Classic rock group Kansas feels special vibe in home state, keyboard player says
It’s always special when the band Kansas plays in its native state, Tom Brislin says.
“I definitely felt it the first time I was in Kansas with the band,” the New Jersey native said about the Sunflower State’s reaction to the classic rock group that got its start in Topeka. “There’s something special about the audience that comes to see us play there.”
The keyboard player and vocalist joined the group in 2018, after recording and touring with acts including Meat Loaf, Yes and Blondie.
Kansas plays an outdoor show at Wave next Wednesday night.
The band known for hits like “Dust in the Wind,” “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Point of Know Return” has seen several personnel change in its nearly five decades of existence, with drummer Phil Ehart and guitarist Rich Williams the only constants.
“They’ve always maintained that Kansas is the band and Kansas is about the music,” Brislin, 47, said from his home in New Jersey. “And they want this music to live on and on, as far as it can go and as long as people want to hear it. These guys live to play music and why not? It’s a great legacy, it’s a great band.”
Brislin said he can understand doubters who think a band might be lessened because the group onstage might not have all of the members as on the original singles and albums.
“If someone is skeptical, I’d just say, ‘Hey, come check out a show and see what you think,’” he said. “I feel like we put on a really strong show, and we give people a lot of bang for the buck. We lay our hearts out on the stage and give respect to this Kansas music and this Kansas legacy.”
Once he was hired, Brislin said, he had to go to work to learn all of the material for a tour – without the benefit of sheet music.
“Kansas music is complex,” he said. “There’s a lot more going on than a lot of people realize, and it’s very progressive and very deep music. I just had to dive in and do my homework.”
Brislin plays four keyboards on stage, adjusting for whatever is needed in each of the band’s songs on tour.
Like everything else in 2020, Kansas had to stop and take a break during the coronavirus pandemic.
It hurt Kansas more than other acts, Brislin said, because in the summer of 2020 the band was scheduled to release its first album in four years, “The Absence of Presence,” and hoped for big tour audiences to spur sales.
“We were hot, too,” he said. “The band was cooking and we were firing on all cylinders. It was a big blow, but what can you do?”
The band instead made itself known on social media, using that to promote the album, which still ended up in the top-10 charts for rock albums, he said.
“It was nice that we were still able to reach out to our audience during that time and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got new Kansas music for you,’” Brislin said.
Brislin was a co-writer on some of the material on “Absence of Presence.”
“To be part of the Kansas story was big for me,” he said.
Brislin spent the pandemic with his creative spirits high.
“I got down to make sure I was writing something, composing something, every day,” he said. “Whether or not it was any good, I just wanted to show up.”
Kansas has a tour based on the anniversary of its “Point of Know Return” album from November to May 2022, and is about two-thirds of the way through its “Kansas Classics Tour” when it stops at Wave.
Brislin said that the past year and a half has caused himself and the band to be conscientious of what’s happening around them and to stay safe and healthy.
“We have to be careful. We want to play it safe – the health of everyone involved is of course the most important thing,” he said. “We’re staying abreast of guidance and protocols and we are adapting, which is what you have to do.”
Kansas
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22
Where: Wave, 650 E. 2nd St.
Tickets: $49-$129, at waveict.com