Kansas

TK Magazine’s Kevin Doel visited with legendary KANSAS guitarist Rich Williams about life in the early days and the release of their new DVD, “There’s Know Place Like Home,” which was filmed at Washburn University’s White Concert Hall.

KD: Rich, you’re living in Atlanta now. When did you move from Topeka?

RW: For awhile I lived in both Topeka and Atlanta – the band was in a short lull and I was able to do that. But once KANSAS got back in biz again, I didn’t care so much for the commute. All the business of the band is based in Atlanta.

KD: Tell us about the early days. How did the band get together?

RW: Several of us, Dave Hope, Kerry and I all went to Topeka West. Kerry graduated in 67, I graduated in 68. This was a very musical time on the heels of the British invasion and The Beatles. Everyone wanted to be in a band. Our first band was called The Peck. Starting a band was just the thing to do.
After high school, a lot of the other musicians opted for college or jobs, so we were one of the last bands standing.

KD: What set you apart from the others?

RW: We wanted to perform our own music instead of copying others. When we did copy material we were terrible at it. We’d always rearrange it.

KD: How did you come up with idea of adding classical sounds to your rock-n-roll music?

RW: Robby Steinhardt was in a band in Lawrence, and they disbanded so we just thought why not? Let’s add some violin to the songs.

KD: So how did a bunch of kids from Topeka make it to the big-time?

RW: We went out to a recording studio in Liberal, Kansas then sent a few of them to a few places and one ended up on Don Kirshner’s desk. Don Kirshner’s label, Midnight Special, was a division of CBS Records, and he was famous for getting the Monkeys together. Kirshner sent an agent out to see us and that was it!

KD: Any interesting stories from those early days – going from being a bunch of kids in Topeka to superstars?

RW: One of the first shows we did was in Lincoln, Nebraska with Jay Giles. We showed up in the afternoon and brought in our equipment, and then we just didn’t know what to do. We made our way to the dressing rooms and found sandwich stuff – meat and bread. We thought “We must be in the wrong place,” but were told that this was for us. We thought, “Wow! They had food for us!” We were so impressed with the bologna plate.

KD: Jumping ahead to the present, what have you been doing lately?

RW: We just spent two weeks in Germany doing about 10 shows. We’ve been there several times and get a great reception from the fans over there. We were invited over to play with a band called Status Quo, which has been around 10 years longer than KANSAS and is hugely popular in Europe. They are virtually unknown here.

KD: Your current DVD, “There’s Know Place Like Home,” celebrates 35 years since the release of your original self-titled album. What’s the difference, other than the age of the members, between the KANSAS of today and the KANSAS of 35 years ago?

RW: There’s not a lot of difference. It’s just another day and another year. We all seem more normal now. Three of the five original band members are still with us. The new guy is the bass player who has been with us for 25 years.

KD: You’ve been going non-stop as a rock star for over three decades. How have you been able to keep up that pace for so long?

RW: I had a real job once, and this isn’t it. This is a great life. We get to travel and see the world. I’d hate to sit around home and think about playing. Playing is what we enjoy. It’s been non-stop for 25 years, doing around 70 dates a year, but we split it out over the year. We leave on a Friday, come home on a Sunday. It’s an easy pace. It’s not 10 shows in a row where you’re on a bus and everyone is burned out. It’s a little vacation each weekend.

KD: Do you keep in touch with Kerry (Livgren) since he’s not a touring member of the band any longer?

RW: Yes, I keep in contact with Kerry. In business, we’re connected at the hip anyway.

KD: Any word on how he’s doing since his stroke?

RW: He’s at home recuperating and I hear he’s doing better. He has some struggles with his speech, but he’s coming along.

KD: Do you have a busy upcoming schedule?

RW: This year is winding down. Hopefully we’ll be coming back soon. It was great being able to record our live DVD with Washburn’s orchestra earlier this year. We did an album with the London Symphony Orchestra and really wanted to get it on film. In trying to figure out how to do that we knew that playing with other symphonies wouldn’t make sense. Playing with a symphony in Idaho wouldn’t make sense at all. Then we looked at coming back home, and once we decided on Topeka everything worked – including the name for the album!