About Kurt Prond:
Kurt Prond is an American Folk Singer/Songwriter based in Bozeman, Montana. His voice and fingerstyle guitar playing have been compared to the likes of James Taylor and Paul Simon, and in 2009 his songwriting garnered attention by being selected as a regional finalist for the Newsong songwriting contest, sponsored by the National Public Radio program “Mountain Stage.”
Prond’s impressive performance resume includes large folk music centers across the country, such as Memphis, Denver, Chicago, Boston, Portland, and in the Twin Cities area, where he has shared the bill with well-known Folk groups such as Storyhill, also from the Bozeman, Montana region.
Prond attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he earned a Vocal Music Degree in 2005, and worked briefly as a music director at a local Northfield Church. Unsatisfied with the "typical" American lifestyle, Prond left Minnesota and worked as a wilderness Ranger for the US Forest Service in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness of Montana.
The simple lifestyle accompanied by such work captivated Prond, and much of the inspiration for his first solo album, "Prone to Wander" came from his years working in the wilderness. Prone to Wander(released in 2008) has been "hailed as a call to arms by a generation frustrated by the traps inherent in the 'American Dream'," and calls into question many of the social norms of American culture. His LP "Kurt Prond in Portland" was released in the Fall of 2009, and contains many of the same songs, but includes much of Prond's thoughts behind his writing, as well as several new songs including "My Montana Home", and "The Same Old Questions." Prond continues to work seasonally for the Forest Service, and tours in the winter months. He is currently working on his second studio album, release date TBA.