Kurt Bloch (born August 28, 1960) is an American

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Music career

Bloch is best known as songwriter and lead guitarist of

Fastbacks Fastbacks are a Seattle, Washington, punk rock band. Formed in 1979 by songwriter/guitarist Kurt Bloch (born August 28, 1960), and friends Lulu Gargiulo (guitar and vocals, born October 12, 1960) and Kim Warnick (bass and vocals, born April 7, ...

, and is a member of The Young Fresh Fellows.

Record Production

Bloch has recorded tracks and produced albums for The Presidents of the United States of America, Tokyo Dragons,

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

, Les Thugs,

Flop Floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance in computing, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations. For such cases, it is a more accurate measur ...

Sicko ''Sicko'' is a 2007 American political documentary film by filmmaker Michael Moore. Investigating health care in the United States, the film focuses on the country's health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry. Moore compares the for-prof ...

The Minus 5 The Minus 5 is an American pop rock band headed by musician Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, often in partnership with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck. Band history McCaughey formed the band in 1993 as a side project with Buck, Jon Auer ...

, The Venus 3, and more recently the Tall Birds.

Nashville Pussy Nashville Pussy is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band's lyrical themes mostly revolve around sex, drugs, drinking, fighting, and rock 'n' roll. Initially called Hell's Half-Acre, the band's name comes from Ted Nugent's int ...

's song "Fried Chicken and Coffee", produced by Bloch, was nominated for the 1999

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Metal Performance.

Thee Sgt. Major III

He is a member of Thee Sgt. Major III (earlier known as Sgt. Major), along with ex- Posies drummer Mike Musburger, The Young Fresh Fellows bassist Jim Sangster, and Cantona singer and guitarist Leslie Beattie. Bill Coury (ex-

Visqueen Visqueen is a brand of polyethylene plastic Plastic film, sheeting (typically low-density polyethylene) produced by British Polythene Industries Limited. It is the registered trade mark of British Polythene Limited in numerous countries throughou ...

) previously shared lead vocal duties, but has since left the band.

The Beltholes

Bloch plays guitar for and produces Seattle-based prog-rock band The Beltholes, who released the 2007 album "For Whom the Beltholes" on the Burn Burn Burn label. The band also includes Kwab Copeland and Fred Speakman (lead vocals), and Anthony Clementi (bass).

The Yes Masters

2017 saw the release of the self-titled debut by The Yes Masters, featuring Kurt Bloch (lead vocals, electric guitar, production, engineering), Rick Foundation (drums), and Matt Scientist (bass, vocals) on the No Threes label.

Filthy Friends

Also in 2017, Bloch joined

Corin Tucker Corin Lisa Tucker (born November 9, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney. Tucker is also a member of the alternative rock supergroup Filthy Friends, and previously record ...

of Sleater Kinney,

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.; he played the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his caree ...

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

Scott McCaughey Scott Lewis McCaughey is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5. He was also an auxiliary member of the American rock band R.E.M. from 199 ...

and Linda Pitmon to form the band Filthy Friends and release their album ''Invitation''.

Bill Rieflin William Frederick Rieflin (September 30, 1960 – March 24, 2020) was an American musician. Rieflin came to prominence in the 1990s mainly for his work as a drummer with groups (particularly in the industrial rock and industrial metal scen ...

has also been cited as a drummer in the band.

Discography

The Beltholes

* 2007: ''For Whom The Beltholes'' (Burn Burn Burn Records)

Fastbacks

See Fastbacks discography

Sgt. Major

* 2004: ''Rich, Creamery Butter'' (Book Records BOOK 6)

Thee Sgt. Major

;LP * 2010: ''The Idea Factory'' (Book Records) ;Single * 2009: ''Ice Cold Ten'' (Book Records)

The Yes Masters

* 2017: ''The Yes Masters'' (No Threes Records N3-017)

The Young Fresh Fellows

See The Young Fresh Fellows discography

References

External links

* * * Ralph Bevins
Art Zone: Kurt Bloch
Seattle Channel, September 18, 2015 1960 births Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists American record producers The Minus 5 members The Young Fresh Fellows members 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Filthy Friends members {{US-music-bio-stub