Day 4 in Nashville

I am ready to start Day 4! After rushing home for the weekend in the Outer Banks, we arrived back in Nashville Monday midnightish ...overslept Tuesday morning (thank goodness for cell phones which brought us to reality very quickly) & hit the studio by 10am ....got through my vocals on 5 songs! ...left around 9pm ....good deal ....back at it today ....I miss my morning walks with Winston

....on a local note, Mother's Day dinner at The Pearl restaurant was wonderful! Nice group of folks, everyone enjoyed! The atmosphere is very nice, comfortable, intimate ...the ocean view is gorgeous and the food is devine ...I'll be there most Wednesdays & Saturdays between Memorial Day & Labor Day (check my website schedule for specifics) so if you're in the OBX plan to join us at least one night. One of the chefs at The Pearl was my chef Jeremy at the Horny Toad & he is very talented!

Day 2 in Nashville

Wow! we finished all 10 instrumental tracks on Thursday...

12+ hours in the studio...great job guys!! We laughed, danced (thank you Pat!) and worked hard!

            

...exciting to be surrounded by such creative and talented 

“in-spirit” people...good vibes, warm fuzzies, good humor and great coffee (thanks Kenny!)...

            

Can’t think of a better way to spend a day in Nashville! 

      

Friday we visited with friends before getting to the studio to record my string section: John Catchings and David Davidson from the Nashville symphony...and Jim Hoke my flutist (Jim has played sax and harmonica on past projects for me). 

This is gonna be a gooood cd....stay tuned

peace ~k

on the road... again

It's the night before we hit the road to Nashville to start the recording process of "Let the Door Swing Wide"... I've made notes, I've listened & re-listened to material, I've picked the keys and most of all I've thanked God for the opportunity and for the blessings of this project, the time spent on it and all those lending their gifts of creativity to it... and THANK YOU for your emails, calls and prayers of support and encouragement... wow! 

Let the doors swing wide! ~k

Spring Has Sprung!

Well Happy Spring!

I've finally caught up on 2007 paperwork... January was time to recoup. In February we launched my singing telegrams for Valentines Day.

WAVY-TV 10 (from Portsmouth VA) came down to film the delivery... what a blast!! It was a wonderful way to spend the day - delivering music to homes, shipyards, Home Depot and restaurants. This has been added to my website and is available for birthdays, anniversaries, get well, whatever special occasions you might have!

I've done a few special performances at a few churches in this area and have been warmly received...music and conversation about personal journeys. It's great to share our stories.

Spring has now sprung in the Outer Banks & so has my schedule...I'll be back at 3 of the same venues I was at last year 2 nights a week at each venue: Tale of the Whale, Millers on the Waterfront, and The Pearl Restaurant (formally Ocean Front Trellis in the Sea Ranch Hotel). I will also be leading song at Holy Redeemer and Holy Trinity churches on the weekends (see my calendar for mass times). I'm still working on my afternoon schedule so keep an eye on my calendar. I have a good number of weddings, some solo, some w/other local musicians (Leslie Erickson-violin, Sue Waters-violin, Jason Evans-keyboard, Suzanne Blackstock-flute). Leslie and I lead music Sunday mornings at Holy Trinity in Nags Head.

Leslie Erickson and I will be at the Beach Bread Company this Saturday April 19 @ 7:30 for our joint restaurant debut.

Along with all the marketing, accounting and scheduling I had to finish in March, I've managed to squeeze (literally) time out of May to record a second Christian cd. We start May 8 and will be in and out of the Nashville studio ALL month! The title of the cd is my motto for 2008: “Let The Door Swing Wide” title song written my by most favorite female Christian singer-songwriter, Sarah Hart. The material on this cd is wonderful and I'm anxious to hear what my fellow studio musicians and back up vocalists create! My ever present God will have hands full with this project!

Look forward to seeing everyone in the coming months...if you stop by a venue, church or restaurant, please come say hello!

blessings ~k

Happy New Year!

