Curt Kirkwood

Curt Kirkwood
220px Kirkwood in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Curtis Matthew Kirkwood
Born	(1959-01-10) January 10, 1959 Amarillo, Texas, U.S.
Origin	Austin, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock cowpunk hardcore punk country rock
Occupation(s)	Musician songwriter
Instruments	Guitar vocals
Years active	1980–present
Labels	SST London Atlantic Rykodisc Anodyne Megaforce Little Dog
Associated acts	Meat Puppets Eyes Adrift Volcano Nirvana
Website	themeatpuppets.com

Curtis Matthew "Curt" Kirkwood (born January 10, 1959) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, but currently resides in Austin, Texas.

Biography

Curt has been the lead singer and founding member for the alternative rock group Meat Puppets since 1980. He formed the band along with his brother Cris on bass, and drummer Derrick Bostrom. The trio went in a hiatus in 1996 after a long career where the band became hailed as one of the premier and innovative indie bands as well as briefly achieving mainstream success in the early 1990s.

He re-formed the Meat Puppets with Kyle Ellison (guitar), Andrew Duplantis (bass) and Shandon Sahm (drums) to complete one studio album, Golden Lies in 2000 before disbanding. After the Meat Puppets, Curt toured as a solo act before banding together with Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh to form Eyes Adrift. They released a self-titled album in 2002 and toured the United States before going separate ways. Curt then formed another band, Volcano, which only released one album, before he decided to focus on his solo career. His first solo album Snow was released in October 2005.

He is also an artist and created the cover art for several Meat Puppets albums, as well as for Stephen Beachy's novel The Whistling Song. In 2006, the Meat Puppets re-formed with Cris back on bass and drummers Ted Marcus and Shandon Sahm serving as replacements for Derrick Bostrom. The band has since released four new albums, Rise to Your Knees (2007), Sewn Together (2009), Lollipop (2011) and Rat Farm (2013).

Personal life

Kirkwood is the grandson of Carl W. Renstrom, who was owner of Tip-Top Products and a multi-millionaire from Omaha, Nebraska.

Discography

Main article: Meat Puppets Discography

• Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York (1994)
• Eyes Adrift - Eyes Adrift (2002)
• Volcano - Volcano (2004)
• Curt Kirkwood - Snow (2005)

External links

• Interview with Curt Kirkwood by Jarrod Dicker
• Meat Puppets' new official website, maintained by the band and Anodyne Records.
• Meat Puppets' original website, maintained by original drummer Derrick Bostrom
• Live Repository
• Moonglampers Ramble - a music blog primarily focusing on live Meat Puppets.
• Little Dog Records' Curt Kirkwood Page
• Silver Wonder Press, Kirkwood designed cover for book by Lee Ranaldo, "Hello From the American Desert"