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Gavin Lurssen has been a mastering engineer since 1991 and has been in the forefront of the many technical developments that have taken place in the industry over the past 17 years.
Gavin won his third Grammy in 2009 for mastering "Raising Sand," the T Bone Burnett production of a collaboration between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. The same album also won for Gavin and Lurssen Mastering two TEC awards in 2008 for mastering and outstanding facility respectively. In 2004 he won a Grammy for his work on the box set accompaniment to the acclaimed PBS series, "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues." In 2002 he won for mastering album of the year, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"
A graduate of The Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts – where he has been a guest lecturer – Gavin learned a great deal about mastering from the acknowledged pioneer of the craft, Doug Sax, while working at the The Mastering Lab in Hollywood, California.
Eager to advance the music production industry and especially to assist young people choosing a career in the field, Gavin performs a lot of volunteer work for organizations like NARAS and Soundart. Many students approach him for advice and guidance. Gavin was the recipient of The Distinguished Alumni Award from Berklee College Of Music in 2004 for his achievements in mastering.
The list of artists Gavin has worked with reads like an honor roll for the modern music industry. The list includes but is not limited to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Matchbox 20, Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Bad Religion, P.O.D, Ben Harper, Ralph Stanley and Tom Waits. He has also re-mastered many classic albums and compilations.
Gavin worked on the soundtrack for "Slumdog Millionaire" for which two songs and the soundtrack were nominated for Academy Awards in 2009. In 2005 he mastered the song by Dolly Parton from the "Transamerica" soundtrack that was nominated for an Academy Award. In 2004 he mastered three of the five songs nominated. Two were from the "Cold Mountain" soundtrack performed by Alison Krauss and Sting. The third was from "A Mighty Wind" soundtrack with Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy as the nominees.
Gavin hails from South Africa. He immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 16 and lived in suburban Washington, D.C., and then Massachusetts. He is passionate about music and his main aim has always been to contribute to a true and honest reproduction of the sound quality of an artist's talent. |
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