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New members re-energize classic-rockers Kansas
By John Benson
A year after celebrating their 40th anniversary, the members of Kansas found themselves in a crisis this summer when original lead singer Steve Walsh announced his retirement.
“Steve spent most of 41 years with the band pouring his guts out on thousands of stages, but he wasn’t enjoying himself anymore,” said Kansas guitarist Rich Williams, calling from Atlanta. “It’s hard to do if you don’t like it. Steve was miserable. The travel seemed harder. The food tasted worse.
“So he decided to retire. Anytime something like that happens, it’s a shock to the system. So we calmed the troops and went into protection mode.”
What Williams and company were trying to protect was a classic-rock group that over the course of four decades sold eight gold albums, three sextuple-platinum albums and one platinum live album. Let’s not forget the group’s definitive million-selling gold single in “Dust in the Wind.”
When the dust settled from Walsh’s announcement, Williams said the remaining members decided to add singer Ronnie Platt, as well as keyboardist David Manion. Ironically, Manion had been a part of the group for decades as its lighting director.
As for Platt, his addition to Kansas has been not only seamless but truly a shot in the arm.
“It’s been awesome,” Williams said. “Ronnie is a tremendous singer. He’s got tremendous range, and he really opened the door for us to a lot of material we haven’t done in a long time. So you can sit there and be down in the dumps about it or you can move forward. It’s been really a spark of energy for us. Ronnie showed up extremely prepared.”
He added that this new version of Kansas has not only pacified but excited skeptic fans, who are digging archival album gems being added to the set list.
Fans checking out the group’s Friday show at Stambaugh Auditorium can expect to hear the hits such as the aforementioned “Dust in the Wind” and “Carry On Wayward Son,” as well as obscure material such as “Opus Insert,” “Reason to Be” and “Closet Chronicles.”
In fact, Williams said the band is having so much fun there’s even talk of recording a new album, which is something Kansas hasn’t done in well over a decade.
“The future is very bright for us,” Williams said. “We’re looking forward to a lot of plans for next year. There’s a lot going on.”
What’s going on for Kansas is an annual touring schedule that includes 80 dates around the country and overseas. So what is it about this rock group that still draws audiences?
“We’re unique with our musical content and lyrical content,” Williams said. “It’s not hard to sing songs in your 60s when they’re relevant about life in general. It’s a little tougher to get up there and sing goofy love songs. We’ve never really had that kind of material. That’s never been us.”
Even though with the recent lineup change Williams said there was no talk of disbanding, it’s a legitimate question to ask how long can Kansas keep at it.
“There’s no plans on stopping,” Williams said. “My plan is to leave it all on the field. When I’m done, it’s because I gave it my all until I couldn’t do it anymore.”