Kevin Beamish

Kevin Keith Beamish was born in Montreal Canada, but is a naturalized American record producer, sound engineer and mixer. His family relocated to New York City, NY during his childhood when his father took a professors position and continued his education towards his PhD. Kevin played stick ball in the streets and slipped onto the train to see The NY Yankees, much to his parents surprise. Kevin excelled in school and skipped a grade, while studying woodwind instruments and singing with his mother, Mary Francis Ross Beamish, an opera and classical music lover. He became a naturalized American citizen at the age of 9.
His family relocated again, this time to Modesto, California when his father took a position as the Dean of Students in a prestigious university in the San Francisco area. His father, Jerome J. Beamish garnered three PhD's during his lifetime as an educator and scholar. Beamish graduated from the University of Berkeley, CA in advanced mathematics and studies in physics and music. Classically trained on woodwind instruments, he secured a recording deal for his band "The Weathervane" by the age of 16.

Beamish, a guitar player, keyboardist and singer would venture out to concerts in the local San Francisco area where the music scene of the 60's was breaking out. He watched and listened to the music of Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplan, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, The Who and The Beatles on their American tour. This glimpse of the early 60's was his entrance into music, knowing exactly what he wanted to do. This love and immediate step into the industry stopped his own PhD move into a scholarship to a prestigious university, disappointing his father and mother, but who quickly realized he was on the right path. After a backpack tour of Europe with coins in his pocket and a rest from heavy studies, he returned to California, and sent out letters to every studio in L.A. Only one came back, Crystal Recording Studio's who hired him to be a studio assistant; short for make coffee, answer the phones and stand in the studio all day and night, learning and helping. While there on his first week, James Taylor was recording "Mud Slide Slim" and Jackson Browne was recording "The Pretender." He was on the other side of the studio but could hear these sounds while he cleaned and worked. His entrance into recording was while assisting on Cisco Kid by War, and offering a few lines to help them when they were stuck. Their songs were long, cascading jams and they were short on lyrics.
Beamish, who had been writing poetry since the age of 5, quickly added a few ideas, naively. Told quickly by a manager (after they used a few words he suggested), to never mention it again; when Beamish asked how he would be credited. This was a quick study on the publishing business and perils of the business.

While assisting in engineering and any and all studio help to the then key engineers, he learned the difference between the producer and the engineer. Steve Wonder was recording at Crystal and would find Kevin intuitively. Beamish stated that no matter how many knobs were on a board, Stevie knew every single setting. If you moved one a minuscule of an inch to the left or right, he would know. And no matter what, he could record and know when to punch in, punch out, come in and fade, with no sight. During this time at Crystal, the Miracles were recording and as the story goes, the Producer who started the project got a call for a family emergency. Beamish had been staying up nights in the studio remixing old tapes, learning and absorbing every note and every effect, creating his own original sounds, mesmerized with amps as a guitar player and creating sounds.

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