Born in 1965 in Pasadena, Texas across the street from the famed “Gilley`s” nightclub. Kirk McKim began playing guitar at age 14 during the height of the 70`s hard rock guitar era. Early influences and inspiration came from his older brother. The sounds of Jeff Beck, Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top and Pat Travers Band filled the house pumping from the Pioneer Stereo. A typical day at the McKim household.
In 1983, Kirk moved to austin to attend college. In Austin, he was exposed to local music there.
His first show after being there 2 days was Eric Johnson. Living in austin was a great place to grow musically, Playing BBQ stand parking lots and college backyard parties for beer.
In 1988, He decided to hit the road playing with anyone and every kind of band. From the backwoods of mississippi to atlantic city.
In the early 90`s , Kirk moved back to texas and began to play steadily around the houston and southeast texas region. It was there he met Mark May (Dickie Betts and Great Southern) and played 2nd guitar in his band. They toured with the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND in the summer of 1997-98.
In 1998, Kirk felt he needed a change. It was at this time he got a call from nashville to come work with some upstart acts. He played radio tours with Julie Reeves (virgin nashville, CMA nominated artist) and Redmon Vale (dreamworks nashville).
In the early 2000`s, Kirk moved to LA and worked with Ken Karman and Rick Garcia. Top composers and music editors in Hollywood. In 2005, Kirk got a call from Pat Travers, whom he had met at a gig in florida. He made the jump and joined the band. He has recorded 2 records with the PAT TRAVERS BAND, “stick with what you know” live in 2006 and “fidelis” on alexus records in 2008.
Kirk continues to bring his musicality to the table and is a great fit to the PAT TRAVERS BAND.