Kevin Killen (born October 22, 1959) is an Irish music producer, engineer, and mixer. His work has been recognized by multiple awards and nominations, and he has worked with a range of recording artists including Shakira, Peter Gabriel,[1] U2, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Tori Amos, Kate Bush, Jewel, Bon Jovi and Shawn Colvin.[2][3]

Career

Some of Killen's earliest credits include engineering U2's The Unforgettable Fire and Peter Gabriel's So along with the production/engineering team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.[4]

Among Killen's more recent credits include, mixing Sugarland's multi-platinum Love on the Inside featuring three chart singles in "All I Want to Do", "Already Gone" and "It Happens", all Number One hits on the Billboard country singles charts. In 2014, he mixed Suzanne Vega's latest release Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles and recorded David Bowie's single "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" from his release, Nothing Has Changed.

Perhaps one of his most notable productions is the original soundtrack to the popular music film, The Commitments. Kevin co-produced and mixed that album.

Awards and nominations

Killen won 5 Grammys for his contributions to the Shakira album Oral Fixation, Vol. 1 (2005).[5] He has received Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Category for his work on Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi (2009) and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, for Seth Glier's The Trouble With People (2012). In 2013 he received a Juno Award for recording and mixing Johnny Reid's Fire It Up CD as Best Country Album. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards held in February 2017, Kevin was awarded a Grammy for co-producing and mixing Yo-Yo Ma & the Silk Road Ensemble’s Sing Me Home for Best World Music Album. In addition, he was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for David Bowie’s final studio album – Blackstar and a third Grammy as Blackstar took honour for Best Alternative Music Album.

References

  1. "The Kevin Killen Interview". Input/Output.
  2. Howard Massey, Behind the Glass: Top Record Producers Tell how They Craft the Hits, Volume 2 (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2009), ISBN 978-0879309558, pp. 107-113. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  3. Maureen Droney, "Kevin Killen: On Recording Peter Gabriel, Elvis Costello, and More" Archived 2014-08-14 at the Wayback Machine, Mix, May 1999, reprinted in Barbara Schultz, ed., Music Producers: Conversations with Today's Top Hit Makers (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2000), ISBN 978-0872887305, pp. 133-142. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  4. Allen Farmello, "Kevin Killen", Tape Op Magazine, September/October 2008
  5. Past winners search at grammy.com (accessed 2014-03-27).
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