Thor Eisentrager is a founding member and former guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

 for the Minneapolis-based Noise rock

Noise rock

Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...

 outfit Cows

Cows (band)

Cows are a post-hardcore/punk blues band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band formed in 1987 and disbanded in 1998. They were known for a unique mixture of punk rock and blues played with large amounts of noise and surreal humour; their music is often considered noise rock...

. After the release of the Cows's ninth album, Sorry in Pig Minor

Sorry In Pig Minor

Sorry in Pig Minor is the ninth and final studio album by the Minneapolis-based noise rock band the Cows. It was produced by Buzz Osborne of the Melvins and is their most experimental album.-Track listing:#"Cabin Man" - 5:14...

, Thor announced that he had grown tired of touring and left the band. The remaining members disbanded shortly thereafter. Nowadays, he is retired from the music business and works as the assistant director of security for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is a fine art museum located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a campus that covers nearly 8 acres , formerly Morrison Park...

.

Musical style and influence

His approach to guitar playing has been noted as adding greatly to the band's diverse sound, his unique style being described as sounding as if he "played with metal files". Unlike the other members of the Cows, Thor was mostly influenced by the Blues, favoring such artists as Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters

McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...

 and The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

. He was also known to bring hand-written notation into band practice.