Kurt Custer
Kurt Custer was born in California in 1964 to a family already musically inclined. He had his first pair of drumsticks when he was still in diapers. By age 4 he was keeping beat to 45rpm records of the pop & rock scene of the 1960's. He entertained family & friends with his timing & drumming expertise.
His influences included Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich whose performance on the "Tonight Show" was seldom missed. He also had an appreciation for the styles of John Bonham, Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker, Roger Taylor, Stewart Copeland & others.
Custer has toured extensively in North America & overseas. He was first recognized by the Southern Californian band "Little America" which recorded two albums for Geffen Records "Little America" (1987) & "Fairgrounds" (1989) During this time his talent became critically acclaimed with his performance on Steve Earles "Copperhead Road" which went Gold in the U.S. and latinum in Canada.
Shortly after, the members of "Lynyrd Skynyrd"recruited Custer to perform on their new recordings & with their worldwide tours. His expert drumming helped the band to re-establish its memeorable sound on the release of Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 and The Last Rebel (1993). On both recordings, veteran producer Tom Dowd worked with Kurt in arranging the songs along with guitar legend, Ed King. The Dowd- Custer- King arranged album soon achieved Gold status.
Custer left Skynyrd in 1994 and settled in Nashville to continue as songwriter, vocalist & a multi-instrumentalist.. He and his longtime partner, Andy Logan produced the self titled recordings "Custer & Logan" (1994).
Kurts CD "Peaceful Lunatic" is a blend of influences & life experiences & merged into a well crafted self portrait.
The trademark of Custers playing is defined as articulate & supportive to his individuality.
Kurt is quoted as saying "Im a song-oriented drummer who plays what's best for the song. I also like to be flashy and when successfully combined...Its the best of both worlds." He also states that "Drums were meant to be hit hard."
Kurt presently resides in Los Angeles, California