Rock bands come and go, but KANSAS are not “Dust in the Wind;” they are timeless legends. This year, the band turns 40! They are known for their classic hits,“Dust in the Wind” plus “Play the Game Tonight,” “Point of Know Return’, “Fight Fire with Fire”, and “Carry on Wayward Son.” The band performs at Ridgefield Playhouse on July 11.
The current line-up is Richard Williams, (guitars) Phil Ehart, (drums, percussion) and two new members, Billy Greer, (bass, vocals) Steve Walsh (keyboards, synthesizers percussion, vocals) and David Ragsdale, (violin, guitars and vocals).
Patch spoke with lead guitarist, Richard Williams about the band’s longevity and what’s next for the group.
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“I’m really looking forward to it and always love coming up there,” said Richard Williams by phone. “The secret to our longevity would be tenacity and after 10 or 20 years it’s fun!” All of the band members grew up in the mid-west and we’ve been in similar situations. I think that has a lot to do with it.”
The secret to their success is that they managed to do things their own way. They never use tour buses, they prefer to fly on planes instead.
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"We’re obviously older and we manage ourselves; we come and go and do whatever we want we decided if we’re going to keep this going we have to keep it fun. We don’t kill ourselves touring on a bus and we try to get overseas every couple of years— and we tour throughout the year using planes and being gone for six months,” Rich admits. He continued, “My typical weekend was I got on a plane and then I flew to Houston played a show the next day I flew to Dallas played a show, Sunday I came home and we try to maintain that schedule throughout most of the year; everyone has families and a home life, it’s a great balance. We stay in nice hotels, why torture yourself because 40 years later it’s time to enjoy this! “It’s been our philosophy for the last 10 years.”
The band is currently working on a documentary being released by Sony.
“It’s with the original six members and we went to Topeka and filmed it for three or four days; and it’s up through the first four albums; it’s the making of the beginning of the band through that period. It’s that climb to the top that we reached,” he explained. “We put together a trailer and we want to finish this project—the fans are going to love it!"
There are three remaining original members in Kansas including Richard and two new members.
“The two new guys are Billy Greer on bass, vocals he’s been with us for about 26-27 years and David Ragsdale on violin, guitars, vocals and he’s been with us since the 90s so the new guys have played with us quite a bit longer than the other originals have.”
Rich admits he enjoys touring better now 40 years later than ever before.
“We really have turned it into a science that is unique for our situation when we played two sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden we were amazed by it all to know what was going on around us. I look back at those days and it was pretty cool, but I can now appreciate it for the moment while I ‘m doing it to have experience to measure that against—so it doesn’t get old.”
Here's to 40 years of great rock 'n' roll music!
