Kurt Houff

I grew up in the greater Shenandoah Valley area, Waynesboro, VA to be specific and folks, let me tell you, if there's a God, then this valley is the palm of the almighty (see the background). I fell in love with live music at a local church bazaar when I was four. I asked for my first guitar when I was five years old and Santa obliged with a $12.95 guitar from the local five and dime, barely playable yet, musical sounds mysteriously began to come out of it, or so I'm told. Growing up in a small town in the late 60’s into the early 70’s afforded many learning opportunities, hanging out in local music stores and pawn shops between the ages of 8 and 12, listening to a littany of local pickers, wino’s, vagrants and other ne’er do wells and their stories. I continued to play and learn as my family moved from VA to DE and for a brief period Northeastern PA. My first paying gig was with school friend and current Montana keyboardist, Dan Long. We put together our first band “Inertia” and played one of our own junior high school dances…the seed was sown, the damage was done….. I began performing in local clubs and private parties in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area (Dallas, PA) at the ripe old age of 15 years with “Blackwater” a group of high school buddies playing an eclectic mix of southern rock classics, Neil Young, Grateful Dead, early Rush tunes and some of the more listenable pop hits of the era (Steve Miller, Eagles…). You never saw me without my acoustic guitar and I'd play for anyone who would listen (still will). You would show up at a party and there I’d be, playing from the time I arrived until I either passed out, got lucky or the sun came up (more often than not, the sun would come up). At the age of 18, I relocated back to the Wilmington area and have been a part of the Delaware music scene ever since. From 1980 to somewhere in 1984, I performed with White Lightning (a band containing current Montana members Dan Long and Chip Porter) and then at some point in 1984 (a few months after White Lightning disbanded, I formed Montana Wildaxe with original members, Alan Eberhardt, Mike Breen and Chip Porter. In addition to Montana Wildaxe, I play with Chip in a variety of acoustic band formats, duos, trios, quartets and quintets featuring a changing line-up of talented players like Bob Bloomingdale, David Poland and Mark Unruh. Over the years I've had the privilege to play with and/or open up for a number of well known artists such as the late Warren Zevon, David Bromberg, Kansas and Widespread Panic. I'm currently working on a variety of side projects including writing, recording and performing my own songs whereever they'll let me!!!