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John Kurzweg
Kurzweg on stage in December 2013, The Moon Nightclub, Tallahassee, Florida.
Background information
Birth name	John Phillip Kurzweg
Born	(1960-09-05) 5 September 1960 Daly City, California, United States
Genres	Rock, hard rock, heavy metal, pop rock, progressive rock
Occupation(s)	Record producer, Musician, Record mixer
Instrument(s)	Guitar, keyboard, drums, and vocals
Years active	1980–present
Labels	Hollywood, Parlophone
Website	johnkurzweg.com

John Kurzweg (born 5 September 1960) in Daly City, California is an American record producer and musician from Tallahassee, Florida. John lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is known for his production of albums with the post-grunge band, Creed and other groups.

Personal

John Kurzweg was born in Daly City, California at the age of 1-year his family moved. By 1974, the Kurzweg family moved to Tallahassee, Florida. He grew up in Tallahassee attending and graduating from Leon High School in 1978. John later become a popular musician in the Tallahassee area during the 1980s. He has a younger brother, Steve, living in Tallahassee.

Early years

While in Tallahassee, Kurzweg fronted local bands such as "Slapstick," "Synergy," "The Front," "Radio Bikini," and "John Kurzweg and the Night." In 1986, he fronted the 1970s group Foghat. He also filled-in with instruments with Percy Sledge and Chuck Berry. Later on in the late 1980s he signed a record deal with Atlantic Records, which he released under the name John Phillip. Phillip being his middle name. The album, Wait for the Night, did not meet Kurzweg’s expectations and he returned to Tallahassee to continue making music on his own terms.

1990s

While in Tallahassee, Kurzweg was asked by Jeff Hanson, a release manager, to see a local band at an old Tallahassee club and haunt, the now defunct Floyd's Music Store. The band was Creed. Kurzweg's response prior to hearing them was, to paraphrase, "I've recorded a lot of local bands and they stay local." In 1996 Kurzweg began producing, recording, backup vocals, and playing keyboard with the group on their first album release being My Own Prison in 1997 on the Wind-Up Records label. This album was followed up by Human Clay in 1999 and Weathered in 2001. Kurzweg with backup vocals and keyboard again. All three albums became Multi-Platinum.

Between the Creed albums, Kurzweg did production and mixing on the Creed single, Bound & Tied from motion picture, Dead Man on Campus. (1998) and Creed's version of I'm Eighteen for the motion picture The Faculty (1998).

After Creed broke-up in 2004, Kurzweg produced lead vocalist Scott Stapp's platinum-selling debut album The Great Divide in 2005. Kurzweg has also produced other popular bands, such as Puddle of Mudd and Socialburn, as well as solo artists Jewell and Eagle Eye Cherry.

Kurzweg produced multiple albums for Puddle of Mudd, including their 2001 break-out success "Come Clean" and the majority of their follow-up release Life on Display in 2003. Kurzweg produced “Blurry,” which was released as their second single from the album Come Clean. The song is the band's best known song, reaching the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks charts for ten and nine weeks, respectively. This soon propelled the single to mainstream success, reaching the No. 5 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay and Billboard Hot 100. The song is also the band's highest selling U.S. single ever, with sales of 753,000 copies, as of 2010. The single “She Hates Me” continued the group's popularity on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 13. It also topped the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for one week in October. The popularity of "She Hates Me" made it become Puddle of Mudd's second single to sell over 500,000 copies in the United States, following "Blurry". The song peaked at No. 14 in the UK Singles Chart making it the group's third Top 20 hit.

Most recently Kurzweg has worked as producer, engineer and mixer for Godsmack’s Whiskey Hangover, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, and appeared on the deluxe edition of The Oracle. He also served produced/engineered/mixed/co-wrote and played all the electric guitars on The Sean Heland Band’s 2009 cd Floodplain. Kurzweg also produced two of the tracks on Puddle of Mudd’s 2009 release Vol. 4 Songs in the Key of Love and Hate – “Better Place” and “Hooky”.

Kurzweg's ideal custom guitar

The Folkstone Guitars ST Custom John Kurzweg signature build.

For 35 years Kurzweg has searched for his vision of a perfect guitar for his hold and tone. This would be a cross between a Fender Telecaster and Fender Stratocaster. To paraphrase Kurzweg, "I've wanted one all of my life." While in Tallahassee in the early Autumn of 2013, Kurzweg played a custom guitar owned by Michael Shawn Turner of a local band, Common Zenz. He was so impressed by the tone and workmanship, that Kurzweg contacted the luthier and guitar modification specialist in Tallahassee that built it. The task was to build a guitar with Telecaster body and Stratocaster pickup layout. Kurzweg ordered a signature guitar to his exact specifications from Folkstone Guitars in Tallahassee. The ST Custom was the base for the build. It is now his main guitar used for concerts and practice.

Most recently, Kurzweg reunited with his old band, Slapstick, at The Moon Nightclub on Dec. 31, 2013.

Production and Technical

• My Own Prison album by Creed (1997). Production & Technical.
• Bound & Tied track by Creed from the motion picture Dead Man on Campus, (1998). Production only.
• I'm Eighteen
• Higher (1999). Production & Technical.
• What If on the Scream 3 sound track by Creed (2000). Production & Technical.
• What If on the Scream 3 sound track by Creed (2001). Epic Records CD compilation. Production only.
• Weathered album by Creed (2001).
• Bullets from the album Weathered (2001).
• One Last Breath single by Creed (2001).
• My Own Prison from the album Weathered, Acoustic-Extended Version, (2002). Production & Technical.
• Drift & Die album by Puddle of Mudd (2002). Production & Technical.
• She Hates Me album by Puddle of Mudd (2002). Production & Technical.
• My Sacrifice from the album Weathered aka Creed 3 by Creed (2002).
• Feels So Right from the album Sub Rosa by Eagle-Eye Cherry (2003). Production & Technical.
• Bleed from The Punisher album by Puddle of Mudd (2004). Production & Technical.
• Greatest Hits by Creed (2004). Production & Technical.
• The Great Divide, promo CD by Scott Stapp (2005), Production & Technical.
• The Great Divide (2005). Technical only.
• Whiskey Hangover by Godsmack (2009). Production & Technical.

Technical work includes recording and mixing of music tracks for single tracks or CD.

Production, engineering, and mixing

• She Hates Me by Puddle of Mudd
• Wrong Way by Creed, the album Human Clay 1999.
• Things (as John Kurzweig) John Cale - Things ‎ (CD, Single, Copy Prot.)

Performing

Kurzweg is not limited to guitar and also plays keyboards and drums. He not only engineers and produces tracks for albums, he also plays in session recordings, backs up groups, and plays in his own band and former band. In 1986, Kurzweg playing acoustic guitar, opened for the 1970s group, Foghat in Tallahassee. He has been a backup instrumentalist for Percy Sledge and Chuck Barry when in Tallahassee.

Kurzweg played backup onCreed's albums My Own Prison (1997), the track Wrong Way on Human Clay (1999), and the track Weathered on the album Weathered (2001).

• My Own Prison 2 versions performed by Creed, 1999.
• Weathered 4 versions performed by Creed, 1999.
• Hobo sapiens performed by John Cale, 2003.
• Creed's Greatest (25 tracks) performed by Creed, 2004.
• The Point by the band The Point, under the Irond label.

Produced soundtracks for film

• She Hates Meby Puddle of Mudd

References

Category:American record producers Category:Living people Category:1960 births

Folkstone required to explain his notable instrument