iSound

Evolving in the early seventies from local acts Kansas, White Clover, and The Eagles, Kansas soon made it's name as a hard rocking if rather eclectic outfit throughout the midwest. Taking their cues from the Art Rock of English troupes such as Greenslade and Emerson Lake and Palmer rather than the usual American influences, they became a big enough concert draw to begin to attract the attention of Major Record Labels. Having established their core as Phil Ehart (Drums), Kerry Livgren (Guitars, Keyboards), Steve Walsh (Keyboards, Lead Vocals), Dave Hope (Bass) Robbie Steinhardt (Violin, Lead Vocals) and Rich Williams (Lead Guitar), they signed to Epic and released their debut eponymously titled album in 1974. It barely dented the charts, peaking on the Billboard listing at #174 and taking over twenty years to be certified a gold record. Rather than going back to the drawing board, the band toured harder and refined what they did. The result, 1975's Song For America, was a marked impr...