- David Kalmusky
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David Kalmusky 
Background information Birth name David Kenneth Kalmusky Born Unknown Date
Stratford, Ontario, CanadaGenres Rock, Jazz, Country, Metal, Pop Occupations Producer, Mixer, Mastering Engineer, Guitarist. Instruments Guitar, Bass, Dobro, Lap Steel, Mandolin, Keys Website www.kalmusky.com David Kalmusky is a record producer / mixer / guitarist, who's body of work is multiple Gold selling, Juno Awarded & Grammy nominated.
Contents
Lineage
David's father, Ken Kalmusky, was already 2nd generation musician. Son of saxophonist Jojo Kalmusky. Ken was the bassist for The Revols in 1958, which became backup band for Ronnie Hawkins, finally becoming The Hawks. Ken went on to work with Todd Rundgren, Ian & Sylvia, Great Speckled Bird (band), Jerry Reed, members of The Band, and members of Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band before his death due to cancer in 2005.
Early life
David grew up in his father's studio, which was the back half of their house in Stratford, Ontario. This is where musicians like John Till, (Janis Joplin's guitarist) taught David his first chords on guitar, and his father Kenny, taught him about music, and recording. This place was host to musicians from The Band, Hawkins, Joplin, whom were all interacting with David, a little boy that knew about microphone proximity, splicing tape, inductance, amps, guitars, consoles, eq, compressors and outboard gear, when most kids were playing with toy cars.
[1]At age 6, David had a reel to reel, microphones, a tube amp, and a telecaster of his own in his bedroom. At 8 years old, his grade 3 "Show and Tell", was a cassette mix-down, of an instrumental blues song, performed by his father, Kenny Kalmusky on bass, John Till on guitar, King Biscuit Boy on harmonica (Muddy Waters, Joe Cocker), however Kalmusky could not recall who was on drums, when asked "What was your 1st gig" in an interview with Scene Magazine in the spring of 2002.
[2]Davids parents divorced. The house with the back studio was sold, and David moved with his mother. His father, Kenny, continued touring on the road with several acts for well over a decade, returning to The Hawks several times. Kenny still remained a large part of David, and his sister's life.[3]
At ages 10 through 15, David started, and participated in several local neighborhood bands, playing local venues around the Stratford area, opening shows for Lorena McKennit, Gowan, Glass Tiger, in bands including Black Pearl, and Lower Level. David's search for a recording studio to take these bands, led him to Canada Sound Recordings, in Listowel Ontario. Owner Bill Knapp, after very little time, hired David to be an engineer for Canada Sound Studios. At that time, Knapp's life long friend Greg Dechert, was out on tour with David Gilmour (Pink Floyd Guitarist). After about a year of Kalmusky working out of Canada Sound Studios, Knapp eventually raised Dechert's curiosity by continuously boasting of this 16 year old guitarist / engineer he had working at the studio.
David Gilmour, stopped touring his solo records when he won the rights outright to use the name Pink Floyd, (which was being contested by Roger Waters). At this time Greg Dechert, and Jody Linscott, (Dechert's common law wife and David Gilmour band mate), came to Canada to put a band together to record, and tour. Greg hired Bill Knapp on bass, who convinced Dechert to try out 16 year old David Kalmusky. Kalmusky tried out, and was offered the job.
Variations of this group recorded 2 albums worth of material, under the names The Greg Dechert Band, Nasty Habits, C4, and the band "Why" which was fronted by British pop singer Natasha England who'd worked for David Bowie and Rod Stewart, before hitting the UK top 10 with her own hit singles.[4] None of this material was ever released. The band disintegrated after 4 years of recording several albums of material, line up changes, and promised record deals falling through. David is quoted in his online blog, talking about this time period, as saying …"Greg taught me how to be a Rock & Roll Guitarist. To plant my feet, dig in, and play with all my love for music, wrapped in the ego it takes, to push it over the top." - "During these years, I got to meet, and spend a little time with guys like David Gilmour, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Liona Boyd, Richard Manuel, Levon Helm, and a ton of others. Just being in the same room as these people, set the stage, for me to realize the possibilities, entering into the music business, when I was just turning 20."
Career
Guitarist
As a Guitarist, David has toured a large part of the world. In 2008 alone, David did shows, touring with The Wilkinsons, in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, USA & Canada. David was also featured in Canadian Musician Magazine, in their 2008 Guitar Edition, as one of the top guitarists in North America, along side of Nashville session player Jerry Douglas, Kat Dyson (Prince), & Paul Jackson (Michael Jackson). The 7 page in depth interview, talks to all 4 guitarists about their influences, history, equipment, as well as projects Kalmusky is producing.[2]
Studio
David Kalmusky's body of work has been Gold & Platinum selling, USA Billboard #1 Charting, Grammy Nominated, Juno Awarded (Canadian equivalent of a Grammy), and has appeared in the top 10, consistently, for a solid decade.[5] David has been Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Mastering Engineer, Guitarist, some, or all of these duties, for acts including, 2x Grammy nominated group The Wilkinsons, Juno Awarded Group The Road Hammers, Grammy nominated, USA Billboard #1 Charting group Emerson Drive, David mixed and mastered iconic rock group Journey's 2011 album Eclipse for the band and legendary producer / mixer Kevin Shirley (Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin) , and spent the remainder of 2011 in the studio recording with Neal Schon, Vince Gill, Emerson Drive, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Marlee Scott, and dozens of other acts.[6]
References
External links
Categories:- Canadian record producers
- Canadian rock musicians
- Musicians from Ontario
- People from Stratford, Ontario
- Living people
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