Kurt Wagner (born 1959) is an American

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

, and the singer and songwriter of the

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

-based

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

band Lambchop. In 2015 he launched an electronic music project named HeCTA.

Early life and education

Wagner was born in the South —

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

— to Northerner parents. As a youth, he wore his hair very long, which set him further as an outcast among his peers. He attended art school in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

Career

Wagner worked as a carpenter, laying wooden floors both before the success of Lambchop in the 1990s and afterwards.

Personal life

He is married to

Mary Mancini Mary Mancini is an American political activist and former candidate, who served as Chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party from 2015 to 2021. She was elected as Chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party on January 10, 2015 as the second woman to be ...

who was elected Chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party on January 10, 2015 as the second woman to be elected to that position. Previously she ran, unsuccessfully, in the Democratic primary against

Jeff Yarbro Jeff Yarbro (born February 16, 1977) is an American attorney and politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented District 21 in the Tennessee Senate since 2015, and has been the Minority Leader of the chamber since ...

for Senate District 21, which includes much of West Nashville in 2014. "I tell everybody, if you want to run for office some day and have an incredible fundraising event, marry a musician about 15-20 years before you declare your candidacy," Mancini said in a press release. Wagner was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the 2000s and received treatment.

Discography

Albums

*''Something Missing, A Conversation Between The Altered Statesman And Kurt Wagner'' (self-released 2012) - vinyl and digital distribution *''Kurt'' (self-released 2007) - tour only CD from European solo tour

EPs

*''Chester'' (

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first Compact Disc, CD-only independ ...

1999) - with

Josh Rouse Josh Rouse (born March 9, 1972) is an American folk/roots pop singer-songwriter. Originally from Nebraska, Rouse began his recording career in Nashville in 1998 and later relocated to Spain. In 2014, Rouse won a Spanish Goya Film Award in the ...

Compilation albums

*Various artists, '' Songs for the Young at Heart'' ( V2 2007) - contributed ''

Inchworm The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek ''geo'' γεω (derivative form of or "the earth"), and ''met ...

'' *Various artists, ''

MAVIS presented by Ashley Beedle & Darren Morris Mavis is a female given name, derived from a name for the common Old World song thrush. Its first modern usage was in Marie Corelli's 1895 novel ''The Sorrows of Satan'', which featured a character named Mavis Clare (whose name was said to be "rat ...

'' ( !K7 2010) - contributed '' Gangs of Rome''

Other projects

* HeCTA, ''The Diet'' (

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

2015) *Kort, '' Invariable Heartache'' (

City Slang City Slang is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany. History The label was founded in 1990 by former tour agent Christof Ellinghaus, exclusively to release The Flaming Lips' '' In A Priest Driven Ambulance (With Silver Sunshine S ...

2010) with

Cortney Tidwell Cortney Tidwell is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Personal life Cortney Lara Tidwell was born on December 2, 1972, in Nashville, Tennessee to country singer Connie Eaton and Cliff Williamson, music producer at A&R. He ...

Guest appearances

Morcheeba Morcheeba is an English electronic band formed in the mid-1990s with founding members vocalist Skye Edwards and the brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey. They mix influences from trip hop, rock music, rock, folk rock and downtempo, and have produced ...

, '' Charango'' (

Sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" a ...

2002) - ''What New York Couples Fight About'' * The Band of Blacky Ranchette, '' Still Lookin' Good to Me'' (

Thrill Jockey Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

2003) *

X-Press 2 X-Press 2 are an English electronic dance music duo. The members are DJ Diesel (Darren House) and DJ Rocky (Darren Rock). Ashley Beedle left to pursue solo projects in 2009. They were DJ Award winners in 2002 and Ivor Novello winners in 20 ...

, ''Give It'' (

Skint Records Skint Records is a Brighton and Hove based dance music record label owned by JC Reid, Tim Jeffery and Damian Harris. It was created as a sublabel of Loaded Records, also founded by Reid and Jeffery. Along with Wall of Sound, the label was a l ...

2005) *

DJ Koze Stefan Kozalla (born 1972), better known as DJ Koze (), is a German DJ and music producer. Biography Born in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Kozalla first became known in the Hamburg music scene. In the early 1990s, he started as a rapper and DJ ...

, ''Knock Knock'' (Pampa Records 2018) - ''Muddy Funster''

References

1958 births American alternative country singers American country singer-songwriters Living people Lambchop (band) members {{Singer-songwriter-stub