was in a studio with the huge control boards and all these professionals. It was awesome and it made me realize I made a great decision to go after music. It was so fun!”

McFee sold copies of his cds at his shows, by word of mouth and through his newly formed website www.Kirkrocks.com “A friend of mine (Ron Koller) told me I needed a website. He didn't know how to make one but he did some research and created (and named) Kirkrocks.com. It really helped things take off to another level. He also had hats, golf balls, bumper stickers and coozies printed with Kirkrocks.com on them and I am grateful to this day for his help.”

A couple years later, after playing a sold out show in Seattle with some local friends, McFee was invited to come record again. He spent 7 weeks in the northwest recording and the result was his 2nd full-length album “More Time Than Money”. “I was only supposed to be there for 2 weeks but the guys really got into the project and they put everything they had into it. It was a lot of fun.”

McFee returned to Los Angeles and was preparing to promote his newly completed cd when he got a surprise invitation. “A friend of mine told me there was a private party in Malibu that I couldn't miss. I had a childhood friend (Shawn Cotter) in town visiting and I asked if I could bring him along and I got a definite “no”. So I wasn't going to go. Besides the fact that I hadn't seen my friend in a while, it was his birthday! He said it was alright, you never know who you may meet. “I'll see you when you get back”.

“So I get there and there was a drum kit set up in the backyard, right on the ocean. I only knew the friend that invited me and another musician friend we had. So I asked, “Who's the band tonight?” The answer: KISS Even though this would have been pretty cool regardless, KISS was the first band McFee ever saw in concert. “So first I can't believe it, second I'm trying to stay cool. Then for some reason, a dj starts karaoke and all these wannabe actresses or whatever started singing horribly one after the other. I couldn't take it anymore so I had to sign up and sing. The next thing I knew, the party stopped to listen. Right in front of me was Paul Stanley. Over to the side, Gene Simmons was smiling and nodding his head. Quite a surreal experience.”

When McFee finished his song, he was approached by several guests of the party. “There were agents, producers, other famous musicians, and of course, I had to talk to Gene and Paul. They all wanted to know what band I was in, who I was signed with, etc. I just said the truth. I'm not in a band and I'm not signed with anyone, I'm Kirk McFee from Taylor, Michigan.”

The next day, McFee followed up on all the contacts he made and mailed some cds out. A week later, he got a call. It was the hostess of the party who was friends with Gene and she said he told her to call. In the following weeks, she took McFee around L.A. meeting with songwriters and producers, trying to find someone he could collaborate with. He decided to begin working with Curt Cuomo who had written some songs with KISS and worked on their most recent album at the time.

"It was a fun and interesting time. Hanging out in a big studio, going to parties in L.A. and Vegas, working with people who had been there before and a “feeling like I finally made it.”

Well, then it happened. A typical Hollywood story. “People stopped returning my phone calls and I was forgotten. I'm still not really sure what happened. I thought I was about to write and record another cd and I was going to have all this help I never had before and then, I was on my own again.”

Being left in limbo was a humbling experience but not one lost on McFee.

“I know I can make good music. I know there are people out there that like what I do. AND I still enjoy doing it. So why stop now?”

There are plenty more stories left in between but now we're up to today. McFee is currently working on songs for his 3rd full-length cd. One of his newest songs is his most requested song to date. “That's Why My Mom Goes to Church” is his story of trying to create a living off of music while his mother is left to worry and wonder about what this son of hers is doing with his life. “When I was writing it, I had no idea the impact it would have but it seems to have hit on a subject that many people (especially mothers) can relate to.”

The next Kirk McFee cd is scheduled to be completed in 2010.