Other Bios

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Lead Vocals, Guitar
Born: 08/27/1968
Place: Cincinnati, OH

Kurt was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the banks of the Ohio River. The medical staff knew almost immediately that there was something special about the child when the customary bottom slap produced a cry in perfect harmony with the tugboat whistle blowing on the river. By the age of one, his parents realized the child was expressing his needs by crying in different keys and the following day he was enrolled in a program for musically gifted infants.

Kurt's parents were convinced he would be one of the great vocalists of all time and began mapping out his career. Tragically, their hopes were dashed in a not too uncommon nursery accident involving a Lincoln Log and the Heimlich Maneuver. Kurt’s vocal chords were permanently scarred and he was doomed to a life of normalcy.

In an effort to hide from the ensuing pressure of the press reporters, Kurt’s family fled to the other corner of the state and settled anonymously in Canton, Ohio. For the rest of his childhood and teen years, Kurt was oblivious to what might have been. Fortunately, he was not just a voice and also excelled in his studies. He made the cut and attended the University of Notre Dame.

At the University his subconscious instinct for song led him into the lead vocalist role in a popular campus band called “Dead Horse”. Although his voice had been marred forever, he was able to attain the levels of some of the classic rock greats and the band had a short but popular run around the campus watering holes. That is, until the Holy Cross priests caught wind of the underlying meaning of the band name. (think alcohol, dorm parties and teenage hormones) Kurt led the band reform with some new members and aptly named the new group “Phoenix”. The new band flourished for the next three years.

One day, close to graduation, Kurt was researching term paper, for a Toxicology class, about human mutations caused by Ohio River water in Cincinnati in the late 60’s and discovered an article about his early childhood. He was devastated. In an effort to hide from the knowledge of what might have been, he signed on to a NOAA research vessel operating in the Pacific hundreds of miles from civilization.

After years of seclusion on the open ocean, he finally snapped out of it and moved to Seattle determined to start a new life. He met up with three other talented musicians aspiring only to express themselves in song (except for Ron who kept mumbling something about domination of the world breakfast cereal market) and together they formed Ludwig’s Van.

To be continued…