Born in Terre Haute, he considers Fort Wayne his hometown. He began studying music at age 10 and also plays guitar. Kuhns received a Bachelor of Music Performance from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1991. He was a member of the LaRoque D’Antheron, France, International Piano Festival orchestra in 1989 and won a Fellowship Award to the Aspen Music Festival in 1991. Kuhns is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Roth Wehrly Graber and names golf and cookouts as his hobbies. He has three children, Sebastian, Joshua and Olivia.