story

‘Ki-va’ the traditional meeting place where cultural leaders exchange creative ideas and make decisions for the well-being of the community.

While earning an MFA in Interactive Multimedia at the Memphis College of Art, Greg spent his nights where the real education was happening; inside KIVA Recording Studios. Under the watch of owner Gary Belz and with the unpredictable creative energy of none other than Joe Walsh drifting through the halls, the place felt less like a job and more like a backstage pass to rock ’n’ roll history.

Greg worked as a staff engineer and multimedia jack-of-all-trades, learning the craft under legendary producer Jim Gaines. From the control room, he had a front-row seat to sessions that would become part of the American music canon.

Stevie Ray Vaughan was cutting what would become his No. 1 AOR hit “Crossfire” for the In Step album, with Gaines behind the board. The Memphis Horns rolled in to overdub on a Ron Wood composition destined for the Rolling Stones. In Studio B, Gaines was also shaping a solo record for Survivor frontman Jimi Jamison on CBS/Scotti Brothers. Across the hall, DeGarmo & Key were mixing tracks for their album with Ron Griffin producing and KIVA’s Evan Rush engineering.

And then there were the drop-ins. John Prine swung by to track demos for what would eventually become The Missing Years, later recorded in Nashville at the Money Pit. Blues giant Albert King was practically a regular, stopping in to hang out, spin stories, and remind everyone what real soul sounded like.

Greg was awarded the Microsoft Multimedia Scholarship in 1991 and was invited to attend the Microsoft Multimedia Conference in Silicon Valley by the creators of Microsoft Encarta. For Greg, KIVA was less a job than a master class in American music, and a pivotal chapter in his own creative education and career.

producers & labels

Jim Gaines, Kenny Harriston, Trevor Gayle, Jerry Goldstein, Wayne Douglas, Joe Walsh, Jim Dickinson, Norbert Putnam, Robert "Kool" Bell, Bobby Watson, Ritchie Albright, Mark Wright, T. Bone Burnett, Billy Swan, Joe Mulherin, Ron Griffin.

Geffen, CBS Records, Scottie Brothers, EPIC, Chrysalis, Motown, Polygram, Arista, Warner Brothers, RCA.