When she's not renovating her idyllic, 100-year old farm house on the Virginia coastline, veteran engineer Kim Person is working with some of the most talented acoustic guitarists and singer-songwriters in the world. An accomplished musician in her own right, Person and long-time collaborator Lana Puckett have garnered numerous awards and accolades for their stunning technical abilities and inspired, heartfelt performances. As a recording engineer, she taps into that same winning combination. Fellow engineers recognize her work as technically exact, while fellow music lovers recognize it as effortlessly beautiful. Her solo acoustic guitar recordings for Australian guitarist, Tommy Emmanuel have won 2 Australian Golden Guitar awards and garnered a 2006 Grammy nomination.
In addition to recording at her Cimirron/Rainbird Studio in Yorktown, Virginia, Person frequently journeys 750 miles over the Appalachians to record sessions in Nashville.
Dear Friends,
Well here it is June 2009 and I am still counting my blessings.
My dear friend Stephen Bennett is doing so well after his kidney transplant that he is back out on the road doing what he loves to do most, play the guitar. SB and I recorded the 100-year happy birthday for “Big Mama†his great-grandfather’s dyer harp guitar in February, every song on the recording is at least 100 years old and there is a very special guest appearance by his great-grandfather!
January found me in Nashville for 3 weeks working with another dear friend and amazing talent, Tommy Emmanuel, on his new solo CD, “Little By Little.†This new recording has several guest appearances including a duet with another C.G.P. John Knowles (there are only 3 Certified Guitar Players in the world Tommy, John and Steve Wariner. C.G.P. is a title given to them by Chet Atkins), vocal performances by my buddies Pam Rose and Anthony Snape, and a duet with guitarist Doyle Dykes. "Little By Little" is a truly a wonderful recording and I am honored to help bring it to life.
In February Tommy came to my studio in Virginia, bringing with him 2 incredibly talented musicians from New York, Frank Vignola (guitarist) and Gary Mazaroppi (upright bassist). Frank performs with his own gypsy-jazz trio but also plays with David Grissman and Les Paul. We tracked for 2 days a brilliant, acoustic jazz/standard recording which is entitled “Just Us For All.â€
After the 2 days of tracking "Just Us For All" Tommy and I found the time to record the acoustic rhythm and lead parts for the amazing song "Tangerine Sky" written by yet another Australian, Tamara Stewart and recorded to help with the relief efforts for the Australian bush fire victims. If you have not seen the video you must check it out. An interactive CD to help support this cause is available through CPR Productions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH2jm_Pof18
The last several months have been spent mixing these wonderful projects as well as mixing the 5.1 surround sound for the new Bluhouse DVD. Bluehouse is an Australian duo signed to Tommy’s record label. In 2007 Tommy and I produced their latest CD "One More Kiss". This DVD was filmed in Chico, CA when they opened for Tommy at the Sierra Nevada Brewery, the same 3 nights we recorded Tommy's "Center Stage."
It’s been a very busy first half of the year with many more exciting projects on the horizon, and yes; I am still trying to find the time to finish that special recording of his favorite songs for my dad, Lee Person who had a severe stroke in 2001.
One evening after his stroke, while driving home from a dinner outing my dad began to recite the following Kipling poem that he had learned as a young boy. His recording now had a name, Lenvoi, meaning: 1. One or more detached verses at the end of a literary composition, serving to convey the moral, or to address the poem to a particular person; -- orig. employed in old French poetry. --Shak. 2. A conclusion; a result. --
When I started playing music at the age of 3, I did it for no other reason than the simple joy it brought to my heart. Somewhere along the way, perhaps as a result of the grief I felt in the loss of my father's ablility to do the things that he loved, I lost myself... but through the words of this poem, and his great courage in the face of adversity, I am trying to find my way to that personal joy once again!
My dad's words of wisdom to me are: "Find something that you love to do so much that you would gladly do it for free and then learn to do it so well that others will gladly pay you to do it!"
musically, Kim
L’Envoi - (Rudyard Kipling)
When Earth's last picture is painted and the tubes are twisted and dried,
When the oldest colours have faded, and the youngest critic has died,
We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it -- lie down for an aeon or two,
Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall put us to work anew!
And those that were good shall be happy: they shall sit in a golden chair;
They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comets' hair;
They shall find real saints to draw from -- Magdalene, Peter, and Paul;
They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!
And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame;
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame,
But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They Are!
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