Kurdt Vanderhoof, born in 1961, is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist and founding member of the American heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band Metal Church

Metal Church

Metal Church was an American heavy metal band. They originally formed in Seattle, Washington as Shrapnel in 1980. Their first album was released in 1984, and the band's most recent work, This Present Wasteland, was released in 2008....

. He formed the band in 1980 after the alias given to his San Francisco apartment. Vanderhoof moved back to his hometown, Aberdeen, Washington

Aberdeen, Washington

Aberdeen is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States, founded by Samuel Benn in 1884. Aberdeen was incorporated on May 12, 1890. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis...

. In 1981, he formed a band named Shrapnel. It consisted of Kirk Arrington on drums, Mike Murphy on vocals, and Craig Wells handling guitars. Vanderhoof brought in a friend, Duke Erickson, who could play bass, completing the Shrapnel line-up. When Mike Murphy left the band, they recruited David Wayne

David Wayne (singer)

David Wayne was an American singer for the heavy metal bands Metal Church, Reverend and Wayne.-Biography:From 1982 to 1988, Wayne appeared as vocalist on two studio albums and two live albums by Metal Church...

 for vocal duties. By 1983, Shrapnel had renamed itself to Vanderhoof's original band name, Metal Church.

After Metal Church's second album The Dark in 1986, Vanderhoof left the band and was replaced temporarily by Mark Baker, and then by John Marshall as permanent guitarist. Vanderhoof remained heavily involved in the songwriting process of Metal Church, however. His first solo band was Hall Aflame, which only released one album before breaking up in 1994. Metal Church disbanded that same year.

Vanderhoof formed another solo band, Vanderhoof. This band released the albums Vanderhoof and A Blur in Time in 1997 and 2002 respectively.

In 2005, Kurdt Vanderhoof and several members from his solo band formed Presto Ballet

Presto Ballet

Presto Ballet is a progressive rock band founded by Metal Church guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof. Their sound is highly reminiscent of 70's prog rock, as the band was founded chiefly as a tribute to classic progressive bands such as Yes and Kansas.-Debut album:...

, a band dedicated to recreating the progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 sounds of the mid 1970s.

"We recorded the whole album in a somewhat 'old-school' manner, which means analogue synthesizers, real Hammond organ and real mellotron sounds", said Vanderhoof, regarding their debut album, Peace Among the Ruins.

Vanderhoof currently plays in Presto Ballet.