Curtis is the sixth of ten sons born to Arnold and Joyce Knudsen. He joined his family while they were still living in Seattle, Washington. At the age of five, he would’ve been the youngest brother of the original singing group, but was still a little too young to make the cut. However, he joined as soon as he could at the age of thirteen as the tenor and still provides high tenor vocals. He also ramps up a performance with his own unique vocal electric guitar.
Being the brother in blue suits Curtis just fine since his favorite color is Royal Blue. And he’s been known to eat his favorite food, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, at almost any hour of the day or night. His fun sense of humor has made him a fan of the movie Airplane, the king of parody “Weird Al” Yankovic, and the comedian Steven Wright. He also finds humor in his favorite quote from Albert Einstein: “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” Among other things, Curtis enjoys golf, water skiing, hiking, reading (if it’s a good book) and the great American sport of baseball. His love of baseball was cemented at the age of twelve when, undersized and underestimated, he struck out his little league’s home-run king. He considers that his “greatest childhood triumph.”
Musical influences for Curtis as a child and in his teens were from groups like Boston, Depeche Mode, The Cure and A-ha. He also enjoyed the power-ballads from the 80s and commented, “Anytime I hear them, it reminds me of my youth and high school dances, and I can instantly see the faces of my friends vividly in my mind. Those were great times!” As an adult, Curtis enjoys everything from the Beach Boys to Def Leppard, but his favorite musical group is Green Day. He thoughtfully says of them, “Although I’ve never met their front man, Billie Joe Armstrong, I relate to him as a performer, artist, and musician. He seems straightforward with no frills in his delivery. It’s real and I like that a lot.”
Prior to becoming a full-time entertainer, Curtis worked in collections, customer service, data entry and billing. Not quite as exciting as life on stage, but provided valuable skills as the brothers built their music business. His favorite memory of performing on stage is backing up The Doobie Brothers on their hit song, “Listen to the Music.” He also really enjoyed meeting them and says, “I found them to be really, really down to earth nice guys!”
Curtis is married, has three children and currently resides in Branson, Missouri.
