The band Kansas have been a mainstay of American rock. They bring their 50th anniversary Another Fork in the Road tour to Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne on June 16.

In 1974, led by founding members Phil Ehart on drums and Rich Williams on guitar, Kansas planted  a flag in the U.S. for British-influenced progressive rock, intricate and contrapuntal. Billy Greer, with them since 1985, is on bass and vocals.

Members change, sound remains

There have been many forks in Kansas’ road. Founding member Steve Walsh, one of the finest, most expressive singers in rock and a master of the Hammond organ, retired in 2014. Since then, the singer has been Ronnie Platt. Keyboardist Tom Brislin joined in 2018.

Violin as the lead instrument is a signature of Kansas’ sound. Their violinist for most of the past 32 years, David Ragsdale, abruptly departed last month. Joe Deninzon replaces him.

Despite getting their start in the ’70s, Kansas are not a nostalgia act. Following Walsh’s retirement, another fork in the road brought them renewed vigor. 

In 2016, they released The Prelude Implicit, which hit No. 5 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart. This was courtesy of new member guitarist Zak Rizvi, who became their main songwriter. Rizvi had spent years writing songs in Kansas’ style, and with the band, they moved on to their next strength. 

Tom Brislin joined in 2018 and began co-writing with Rizvi. The ensuing album, The Absence of Presence, was released in 2020 just as the world locked down. Hailed as Kansas’ strongest album in decades, it cracked the Top 10 on Billboard’s Album Sales chart. 

They also released a two-hour live album from their 2019 tour, Point of Know Return Live & Beyond.

New album amid pandemic

It’s clear to Kansas fans that Rizvi and Brislin are not usurpers. The new material is as Kansas as Kansas has ever been.

But the pandemic caused a lot of musicians to re-evaluate priorities, and Rizvi decided to leave in 2021.

“(Being sidelined by the pandemic) was frustrating in so many ways,” Brislin said in an interview with Whatzup. “But with Kansas, we were really building up such a head of steam and great momentum going into the release of The Absence of Presence. It’s a shame that we weren’t touring, but on the bright side, we were still able to put that out and communicate with our audience. And since everyone was home, a lot of people got to really know that album.

“By the time we came back out and started playing some of the songs live, a good number of the audience was already familiar and welcomed those songs into the set.”

New kid on the block

If you’ll permit me to shift to the first person, when I heard that Kansas were touring again, I jumped at the chance to cover this story because I wanted to speak with the new kid, whose career I’ve followed more than 20 years.

Brislin, native to New Jersey, is about 25 years younger than the founders of Kansas. He got started in the late ’90s with his post-new-wave band Spiraling, and graduated to a series of high-profile world tours backing artists Meat Loaf, Yes, and Deborah Harry of Blondie. 

Working through the international underground prog festival scene, he was instrumental in revitalizing more bands from the ’70s, notably the British jazz fusion band Camel, and a reunion of the symphonic prog band Renaissance. Along the way, he has collaborated with a who’s who of rock stars from the ’70s through today.

In 2018, after a year with super-group The Sea Within, based in Sweden, Brislin got the call from Phil Ehart, inviting him to join Kansas. At last, the sideman for all seasons was a full band member. He even sings lead on his own, “The Song the River Sang,” which closes out The Absence of Presence.

Brislin is known for his acoustic piano work along with analog synthesizer textures. With Kansas, he’s rededicated to the Hammond organ as well.

“Through the years, I became someone who really loved to dig deep into the parts of songs and the sounds of the songs,” he said. “When I toured with Meat Loaf, and Yes, and Camel, part of the fun for me was to explore what those original recordings had going on. 

“With Kansas, I thought that it was a good starting point for me to go back and try to faithfully recreate what so many people have listened to for so many years and is very special and precious to them. But at the same time, I want to put something live into the show. So it’s not like you’re just playing an album at a concert. People want to be in the moment for something real and live. So I’ve had to pick my moments on when I can take a left turn here and there, or put my own flavor into something. But still with staying true to the sound and the spirit of Kansas.”

‘Immersed in the Kansas life’

On this tour, Kansas has put together a retrospective spanning their 16 studio albums, and Brislin had to do a lot of woodshedding.

“This music is deceptively challenging,” he said. “What’s funny is that some people only know ‘Dust in the Wind’ or ‘Carry On Wayward Son,’ and they think that’s what the whole band is about. And of course, those are crucial parts of the band’s story, but there’s a lot of really daunting compositional work, and I really had to do my homework! But the good news is that I was pretty much raised on progressive rock music, so I knew the ropes and I knew what I had to do.

“Kansas (for me) is full-time, full speed ahead,” he added. “I’m the musical director of the band now. I’m very immersed in the Kansas life.”