Dustin Kensrue

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Dustin Kensrue
Dustin Kensrue performing at a Fopp instore signing in Southampton, UK
Background information
Also known as	Ursus Veritas
Born	November 18, 1980 (1980-11-18) (age 29)
Origin	Orange County, California
Genres	Post hardcore Experimental rock Folk
Occupations	Musician Songwriter
Instruments	Guitar Vocals
Years active	1998-present
Labels	Vagrant Records
Associated acts	Thrice
Website	http://www.dustinkensrue.com

Dustin Michael Kensrue (pronounced KENZ-roo) (born November 18, 1980) is a vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist in the Orange County, California post-hardcore/experimental rock quartet Thrice, as well as a solo artist.

He has a tattoo on his left wrist which is a passage from the Bible written in Hebrew. Many of his lyrics are also Biblically based, an example being the pre-chorus in Vheissu's song, "For Miles" ("There is no greater love, that the One shed his blood for his friends"). This example of lyrics are spread throughout his works, both in Thrice and on his solo works.^{[citation needed]}

Dustin designed the album artwork for both parts of The Alchemy Index - Thrice's fifth studio recording.

Dustin also added vocals in the song "The Contender" on the album "Pierce the Empire With a Sound" by experimental act The Out Circuit.

His younger brother, Chase Kensrue, plays guitar and piano for the band Eye Alaska.^{[citation needed]}

Solo project

Ursus Veritas was the former alias for Dustin Kensrue's solo side project. The name was a play on words from Latin: ursus meaning bear, and veritas meaning truth, combining to mean "(to) bear truth". Kensrue has always expressed an interest in discovering truth, and has also said he likes bears, which lead to the play on words. However, at some point he decided to drop the name in favor of simplicity since "people have enough trouble just pronouncing [his] last name to begin with."

On January 23, 2007, Kensrue released a solo album titled Please Come Home on Equal Vision Records. He wrapped up the recording and mixing of the album at the home of fellow Thrice member Teppei Teranishi. The album opened at 142 on the Billboard 200 with 5,800 copies sold the first week..^[1] He supported the album with a solo tour including stops on David Letterman's talk show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Fuse Network. Please Come Home met with mostly favorable reviews from critics, who have compared Kensrue's versatility in his vocals to singer/songwriter Ryan Adams and Johnny Cash.^{[citation needed]}

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 clinical 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 page 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.^{[citation needed]}

On October 14 2008, Dustin said this on the official Thrice website - "I just finished my Christmas Record. I haven’t really mentioned it because (a). I’ve been spending all my time working on it, and (b). I wasn’t totally sure I would finish it in time to come out this year. But, last night I finished it up and Teppei is finishing the mixes tonight. It’s going to be an online release only and will hopefully be out in mid-November sometime. The title is “This Good Night Is Still Everywhere” and it contains 8 covers and 2 Christmas originals. I love Christmas music so it was a lot of fun to do this and I’m glad I get to share it with you guys. More info to come in the future"^{[citation needed]}

Discography

• 2007: Please Come Home
• 2008: This Good Night Is Still Everywhere^[2]

Equipment

Guitars

Kensrue plays Gibson acoustic guitars on stage for his solo project and certain Thrice songs, like "Come All You Weary", as well as Thrice's acoustic sets. For an electric guitar, Kensrue uses the "brain" of a Line 6 Variax put into a Nash brand Telecaster. He states the use for this guitar on Thrice's "Live at the House of Blues" DVD bonus features. He goes on to say that he chooses the Line 6 guitar for its versatility of tone and tunings, and that when he plays live, he can play the same guitar the whole set without changing the tuning or sounds that come out of it.

Amplification and Effects

Kensrue uses a Line 6 pedalboard as well as a Line 6 Vetta II amplifier, again for their wide range of tones and the ability to not have a lot of pedals at his feet, but rather one large pedal board. During all of Thrice's performances during the Vans Warped Tour 2009, he can be seen with using a M13 Line 6 pedalboard and a Vox handwired AC30.

References

Other sources

• Dustin Kensrue Official Site
• Dustin Kensrue's Official Myspace profile
• Thrice website
• Water is Poison, the Official Thrice Fansite
• THE So Cal Scene Interview with Dustin Kensrue