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Being out of the loop at times..I just learned that an old friend of mine died during the winter about Christmastime. Last I heard my friend Kurt was fighting an infection in his eye socket where he had a glass eye since childhood and was taking some time off.
Kurt and I played in a cover band on the road before he joined Head East. We spent many months together and he was with me when we met up with Nightranger on their first tour. I went to see him on occasion in Head East just to drop in a say hello when they were in town. He left Head East after 14 years of commitment and asked me during conversations over the phone to join up in his project to support his indie release 'Distance' mentioned below. Very, very tempting, he was having trouble finding and keeping the band he wanted, especially guitarists but .......I declined due to the promise of money isn't the same as money in hand w/o a set salary to rely on when in a new band. As much as I hated my job and would have loved to play 90 min sets doing Head East tunes/originals, it was too new of a project to know how it would turn out, let alone have a fully booked calender within a few months with a gauranteed salary. I've been there done that when jumping into the fire w/o looking first and then regreting it in hindsight. I had other reasons and obligations to influence my decision as well.
As it went, my instincts were rather correct..as is the case sometimes with new bands..there were some difficult times and no subsequent release of another album. Learning this however, was very unexpected. I was really shocked when I found this out as he was still pretty young. All things aside. Kurt had a gifted voice much in the vein of many big names in the 80's.. Dennis DeYoung of Styx, Steve Perry, and John Schlitt. He was a hell of bassist, played some nice fingerpicking on his acoustic and was a talented songwriter and an accomplished pro performer. May God keep you my friend.
Obituary Follows:
KURT DAVID HANSEN
BREMERTON, WA
Published on 12/23/2003
Kurt David Hansen, born October 25, 1957 in Waterloo, Iowa, to Roger and
Delores Hansen, passed away on December 16, 2003 in Bremerton, Washington.
Kurt attended West Branch, Iowa schools from kindergarten to 12th grade,
graduating from Ames High School.
Kurt was a musician from an early age, partly as a result of an eye injury
at age eight. From then on, thanks to the gift of a guitar by Keith Jensen
of West Branch, Iowa, he made music his life.
Kurt was in several music bands in the Midwest and Washington State (Lion
and Head East), traveling all over the US and Canada. His CD, "Distance,"
came out during this time.
Kurt moved to Spokane and then Seattle, Washington, completing his
westward move to the Olympic Peninsula, pursuing his music career, both as
a performer and as a songwriter.
Kurt is survived by his brother, Dirk Hansen, a PE/Coach at North Bend
High School in Washington State; by his father, Roger Hansen, a retired
principal living in Hayden Lake, Idaho; by his mother, Delores Hansen, a
semi-retired teacher/ principal, now living in Tacoma, WA; and by numerous
relatives in Iowa.
Memorial services will be held in West Branch, Iowa at 10 a.m. Monday,
December 29 at the United Methodist Church. Former classmates and friends
of Kurt are especially invited to attend.
[ June 13, 2004, 01:25 AM: Message edited by: charvelguy ]
Kurt and I played in a cover band on the road before he joined Head East. We spent many months together and he was with me when we met up with Nightranger on their first tour. I went to see him on occasion in Head East just to drop in a say hello when they were in town. He left Head East after 14 years of commitment and asked me during conversations over the phone to join up in his project to support his indie release 'Distance' mentioned below. Very, very tempting, he was having trouble finding and keeping the band he wanted, especially guitarists but .......I declined due to the promise of money isn't the same as money in hand w/o a set salary to rely on when in a new band. As much as I hated my job and would have loved to play 90 min sets doing Head East tunes/originals, it was too new of a project to know how it would turn out, let alone have a fully booked calender within a few months with a gauranteed salary. I've been there done that when jumping into the fire w/o looking first and then regreting it in hindsight. I had other reasons and obligations to influence my decision as well.
As it went, my instincts were rather correct..as is the case sometimes with new bands..there were some difficult times and no subsequent release of another album. Learning this however, was very unexpected. I was really shocked when I found this out as he was still pretty young. All things aside. Kurt had a gifted voice much in the vein of many big names in the 80's.. Dennis DeYoung of Styx, Steve Perry, and John Schlitt. He was a hell of bassist, played some nice fingerpicking on his acoustic and was a talented songwriter and an accomplished pro performer. May God keep you my friend.
Obituary Follows:
KURT DAVID HANSEN
BREMERTON, WA
Published on 12/23/2003
Kurt David Hansen, born October 25, 1957 in Waterloo, Iowa, to Roger and
Delores Hansen, passed away on December 16, 2003 in Bremerton, Washington.
Kurt attended West Branch, Iowa schools from kindergarten to 12th grade,
graduating from Ames High School.
Kurt was a musician from an early age, partly as a result of an eye injury
at age eight. From then on, thanks to the gift of a guitar by Keith Jensen
of West Branch, Iowa, he made music his life.
Kurt was in several music bands in the Midwest and Washington State (Lion
and Head East), traveling all over the US and Canada. His CD, "Distance,"
came out during this time.
Kurt moved to Spokane and then Seattle, Washington, completing his
westward move to the Olympic Peninsula, pursuing his music career, both as
a performer and as a songwriter.
Kurt is survived by his brother, Dirk Hansen, a PE/Coach at North Bend
High School in Washington State; by his father, Roger Hansen, a retired
principal living in Hayden Lake, Idaho; by his mother, Delores Hansen, a
semi-retired teacher/ principal, now living in Tacoma, WA; and by numerous
relatives in Iowa.
Memorial services will be held in West Branch, Iowa at 10 a.m. Monday,
December 29 at the United Methodist Church. Former classmates and friends
of Kurt are especially invited to attend.
[ June 13, 2004, 01:25 AM: Message edited by: charvelguy ]
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