KIM CHANGES HORSES

An old pal of ours, veteran A&R exec Kim Buie has been named VP A&R for New West. Having made the switch from the top A&R gig at Thirty Tigers, she’s now working out of New West’s recently opened Nashville office, working alongside President John Allen. In the announcement, Buie and Allen said really nice things about each other.

Kim got her start in A&R in 1985 when she was hired by then-MCA chief Irving Azoff to work under Jimmy Bowen as a regional pop A&R rep in Nashville. She then relocated to L.A. to reopen the West Coast offices of Island Records and worked under Chris Blackwell for nearly seven years. After stints at Liberty/Capitol and Blackwell’s Palm Pictures, Kim moved back to Nashville to head A&R for Luke Lewis’ Lost Highway. When Luke retired, she moved to Thirty Tigers. Kim also manages Jesse Baylin, Nathan Followill’s better half. And that pretty much brings us up to date.