Ted Kirkpatrick

Ted Kirkpatrick (born 1960) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his work with the American Christian thrash metal band Tourniquet. Primarily a drummer, Kirkpatrick is the principal songwriter for the band, and has played other instruments as necessary.
Kirkpatrick started as a touring drummer for the doom metal band Trouble in 1987, and played a few shows with the group. However, he soon left Trouble as he was unable to meet its touring commitments. In 1989, he formed the group Tourniquet with Guy Ritter and Gary Lenaire. The group performed a highly progressive style of thrash and speed metal, informed by Kirkpatrick's love of classical music. The band released three albums in rapid succession, Stop the Bleeding in 1990, Psycho Surgery in 1991, and Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance in 1992. The band underwent some lineup changes and adopted a more hard rock approach for the 1994's Vanishing Lessons and 1997's Crawl to China. In the 2000s, the band returned to its thrash metal origins, and released Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm in 2000 and Where Moth and Rust Destroy in 2003. Apart from select touring and concert appearances, Tourniquet then went mostly inactive. However, in 2010 the band announced that it was recording new material and looking for a suitable label. In 2012, the band released Antiseptic Bloodbath. Kirkpatrick also released the album Onward to Freedom, which features his drumming supported by numerous guest musicians, through Tourniquet in 2014.
Kirkpatrick endorses DW drums, Evans drumheads, Paiste cymbals, Vic Firth sticks as well as Orange guitar amplifiers.
As principal lyricist for the band, Kirkpatrick’s talent for allegory, symbolism, and using unusual and sometimes bizarre examples to convey Christian concepts can be found throughout the Tourniquet catalog.
A fan of ethnic and world music, Ted has played or included other, less traditional (in terms of metal music) instruments on Tourniquet albums, including the Greek bouzouki, flute, banjo, and dulcimer. For the acoustic sets that Tourniquet occasionally performs, he plays 6 or 12 string guitar. In terms of rock drumming, Kirkpatrick cites his main influences as Simon Phillips, Carl Palmer and Neil Peart.

R.I.P. Ted Kirkpatrick: May 22, 1960 - August 19, 2022