It's almost New Years Eve...I'm looking forward to singing at Williamsburg's First Night & having breakfast with the crew @ I-Hop! (a tradition)

The last few weeks have been filled  with Christmas...we did in-stores for retail support at several of my vendors: Good Life Gourmet, Beach Bread Company, A Holistic Pet Shop, Salty Paws Biscuits, Chip's Wine & Beer Market, Bagels to Beef.  Great to see everyone, thanks for joining me & supporting our vendors! 

The title track from the Christmas CD, A Christmas to Remember,  was put into rotation on Mix 96, Orville & Wilbur.  I had 2 radio interviews: Mix 96  & The Sound 99.1 Acoustic Coffee Break (great job Sam & Jeff...thank you!) & of course press releases in the local papers (Coastland Times & Sentinel)...look for more coverage in papers & radio in 2008 as well as retail as several vendors are interested in working my other CDs during the summer!  Exciting marketing...now if I could just clone myself...

During the next 2 months I'll be doing some local appearances at some of the restaurants: Good Life Gourmet, Beach Bread Company & working on some others...check the calendar for scheduling or email me...

I'm rehearsing extensively with Leslie Erickson my violinist for weddings, private parties etc offering more of an instrumental selection: classical and contemporary...there are audio samples on my wedding page on this web site...check it out!

Here's to a healthy, prosperous, exciting new year filled with friends, family, and peace....let the doors swing wide!!

peace ~k

Blessings

It's 2 weeks before Thanksgiving & this blog is WAY over due...my apologies but blogs are not my thing...but it's Saturday, I was supposed to be at the church yard sale but woke up to rain...the dogs are fed and out and I've had my first cup of coffee so here goes...

This year has been one filled with God and blessings every turn I make...I began the year with recording sessions for, my debut Christian cd ...not only did we sell through the first 1000 ordered, but I'm now being referred to as a Christian artisit! The summer was 24/7 music: restaurants, weddings, festivals, churches, fund raisers and more recording sessions for the Christmas cd, which finally became A Christmas to Remember. My cat Nikki died during my sessions so a portion of the proceeds from that cd will go to Feline Hope, www.FelineHope.org, our local cat rescue organization here in the Outer Banks of NC...she does make herself known through spirit every now and then. The summer brought lots of old friends back to the venues I sang at and lots of new friends were made as well...I love singing outside during the summer on the gazebos watching the geese, turtles, dolphins, kids and of course the sunsets...it is just the most beautiful setting to sing in (other than the woods)...we had many dance competitions on the gazebos among our young visitors this season ...I'd love to bottle their energy! I went back to Nashville in September to finish recording A Christmas to Remember.

In conjunction with the Christmas cd, we published a recipe booklet of holiday desserts my sisters (wait till they see these photos!) and I grew up with...gathering the recipes and photos for this project from family was a blast...talk about memory lane! They really are great tasting treats and the photos are a trip! In the spirit of Thanksgiving we are donating the profits from the sale of this project to America's Second Harvest; a wonderful organization working with corporate America, mom & pop businesses, volunteers and schools to fight hunger here in the US. Check out their web site for more info: www.secondharvest.org.

I'm working on the 2008 schedule...if you'd like to suggest any venues, please email me kim@kimkalman.com ...I'd love to hear from you as well...I'm on the road through November and home for December (as of now). The sun is now out, it has stopped raining...time to take Winston (my dog) for his morning walk...see you on the road...thank you for your continued support and affirmation of my music...thank you for receiving it as my gift to you! May your blessings be abundant and may you be thankful for all that comes your way...

peace ~k

Christmas in May

Back from Nashville AGAIN... this time starting the christmas cd project... was great to be back in the studio with my guys: Pat McGrath on acoustic guitar, newlywed Dave Francis on bass (stand up & electric), Dennis Holt on percussion (all kinds!), Jim Hoke on saxophone & harmonica, John Catchings on cello, David Davidson on violin, Ray Herndon on electric guitar, & new comer (to me) Jeff Roach on keyboard... & of course my producer for more than 10 years Kenny Royster who has pulled more notes out of me then I knew I had!

I'll be back in Nashville in Sept after the National Quartet Convention in Kentucky to do more vocals & add my back up vocalists... ahh the makings of a cd! all just in time for the holiday season... stay tuned to the website for when it's ready...

peace ~k