KIM WATERS

TIME 2 GROOM

- By: Keivu G. Knox

SJM: So before we dive into the new album, let's go back to the beginning of your love for music.

Kim: It was very early on. I can remember when I was about 6 years old, my dad would have music playing all of the time. At 7 I tried playing the violin a little bit and then maybe 9 or 10, I picked up the alto sax. From there, it just became my love and passion. My parents and the school saw that I had something special so they actually enrolled me in some advanced classes at the college by the time I was a teenager. I was actually playing in the same band as the great keyboardist Cyrus Chestnut, as we grew up together. From there it just kept going. My brothers and I had a band and we were playing hotels and casinos on the East Coast. By time I graduated college we became a house band for hotels and on our off days we would drive to New York and hit all of the clubs there. Fast forward to 1987 and I started making demo’s after the group went their separate ways and then one year later I was able to get my first record deal. My first album was “Sweet and Saxxy” and that was the #2 album released that year.

SJM: Yes I remember the song “Crusin,” your version of “Giving You The Best That I Got” and “Stay.” On the radio. When that album came out. Do you remember what your goals were around that time?

Kim: All I really wanted to do was tour and play at that time. If the record deal allowed me to do that, I was fine. But it was really a dream come true for me.

SJM: Thinking about your career, 35+ years and 26th album, what is the key to you being so prolific in releasing albums?