Dustin Kensrue
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Dustin Kensrue (born November 18, 1980) is vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist in the Orange County hardcore quartet Thrice.
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Although Thrice as a band does not fall under the heading of "Christian Hardcore", Kensrue himself is a Christian. Some of his lyrics are inspired by Christian morals and their place in society today, with Kensrue drawing much lyrical inspiration from the 20th century author C.S. Lewis, who penned the well-known Chronicles Of Narnia books and countless books on Christianity. He has a tattoo on his left wrist which is a passage from the bible written in Hebrew.
Kensrue, Teranishi and the Breckenridge brothers have toured the U.S. opening for My Chemical Romance, fronted by Kensrue's close friend, Gerard Way, and in the U.K. Thrice played a VS Tour with prog-rockers Coheed and Cambria, fronted by another of Dustin's friends, Claudio Sanchez. They have also played alongside The Used and Thursday, both of which Kensrue has mentioned having greatly enjoyed touring with.
Dustin was a fan and player of the video game World of Warcraft, but has since stopped playing.
Dustin also has a solo acoustic side project under his own name. He had toured in past years on his own, under the moniker "Ursus Veritas", but decided to drop the name in favor of simplicity since "people have enough trouble just pronouncing [his] last name to begin with." He's currently married and on the night of December 7th 2006, his first child was born, a girl named Sailor. (he announced her pregnancy in June 2006 on his Myspace, and that it was going to be a girl). His wife's name is Shadlie.
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[edit] Solo Project
Ursus Veritas was the former alias for the solo side-project of Thrice by Dustin Kensrue. The name was a play-on-words of its Latin components: Ursus meaning bear, and Veritas meaning truth. Kensrue has been quoted as saying there is no real special significance to the name, other than he likes bears, and thought it sounded cool.
As has been confirmed by Kensrue, he has officially dropped the name Ursus Veritas, and will soon be releasing a solo album titled "Please Come Home" under his name, Dustin Kensrue.
It will include the tracks "I Knew You Before," "Pistol," "I Believe," "Please Come Home," "Blood & Wine," "Consider The Ravens," "Weary Saints," and "Blanket Of Ghosts." He has wrapped up the recording and mixing of the album at the home of fellow Thrice member, Teppei Teranishi.
Dustin Kensrue released his debut solo album, Please Come Home through Equal Vision Records on January 23, 2007. Though this has caused speculation as to whether or not Thrice will leave Island in favor of Equal Vision Records, it has been clarified by Kensrue in a recent interview that his choice of Equal Vision was purely on the merits of how "excited they were about [his] project". [1]
'Please Come Home' has unexpectedly leaked earlier than most thought, and has been met with mostly favorable reviews from critics, who have compared Kensrue's versatility in his vocals to singer/songwriter Ryan Adams and Johnny Cash.
It has been recently made public that Dustin Kensrue intends to donate 5% of the proceeds from 'Please Come Home' to a non-profit organization called To Write Love On Her Arms. In the press release, Kensrue explained the choice:
"To Write Love on Her Arms is a nonprofit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for those struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. To Write Love on Her Arms began in March 2006 as a written story and an attempt to raise money for one girl's treatment. T-shirts were printed and a MySpace was created to serve as home base for the story. Excitement spread quickly throughout MySpace and the independent music community. For 2007, TWLOHA is aiming to raise $100k for treatment and recovery. This comes in addition to online counseling and continued efforts to creatively present hope and raise awareness. TWLOHA is a fitting choice for Please Come Home. The album lyrically exudes redemption, personal worth, love, acceptance, and hope. “I try to be an artist who aspires to find hope even in dark places: If I’m down, I don’t want to bring people down to that place with me. I’m looking for a way out, says Kensrue."
[edit] Discography
Please Come Home | Equal Vision Records
[edit] Equipment
Various models of the Gibson SG, including the Standard, Special, and Jr.
Gibson RD Artist (as seen in Thrice's Stare At The Sun video)
Epiphone Sheraton Semi-Hollow Electric (white)
Taylor GS Acoustic
Line 6 DM4
Line 6 MM4
Line 6 DL4
Marshall and Vox amplifiers
