Curt Kirkwood | |
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Kirkwood in 2006
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Background information | |
Birth name | Curtis Matthew Kirkwood |
Born |
Amarillo, Texas, U.S. |
January 10, 1959
Origin | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instruments |
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Years active | 1980–present |
Labels | |
Associated acts | |
Website | themeatpuppets |
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.
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 in 1999 with Kyle Ellison (guitar), Andrew Duplantis (bass) and Shandon Sahm (drums) to complete one studio album, Golden Lies, released in 2000. The new lineup disbanded in 2002 after the departure of Duplantis. 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).