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detroit lean band shows are growing in popularity and attendance. The recent shows by the band have been a blast with large, enthusiastic crowds and super-tight sets from the band. Hope to see you at a show soon! Thanks to CD BABY for their help in making detroit lean a successful seller during 2002 and 2003! Get your own copy from them here. Special thanks to Eveanna Manley at Manley Labs for help with great sounding gear for the upcoming KM CD release. Transition Music Hollywood has signed 2 songs from Detroit Lean to a film/TV publishing deal for 2003-2004. Much thanks to them. The detroit lean CD is currently heard on radios in Holland, France, the Netherlands and Australia. Michael Allison of The Global Muse says: "The music on this album is timeless. It's pop that is so pure and simple, one can't help but catch the groove." Kelly's music is currently gaining national exposure on the Byron Allen show on the Turner Network. detroit lean is being pitched to all the major music for film companies...look/listen for your favorite songs on a movie soundtrack in 2004! Kelly recently received the following note from Australia's Rode Microphones:  Legendary vocal coach Seth Riggs (Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Natalie Cole, Jacob Dylan...) gives enthusiastic reviews and cudos to Kelly & the detroit lean. Check out the latest newspaper & magazine reviews here on the site. The Japanese record companies think Kelly looks like the Marlborough man!  |
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MIXING FOR THE BEST OF THEM Hobby, profession: An unused guitar found in a closet provided all the inspiration he needed. The Press-Enterprise, October 25, 2005 by Jerry Soifer CORONA - Kelly McGuire, the chief audio engineer for the Fender Center for the Performing Arts, has turned an unused guitar into a career in music as a performer and technician. McGuire was 14 when he saw a guitar that his mother had given his father as a Christmas gift years before, sitting unused in a closet of their home in a suburb of Detroit. "I got it out immediately," McGuire said. "It seemed like it made sense to me. I just started noodling with it." He brought the guitar with him when the family moved to Palm Springs in 1975. After graduating from Palm Springs High School in 1977, he attended Cal State San Bernardino for three years. McGuire left school to work in a music store and never finished his bachelor's degree. He still has the guitar. It's a symbol that music has become a hobby and a profession for the 46-year-old Redlands resident. He sets up the sound system for big-name performers such as Merle Haggard, Steve Miller and Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, who have appeared on stage at the Fender Museum in Corona. McGuire does the lighting and public address system. McGuire also works with the 600 boys and girls ages 7 to 17 studying guitar, drums and singing at Fender and has taken the time to record a CD for the Jefferson Elementary School mariachi band of Corona. McGuire, who plays guitar, bass, the drums and piano, will perform and set up the sound equipment at a fundraising golf tournament for the Kids Rock Free program at Fender to be held at the Cresta Verde Golf Club in Corona on Nov. 14. "Kelly is an amazing man," said Debbie Rodriguez, director of operations at Fender. "He has a heart of gold. He's an artist. He has an amazing voice and he's got the ear you need as a recording engineer." McGuire used his connections to bring acts such as Jack Mack from Los Angeles and a sponsor to the Fender Center on Oct. 15, said Wayne Hayashibara, a member of the Fender Museum board of directors. "Music is his life," said his wife, Andrea McGuire, a singer. "It does take somebody else who has a similar interest to understand that." Andrea said her husband combines humility with the traits of a perfectionist. "He's not going to tell you he's the best at what he does," she said. "He just wants it to sound good. He wants anything with his name on it to be the best it can be." McGuire has a studio at home and seems to have artistry in his genes. His late mother, Virginia, was a singer. His father, Mickey, is a retired automobile photographer who lives in Palm Desert. McGuire said after he picked up the guitar in the closet, learning to play the instrument came easily. While playing in a band, he learned the technical side of music. He works with complex amplifying, recording and mixing gear. His approach is artistic. "I'm more of a painter than a mathematician," he said. "Some people get into it with an owner's manual and how things hook up... I'm more interested in shaping the sound and making it pleasing." When he engineered the appearance of Jack Mack at Fender, McGuire had to deal with his own awe of the band. "These guys have been one of my favorite bands for 20 years," he said. "To be able to ask them to come out and play is almost full circle for me. To mix sound for them is quite complex." McGuire set up 16 microphones for the seven band members. He said his challenge was to capture the individual sounds of each musician, feed the music and voices through the sound system, mix it and have it come out in a unified, pleasing sound. Andrew Kastner, a member of the Jack Mack band, said by e-mail, "Kelly is a top-notch professional audio engineer... He was on top of every aspect of our gig at Fender, making sure we were taken care of not only in the sound department but backstage as well. Every band should have someone like Kelly McGuire around." McGuire said he sometimes has to struggle with the musicians if he thinks one person is playing too loudly to achieve the proper balance. He acknowledges that his perfectionist trait can be burden. Sometimes a piece played with every note correct can be sterile and an exciting piece can have an errant note. Deciding which to keep and which to re-record can be difficult. "The perfectionism, you keep it in check," he said. Much of his work is done with no rehearsal. ARCHIVES: San Bernardino Sun - April 23, 2001 |
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| © 2002-2006 Kelly McGuire / neonflame ! |
