Unlikely Places: Faith and Spirit Guide Kent Curtiss Band’s Exuberant Renditions

Unlikely Places
Faith and spirit guide Kent Curtiss Band’s exuberant renditions

By Brian D’Ambrosio

For Kent Curtiss, the quest for God begins in his own heart. He remembers Him in his prayers, and he makes sincere attempts to heal, protect, and nourish divine correspondence.

It is such strong faith that makes Kent Curtiss Band’s music stand out in the vast milieu of devotional music that has saturated, perhaps even overwhelmed, the country for more than a decade.

Indeed, the Corvallis-based group’s debut CD titled Unlikely Places is a far-ranging body of work, incorporating pop melodies, jagged guitars, folkish sing-alongs, and even an incarnated soul and gospel feel. It’s deceptively accessible, but repeated listens reveal more and more layers and moving parts.

“We’re bringing a lot of positive messages to the table,” says Kent Curtiss, who wrote or co-wrote all of the CD’s twelve tracks.

Crisp and dapper in its sound, Unlikely Places explores ways of living a meaningful religious life in the face of increased self-deprecating uncertainty and ecological crisis, while providing Pollyannaish optimism for the future, as well as hope for a deeper understanding of the connections between humanity, religion, ecology, and culture.

“The theme of this record is one of hope,” says Curtiss. “When hope dies, there’s nothing more crushing than that. The loss of hope can destroy you. We’re playing something that’s full of hope and wonder.”

The band’s music, which Curtiss describes as having rock, pop and urban influences, is a way to get that positive, hope-laden message across “in a way that speaks to someone,” says Curtiss.

While Curtiss recognizes the possibilities for evangelization through contemporary music, he’s not prepared to package the band’s music in a way that’s heavy-handed or aggressive, opting for a much more subtle product that doesn’t “beat people over the head with the Bible,” says Curtiss.

Indeed, Curtiss understands that the church has always has been a patron of the arts, and he knows that one way in which he can satisfy his spiritual self-longing is to continue to contribute music that promotes Christian values.

Nonetheless, one doesn’t need to bear hug Christian principles or spuriously embrace Christianity, to enjoy the heartfelt efforts and spiritual and social commentaries of a talented group of musicians, including Tom Nash on guitar, Cyndy Hull on keyboard, and Janet Curtiss, who adds vocal flair to the CD.

“We’re a band of Christians, not a Christian band,” says Kent Curtiss. “Our music reaches across generational, spiritual and musical borders.”

Curtiss’s principal occupation is as a homebuilder, and he views his music as something that, at least for right now, is primarily being played and performed as a leisure pursuit.

“This is definitely an avocation,” says Curtiss. “We are going to enjoy it and see what happens, and see where it goes. This is something done out of love for the music, and love for the meaning behind it. We are building a fan base and having a lot of fun.”

Curtiss began playing music as a hobby more than a dozen years ago. It’s been ten years since he began writing his own songs, expressing himself through ideas rooted in his own self-actuality.

In his music, Curtiss conveys positivism; there’s too much light in his world to get lost in the negativity of darkness. Consequently, it’s hard to walk away from Unlikely Places without the feeling that you can always get what you want and that events will turn out for the best.

Using spiritual thrall and repetitive hooks to reel in the listener, this album is so engagingly catchy that to get it out of your head you’ll need a lobotomy. It will take a few listens to fully digest the jaunty tempos, but patient followers will soon discover the CD’s intangible riches. The beauty here is that The Kent Curtiss Band has managed to compose and perform music that people will more than likely remember even after the disc has been placed back in the jewel case.

“We would really like to gain a reputation as a band that’s good at playing and performing live,” says Curtiss. “Hopefully, our music puts people at ease and draws them in. We’d like to build a base as a band that has a lot of fun and plays good…our integrity is all we’ve got.”

The most obvious thing about the band’s music is the way in which they blend together a danceable groove with a tight melodic pop attack. Add on top of that some catchy songwriting and the mix becomes absolutely intoxicating, providing confirmation that cool music and spiritual impact don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Being that upbeat music usually doesn’t have too much to say spiritually and that bands who really want to communicate their faith strongly often make redundantly bland music, Unlikely Places is unique in its strong, direct and spiritually awash approach.

But really, that’s not as important as the glow, the luminescence, in the sound of the songs themselves. From the beginning of the CD, the work is brightened by a spiritual dimension, nothing explicit, perhaps, but always implied.

Ultimately it feels as though Curtiss is comfortable with what he really believes and has long since come to terms with the experiences of his upbringing. He sees music as a journey rather than a destination, and at this point in the band’s development, he has a very simple goal: to continue making records.

There are so many bands that form, record one album and then disappear that he doesn’t want to join their ranks.

“We would really like to stand the test of time,” explains Curtiss. “We don’t want to be just a throwaway band making throwaway music.”

For more information, visit www.kentcurtissband.com.