KANSAS Celebrate 40 Years Of Rock Statehood On InTheStudio; Audio Interview Streaming

North American syndicated rock radio show, In The Studio With Redbeard, sits down with America’s premiere progressive band Kansas, celebrating 40 years of rock statehood with an impressive new masterpiece, The Prelude Implicit.  

Starting this weekend in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, the band Kansas will embark on their 40th anniversary Leftoverture tour, treating their fans to a front-to-back performance of their iconic 1976 album each night, plus introducing several musical gems from their first album of new material in sixteen years, The Prelude Implicit. Kansas “lifers” guitarist Richard Williams and drummer Phil Ehart join Kansas’ current singer Ronnie Platt and veteran violinist David Ragsdale In the Studio for a lively discussion about their new album which features the soaring melodies, big hooks and positive uplifting lyrics even while addressing today’s toughest topics head on.

For years Kansas stuck to a highly democratic group dynamic to set their course both creatively and in business. It’s an admirable utopian approach on paper, but Kansas guitarist Richard Williams shares with In The Studio host Redbeard how the unanimity required sounds good in theory, but in practice is almost impossible to achieve.

“We were kind of treading water for sixteen years. Not able to record because everybody has to be on board wanting to. So, for sixteen years we continued to tour but we did not have a band that was willing to create… Of course being on the road is a blast. And playing Kansas songs in front of people, that’s fun, but the creative side of it all was missing. Fast forward to two years ago when Ronnie joined the band. We have a new line up… “Yes” is the answer to everything we do now, but for sixteen years it was mostly “No”.” – Richard Williams                               

The Prelude Implicit/InTheStudio interview is available at this location.

Kansas released The Prelude Implicit on September 23rd via InsideOut Music. The album is the first new release in 16 years for the band that has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, and is famous for classic hits such as “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust In The Wind”, to progressive epics like “Song For America” and “Miracles Out Of Nowhere”.

The Prelude Implicit features 10 all new tracks written by the band and co-produced by Zak Rizvi, Phil Ehart, and Richard Williams. Kansas’s signature sound is evident throughout the album. It showcases Ronnie Platt’s soaring lead vocals, David Ragsdale’s blistering violin, Williams and Rizvi’s rocking guitar riffs, the unmistakable sound of David Manion’s B3 organ and keyboards, Ehart’s thundering drums, and Billy Greer’s driving bass and vocals.

The album is available on CD, Double 180 Gram Vinyl, and digitally on iTunes and Google Play.

The Prelude Implicit tracklisting:

“With This Heart”
“Visibility Zero”
“The Unsung Heroes”
“Rhythm In The Spirit”
“Refugee”
“The Voyage Of Eight Eighteen”
“Camouflage”
“Summer”
“Crowded Isolation”
“Section 60”

“Visibility Zero” lyric video:

“With This Heart”:

Kansas will be debuting songs off The Prelude Implicit this fall, live in concert, as part of their Leftoverture 40th Anniversary Tour. More information on the tour, including tour dates, can be found at Kansasband.com.